GELondon2016 Day Two

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DAY TWO

Wednesday, May 18

The day of things going wrong but still going great!

Fortunately, most of us slept well last night! We left the hostel at 8:15 to walk in light rain to Paddington Station to catch a 9:50 train to Windsor, where we had a 11:30 talk and tour. At least that was the plan. When we got to Paddington at 9:15, all trains had been suspended due to “an incident” at Twyford, which apparently was a fire. I picked up our tickets anyway, since they were pre-bought, and talked to an employee who told us to walk to Edgeware Road tube station and take the Bakerloo line to Waterloo, where we could get a different train to Windsor. (the Bakerloo line normally runs through Paddington, but not right now, as they are doing work on it).

So we headed off to Edgeware Road. I hadn’t bought our Oyster cards yet, so I had to do that, and my school P-card didn’t work, so I had to put the first five on my personal card. Then I figured out if I held the card a certain way in the machine, it worked. But in all that, I think I didn’t put the same amount on all of the cards. And people were in line behind me….so that was kind of stressful. But we made it to Waterloo, and there was train in 10 minutes. So we dispersed to quickly get buy some sandwiches to take for lunch. Alas, one of our lot, didn’t get back in time, and he and I were left watching the train take the rest of the group away to Windsor. And we waited for another half hour. So now we were waiting for a 10:58 train instead of a 9:50 train, and the Waterloo train takes 45 minutes instead of 30, which is what the Paddington train takes. And the Waterloo train goes into the station that is a little further from the castle (why are there TWO train stations in Windsor? It’s so tiny!)

We ended up getting up to the castle about 12:30, and GOD BLESS THE TOUR FOLKS THERE! They were waiting for us and ushered us in and took us up to our tour guide, Adam, and they had tea, coffee, and biscuits (cookies) waiting for us. WE WERE EXTREMELY HAPPY! There is a special exhibit on Shakespeare and the Royal Court in the Drawing Gallery, and Adam gave us a 45 minute talk on the connections between the royals, Windsor and Shakespeare, and then took us around the exhibit and answered questions, getting into deep conversation with the students. He was simply terrific (he read history at University of Sussex, and was about a year out of school).

The exhibit has a first, second, and third folio on display. The second was owned by Charles I and had his annotations on it; he had this book with him when he was awaiting execution.

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The third folio had a strange list of ‘other plays’ in it that I need to research (The Tragedy of Thomas Cromwell?? The London Pauper??)

We also saw a drawing done by Queen Victoria when she was young of Romeo and Juliet.

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There were lots of cool things about The Merry Wives of Windsor too.

Everyone enjoyed the Castle very much, and we worked our way through it all, ending in St George’s Chapel, which I love. I found my cousin Graham’s coat of arms hanging in the Choir, where all the living Knights of the Garter have their emblems. His is hanging right over the tomb of Henry VIII! Crazy.

Had much silliness taking selfies with the guard, and headed back to the other train station and fortunately got the Paddington train, which was MUCH quicker. Tube back to Oxford Circus, and walked back to the hostel for a quick refresh before going to dinner. Went to Forty Dean and had their prix fixe, which was very good (but a little pricey). Rushed off to the Duke of York’s theatre to see Doctor Faustus with Kit Harington, which I still have to write about.

GELondon2016 Day One

May 16/17 Day One:

Vans left SU at 3pm. Good thing we got to the airport three hours ahead, because it took 90 minutes to get to our gate, thanks to the longest security lines I’ve encountered at Dulles. I got moved to an aisle seat with NO ONE in the rest of the row (I think it was the equivalent to “house seats”). Good flight. Would definitely go with Virgin again!

It took a long time to get through customs and even longer to get through London to the hostel, although the coach driver from First Choice was inside the terminal with a sign waiting for us. We landed just before 7am, and it was after 10 when we got to the hostel (I think…I can’t remember). We put our bags in the storage room, grabbed some variety of coffee/breakfast and set off.

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SoHostel is on Dean Street, so it was a hop, skip, and jump to Shaftsbury Avenue, where as we were checking out some theatres, Connor realized we’d left Chris Goodwin back at the restaurant. But he was soon rescued. Walked down to Piccadilly Circus and took some pictures.
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Then down Regent Street, past the Crimean War / Florence Nightingale monument, down Waterloo Place to the Duke of York Column (picture!),and over to the Mall. IMG_3821

Headed right down the Mall to the front of Buckingham Palace. We fortuitously arrived there right at noon, and saw some of the changing of the guard.

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Then we walked through St James Park, spending much time and photos on the flowers and water fowl there! Who knew there were so many different kinds of water fowl?
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At the other end of the Park we crossed over to Horse Guards Parade (Emma and Connor had excitement in realizing they were standing where Chris Pratt had stood in a movie…). Looked at the guards in their goofy uniforms and weird boots. Watched some people acting stupid around horses. Dodged a cop with a huge automatic weapon.

