Hello! This is Ria, signing on to report on our stay in London! While I had been to London once before, I didn't remember much due to my having been in the seventh grade. Needless to say, I was very excited to see the city with more mature eyes and to share the experience with the Dins!
Day 6, part II
After our hectic journey through the Copenhagen airport, we enjoyed the brief flight to England. From the plane the English countryside resembled a jigsaw of various emerald-colored fields. We ventured through the long customs line then took a train from Stansted Airport into the city proper. This train ride gave us another chance to marvel at the lovely fields and catch up on some much needed rest. Once we arrived at the Liverpool Tube station, we split up to get to our respective homestays. Despite our familiarity with the T, Boston transit did not prepare us for the sprawling scale of the Tube. We got a little turned around hauling our luggage everywhere, but managed to find our way.
Once everyone settled into their various lodgings, we went to grab dinner together at an Indian restaurant in the city. The food tasted exquisite — and provided a nice reprieve from the exclusively European cuisine we had so far. Afterwards a couple of us broke off to head to a pub and talk a little more while the rest went home.
Overall, the city feels much more bustling than Copenhagen, but also a little grimier. I also felt the influence of greater diversity in the general population almost immediately. The West End posters everywhere in the Tube delighted me — and gave me an idea of how to spend my free time in the city!
Day 7
I took a relaxing morning and rested/got ready until lunchtime. Carolyn, Ben, and I grabbed lunch at an Italian restaurant that offered, much to Ben's delight, "Pesto Nuts," an item described as peanuts and cashews coated in pesto (for reference, even being near that dish would kill Ben about three times over). Caro and I shared a very delicious lasagne and salad while Ben enjoyed his risotto sans any pesto-covered nuts.
The entire group gathered in Hyde Park to rehearse and bask in the good weather (Mattheus, our resident Jekyll and resident Hyde greatly enjoyed the location). The entire affair was very pleasant, even though several horses passed by and brayed during a song or two.
In the afternoon we performed for the Harvard Club of London at the London Transport Museum. The museum was delightful, with adorable signage emulating that of the Tube or even pillows made of the same materials as the train seats. Our gig went well, and we even performed 'Take the "A" Train' for thematic appropriateness. We mingled afterwards and spoke with various audience members who were all very kind.
In the evening, Shannon, Andrew, and I went to go see the West End revival of "Guys and Dolls" at the Bridge Theatre! I had heard wonderful things about the production from a friend who saw it last summer, so I had a year's worth of anticipation building up. The show was absolutely incredible — undeniably one of the most technically impressive productions I had ever seen. Platforms rose from the ground to form different streets of New York while dancers lept atop and executed absolutely incredible sequences with ease. Meanwhile, neon lights float atop to create the impression of an alluring bed of corruption, shenanigans, and hijinks. The performance capped off a lovely day and left me humming "Luck be a Lady" or "I've Never Been in Love Before" (which the Dins sang last year!).
Day 8
Today was a (relatively) free day! After sleeping in, we rehearsed with Carolyn until about 1pm then were all dismissed to explore the city. Sean was particularly excited to enlighten Shannon and me about the wonders of Jollibee (a Filipino fast food chain) so we grabbed lunch from a nearby Jollibee. I will admit that my chicken sandwich was very good.
Most of the other Dins went on a walking tour of London and saw the major landmarks of the city, but I had a very specific goal. As a History of Art and Architecture concentrator, I felt that not seeing a museum in one of the most museum-saturated cities in the world would be a crime. Given that I had seen the British Museum before, Andrew and I went to the Tate Modern. The museum was absolutely incredible. The building itself wowed me with its size, but their collection was absolutely incredible. Additionally, the layout of galleries was really seamless. Getting to see DuChamp's iconic "Fountain" in person made me extremely excited (a sentence that can be uncharitably translated to "Ria got very excited to look at a urinal"). I could have stayed there for another several hours, but the museum did have to close eventually.
After grabbing some Pizza, we all returned to our homes and got to bed early in preparation for our morning gig the next day!
Day 9, part I
We gathered at 6:45AM to head towards our gig at St. Paul's School! We rode the tube in our tails, which got fewer looks than I anticipated (perhaps Londoners are more used to the fashion?). We arrived at the school and did a brief soundcheck in the auditorium before a stream of extremely well-behaved little boys arrived in spiffy uniforms. The boys particularly enjoyed our silly songs like "Cat Duet" and "McDonald's Girl," and made no secret of laughing very loudly when they liked something. Hearing their laughter made us smile even wider. Safe to say, the performance was a success.
After the gig we sped off to take the first of three trains to Luxembourg!
Dincerely,
RCK 276
