The final (!) blog post migration, meaning from now on, after this post, anything that I do put up is new.
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My time in London was a bit more easy going than in Ireland. I'm not saying Ireland was strenuous or anything, but I took my time with London, which was needed after doing so much in Ireland. The first day, I woke early and went to Westminister Abbey, which is conveniently located near Big Ben and the London Eye.
Westminister was truly brilliant. It was quite beautiful, and the numerous tombs were fascinating to look at. Naturally, my favorite part was Poet's Corner, and I even managed to get a few secret pictures of the tile with Charles Dickens' name on it. The Abbey was just fantastic; the architecture was breathtaking, and to be surrounded by the history of it all was great. I spent several hours in there, and even freaked out when I saw Newton's grave and the grave of Charles Darwin. The tomb of the unknown soldier was also awe-some, and held its own reverence with plastic red poppy flowers outlining the black marble.
After that, I took a significant amount of pictures of Big Ben and set off to Trafalgar Square. The Square was quite nice, and I nerded out a bit when I saw the giant fountain, which was where one of the scenes of Dr. Who was shot in the first episode of the first season with the ninth doctor. After that, I met up with a friend, Trew, who goes to my school and was conveniently in London at the same time. We went to Buckingham Palace and then walked to Piccadilly Center, which, as I'm sure most of you have heard, is like a smaller version of Times Square. We also came across a very lovely market and stopped by there. After that we walked back to where Big Ben and the London Eye was to meet up with a few other Uni friends, Meagan and Krista, who also were in London at the time.
We walked up and down the road on the Thames River, looking for a place to eat, passing numerous street performers and hip hop dancers. Unfortunately, there wasn't much, so we went to McDonalds, which sounds a bit shameful, but London is ridiculously expensive, and it was honestly nice to have an easy meal that only cost 99p. We sat by the river, watching the sun sink behind the buildings and the city slowly light up.
After that, I walked back with Trew until we parted ways at the Tube. I got on and quickly found my way to Victoria Station. Before I go on, I would like to say that, however daunting the Tube may be at first, it is quite useful and convenient after you get used to it. The map is, admittedly, confusing, and it can be pricey without an Oyster Card, but it really is the best way to get around London.
It's true that you could probably walk from one end to the other and be fine, but there are so many twists and turns, and such are large amount of traffic, that sometimes it's nice to just get on in one area of town and get off in another without worrying about getting run over or moving through the crowd of tourists and actual Londoners who don't always look if someone is in their way. This is actually a very different way of walking as compared to other towns I've been to because, as I suppose every city is, people are focused on different things. No one exactly looks where they're going, and the slower, more cautious rhythm of a smaller city is not there. So, yeah, it is quite easy to get jostled about in London.
But, I digress (I apologize for using that term so much in my blogs... it is actually one of my favorite phrases). I went to Victoria's Station and went to go see the musical, Wicked, a play I've been dying to see for years. The building itself was pretty, with a shimmery logo in green that, at night, lit up with matching neon.
Inside was just as green, if not more so. I got in and went up to one of the upper sections, passing a green bar that served green-themed drinks. I really did feel as if I was in Oz, which really isn't a horse of a different color, but just an expected peculiarity of going to see a play starring a green-faced soon-to-be witch. I got to my seat, which was pretty far from stage, but it was pretty visible and really didn't take away from the performance at all. The stage was beautiful and I was just excited to be there.
In my excitement, I stupidly bought a 7 pound (I might/might not be exaggerating on the price) booklet of the show that night, a purchase I still regret to this day, and then sat down, ready to enjoy the show. It was lovely! The acting and singing was solid, and the choreography was fantastic. I really did love the Dancing Through Life bit, and Elphaba and Fiero were my favorite.
We did have what I am presuming was an understudy play Fiero because the guy in the booklet was different than the one on stage, but it didn't detract from the performance in the least. During intermission, I stood in the giant line to the woman's bathroom and listened in on two British girls who were talking about the play. Apparently, one of them had seen it before, and it was quite Americanized. This performance, however, was different, especially looking in how they pronounced 'dancing' in the number of Dancing Through Life. They did not say it with an American accent, as dAn-cing, but dawn-cing through life.
The second part was as good as the first, but I did not like the ending. Not because it was badly performed or anything, but the story line. I've read the book, Wicked, before, and, yes, it was graphic in areas and did not really end happily, but I still enjoyed the book. It had a message, an interesting meaning behind it. I knew that this musical would be nothing like the book, but the ending seemed so controversial to the actual character of Elphaba that it couldn't help but irk me.
*Spoilers* for those of you who haven't seen it, but at the very end, Elphaba basically allows herself to be killed to save Glinda, who then takes the role of the head of Oz. However, it is revealed that, actually, Elphaba didn't die, and instead hid under the floorboards where Fiero, her lover turned scarecrow, was able to retrieve her. After that, they fled Oz, leaving Glinda behind to clean up the mess and handle the issues with the Animals and other problems. Yes, I understand that having a happy ending is important, and being with the one you love is all the happiness someone needs and blah, blah, blah, but this presents Elphaba, a character that, up until a few scenes ago really cared about the Animal rights issue and vowed to never stop fighting for what was right, give up and walk away, leaving her so-called best friend behind, not even bothering to let her know she was alive. Sure, you could say that she could no longer do any good in Oz because of her now bad name, but, from a feminist point of view, this sends the message that, when things get tough, go ahead and give up and run away with some guy, instead of having them both stay behind, redeem their names, and fight for what is right. But that's just my opinion. An opinion that, I feel, is supported by the books of Wicked, where Elphaba actually doesn't get the guy in the end and dies. Happy endings are great, but if Little Shop of Horrors the musical can end worse off than the movie, then I'm sure Wicked could have at least done something to ensure there were at least a little bit of consequences or something like that before the curtains closed.
But, anyway, London that day was great. Wicked, albiet the disappointing ending that does not weigh on London at all, but the general play itself, was wonderful, and the day in general was quite nice. After that, I headed back to the hostel where I drank tea, ate whatever food I could find, talked to my family and boyfriend, and fell asleep.
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