In Which Kailey's Father Comes to Town

Tuesday I went with my “Historic London” class to see the Globe Theatre, a working, open-air theater built as a replica of the original globe theater. But since the original globe theater caught fire and burnt to the ground, leaving no blueprints or models behind, the Globe Theatre today is really just a good guess.

Wednesday I went to see a modern adaptation of “Titus Andronicus” by Shakespeare at the Arcola Theatre with my “Performing Arts in London” class. I’m going to try my best to keep my description of this family-friendly. This play is one of William Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays. In the story people kill each other and do things to each other that are worse than killing each other and then some other stuff that is equally horrendous. At the end of the play you find yourself cheering for the bad guys, who were seeking revenge against the bad guys, and because our dear friend Bill Shakespeare is such an excellent writer, the whole thing feels very triumphant. But when the curtain rolls you end up feeling manipulated for siding with evil. Except that you’re so exhilarated by the sound of Shakespeare ringing in your ears that you’re glad you saw the play. At the same time you want to wash your eyes out. * Disclaimer : Inappropriate for Children * If you’re a well seasoned human well accustomed to death and depravity, you could definitely look up the plot on your own and then imagine seeing this play adapted for rival gangs of skinheads and goths in the 1980s replete with plenty of fake blood, some nudity, and gore.

Nothing more exciting really happened until the weekend, but then my father came to town. He was on his way to India for a business trip and stopped by to visit. I showed him around my stomping grounds, and we acted like tourists, seeing the Tower of London, taking an open bus tour, and experiencing the London Eye firsthand. It was great to get to spend that much one-on-one time with my father, a luxury we usually don’t have. 

We took a Yeoman warder tour of the Tower of London. You have to serve in the military for twenty-two years to begin to qualify for the position of Yeoman warder. The Yeoman warder live on the Tower of London grounds and guard the crown jewels. 

School field trip! 

The faces. 

The British are big into blood and gore and brutality.

Friday night, we set up a make-shift bed for my dad to sleep on because his luggage was still in transit only to be woken up just before falling asleep to the sound of the delivery guy calling to set matters right.

On Saturday morning, we walked down Regent's Canal and around Victoria park, the place where I go running.

You see that red structure? It's a slide. 

I popped popcorn the night before and we fed the waterfowl. It's something he taught me to love as a young child, taking me every weekend to feed the ducks when we lived in Oregon.

Swans are more willing to accept popcorn than the geese. Turns out British birds are picky eaters.

I know this is a dragon, but, "What does the fox say?!

This is a South American house-boat vendor named Pablo. My life is awesome.

Saturday afternoon we went on an open bus tour around the city.

There are signs up for the NFL all down Oxford Street and there was an NFL rally in Trafalgar square. AMERICA!

This photo is not spectacular except for the engraving above the door of that building. It says, "Westmorland House." Westmorland was the multi-family housing unit we lived in when my dad was finishing his degree and where we lived when some of my earliest memories begin.

This somehow has something to do with Punch and Judy and they serve fish and chips for six pounds on Tuesdays.

Because I am so mature. NAKED BABY! 

My mother's name.

Then there was the ferry ride. The tour guide was actually not a tour guide but a waterman by trade. He was the best one we had all weekend.

In Which Eliska Comes to Town

This week my friend Eliska from the Czech Republic was in London with her high school class. I’ve known Eli since I was eight, and consider her the big sister I never had. We drive each other crazy like real sisters do, but over the years we’ve learned to work great together. On Monday, she and her class were in London so I met up with them, seeing Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. It’s with some embarrassment that I confess I hadn’t seen either yet. But now I have!

(Photo Credit to Eli's student, Dasha.)

These twins are from Russia, living in the Czech Republic while they go to high school. They didn't speak much English, but tried harder than all the other students to get to know me. 