We turned left up Whitehall and went to The Clarence Pub for some light lunch – cheese plates, sausage rolls, pork pies, buttered kale, etc! This is the same pub my GEL 2014 group stopped in on the first day. Then headed up to Trafalgar Square. Pretty bummed that the lion statues are cordoned off currently. Someone was power washing the base of Nelson’s Column, so maybe they won’t be off limits on another day.
Walked down the Strand a bit and explored The Arches Shopping area. Ended up in Victoria Embankment Gardens. Half the group got ice cream. We walked over Hungerford/Golden Jubilee Bridge, crossing the Thames. Walked down the ‘Queen’s Walk’ on the South Bank, going past the London Eye (where there are bathrooms!), the Udderbelly Festival, The London Dungeon, The Shrek Experience (?!), and the Aquarium.
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Crossed back over to the north side of the Thames via Westminster Bridge, where zillions of tv and film scenes have been shot with Westminster and Big Ben in the background. A bride and groom were taking pictures out on the bridge. Past the Boudiccan Rebellion monument. Strolled around Westminster and Big Ben, and investigated whether there was an Evensong service in Westminster, but there wasn’t. Everyone was exhausted, so we started back toward Leicester Square, via Horse Guards Rd (and more heavily armed police), & Trafalgar Square.
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Note the rainbow flag flying with the national one!
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We wandered around for a while in Chinatown (Just north of Leicester Sq) looking for a place to have dinner, and ended up going back to the other side of the Square to go to Wagamama on Irving St. That worked out well – everyone found something to eat and we were early enough to beat the dinner crowd. Connor was falling asleep at the table and everyone was BEAT. Walked back up to SoHostel via Wardour St, which has lots of fun places and restaurants on it; then over to Dean and checked into our rooms. A couple of us overlook the construction site for the new Tottenham Court Road Cross-rail ticketing station. Looks like that’s going to be quite a big thing.

Group meeting at 7 to confer about tomorrow. Makayla and Brynne discovered there was a karaoke night going on in the ‘Bar’ of the Hostel! Emma, Adia, and I went down to check out the performance schedule for Aladdin, as Adia knows someone in it. MANY yuppie types on the pavements outside of pubs. A very hopping area!!

Off to Windsor Castle in the morning, and seeing Doctor Faustus tomorrow, starring Kit Harington and directed by Jamie Lloyd.

Up shot of today: My fitbit says we walked 20,000 steps and 8.65 miles today. Chris Goodwin bumps into lots of people; Jess Lynch is most likely to get hit by a car or bicyclist when she crosses the road. Everyone was a trooper!

GELondon 2016 Itinerary

Monday May 16:
Vans depart campus at 3.
Flight: Virgin 22: departs Dulles 6:55 pm on May 16 (Virgin flight 22)

Hostel Address:
SoHostel, 91 Dean Street,
Soho, London W1D 3SY
+ 44 208 821 5154

Tuesday May 17:
Arrive Heathrow 7:20 a.m.
Coach to Hostel; walking tour
Westminster evensong 5pm?
Group DINNER
Free Evening

Wednesday May 18:
Day trip to Windsor Castle (9:50 train from Paddington) 11:30 tour Shakespeare and the Royal Court
3:20pm train back.
group dinner
Doctor Faustus at Duke of York’s, 7:30pm St Martin’s Lane

Thursday May 19:
National Portrait Gallery/National Gallery
Royal Court: Ophelia’s Zimmer 2:30
Possibly have afternoon TEA
Free Evening

Friday May 20:
Morning: British Museum
Lunch/Afternoon: Camden Market
Group dinner near Almeida, Islington
Almeida Theatre, Islington: Boy 7:30pm

Saturday May 21:
Day trip to Stratford upon Avon (train – 9:40 from Marylebone)
Royal Shakespeare Company: Hamlet 1:15 curtain
Time after show to spend in Stratford as you like
8:42 train back

Sunday May 22:
Morning – visit Tower of London
Late Group lunch
Shakespeare’s Globe: A Midsummer Night’s Dream 6:30
Evening free after show

Monday May 23:
Day trip to Hampton Court Palace – train from Waterloo –
Free Evening

Tuesday May 24:
St. Paul’s in morning – opens 8:30 am
11:30 Tour of National Theatre
Tate Modern
Group Dinner
The National Theatre: Threepenny Opera, 7:30 curtain

Wednesday May 25:
Workshop at Donmar Warehouse 11am-1pm
Afternoon Victoria and Albert Museum
Free evening

Thursday May 26:
Morning TBA
Shakespeare’s Globe: Taming of the Shrew 2pm
Group dinner
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at the Globe: Henslowe’s Diary in OP 7pm

Friday May 27:
Day trip to Oxford (bus from Marble Arch)
group dinner

Saturday May 28:
Drury Lane Theatre Tour 10:30 am
Afternoon TBA
Group Dinner
Donmar Warehouse: Elegy 7:30pm

Sunday May 29:
8 am departure by coach to Heathrow. Virgin flight 21, departs 12:35pm.
arrives at Dulles at 3:50