Wednesday night, I planned to spend the night with the family who Eliska and the other teachers were staying with, but after trouble with tickets, the time ticking away all the while, I decided to stay home, sleep, and awake refreshed in the morning. Instead I took “Calm Spirit Teapills” right before bed and stayed up most of the night. Man! Those things make a woman feel ALIVE!!! I finally got to sleep at three, woke up at five, and got on a train to a predetermined meeting place in Weybridge at 6:18 sharp. I traveled 40 minutes to the place that Google maps directed me to, and then, looking at my phone to see how to walk to the meeting point, I found that Google maps had failed me. I was an hour and a half away from the meeting point by car with only an hour to spare. I texted Eli and headed to Bath alone by Tube, then train, depending on my trusty travelcard. When I arrived in Bath, Eliska was on the bus, caught in traffic so I hunkered down in a nearby coffee shop and waited, noticing upon my arrival that my trusty travelcard was good for “London, Zones 1-2.” I must have bought it while I was under the illusion that Google maps could direct me safely to Weybridge on time. This is when sleep deprivation and the conductor’s failed attention to detail will save a body money. Because London to Bath was the cheapest hundred and fifteen mile journey I can ever hope to take. Unless I go by foot.

Upon Eli’s arrival, we went to the Roman Baths and walked through the museum  and among the ruins, listening to the kid’s audio tour through our little audio device lanyards. The kid’s audio tour had characters and voices and colorful pictures, making the ruins really come to life. Children really do have it better sometimes. In England, the original Roman structures are open to the elements. Even in museums, almost nothing is under glass, allowing people to touch the original stones of the temples and walls. As an American, where items as old as a few hundred years are kept in glass cases under lock and key, this amazes me every time I see it.

Later in the afternoon, Eliska, two of her students, and I went to the Jane Austen museum. It was all very interesting, and I was all very sleepy so unfortunately I cannot describe this experience to you. However, I have captured this moment for posterity with photos. You could postulate for yourself how this visit went. For all I know, it could be true.

Next on the list was Stonehenge, except after the traffic jam in the morning, we saw it as we were driving past in the bus. It is actually not that impressive or at all what you would imagine. I do want to go back and actually see it from the ground though. After seeing Stonehenge in the flesh, I feel like have to be missing something. It can’t really be that unimpressive. Instead of seeing Stonehenge, which was closed by the time we got there, we went to Avebury.  Avebury has equally old rocks jutting out of the ground in pagan formation.

Zuska and Eliska used to live together in the same apartment that I stayed at when I was in the Czech Republic. Zuska is a teacher at the same school as Eli. 

I'm a sucker for weather vanes. 

Because I had had only two hours of sleep, and transport into London would be free the next morning if I rode the bus with the kids, Eli suggested that I spend the night at the place where she and the teachers were staying. The travel agency that they used for the trip puts the students and teachers up in local homes. The home-owners not only let their space to the visitors, but also serve them meals. The family Eli was staying with had an extra bed available and they opened their home to me willingly. I spent Thursday night with Eliska, sleeping in a bed, little and wooden, in Ingrid and Kieron’s house in Weybridge.

Ingrid fed me some of her homemade stewed apples from the apples she grew in her garden.

Friday morning, we went to London by way of Greenwich (pronounced Grenich). This is the town in which the Greenwich Meridian splits the east side of the world from the west.  People liked putting parts of their body on both sides. I was no exception. Also...Holy Moses! I'm getting sooo pale. I think I'm starting to participate in normal English melanin production behavior. 

Photo Credit goes to Eliska, who insisted on taking a picture of me.

Eli took this one too. 

I think this brings us to pictures of London wildlife I saw this week:

And Eli and I are actually really goofy people:

I watched Despicable Me with Eli; my brother, Trystan; and my friend, Morgan, this summer. Naturally we had to pose in front of the minions. 

Eli wanted to play the game, but after my single attempt at this when I was four, I am now scarred for life. 

Ain't nobody gonna make me play this game. It eats your money and doesn't give you a toy. 

Cheers!