America's Birthday & Laban

Wednesday, July 4th:

I forgot to mention that at around midnight we sang the National Anthem on the streets of London. Your are welcome America. Don't think we made many friends that night!

I woke up bright and early to take Rise and Shine Yoga at the gym with Jen and Emily. The lady made us stay in a headstand for a good five minutes at 8 in the morning, not my favorite. The class ended with just enough time to run back to our dorm and get breakfast before our first class with Lyndsey. She is the cutest little British woman ever and a fantastic teacher. I wish we would have gotten more time with her but I learned a lot regardless. After class Katelyn and I decided to take our last class at DanceWorks, my favorite outside studio. While we waited for it to start we made a quick trip to Topshop. I realize now that it was probably a good thing we didn't have much time there because I could have easily blown all of my money! haha. Class was great! We took contemporary jazz with a really fun hispanic man and met some really cool dancers in London.

That night we had plans to go on the Jack the Ripper tour, AHHH! First we decided to celebrate America's birthday with none other than burgers, fries, and beers at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen like any true American would! And I forgot to mention that all of us were decked out in red, white, and blue the entire day! After dinner we headed to our separate tours in East London. All of the Jack the Ripper murders were within a very small radius so we walked from each killing site in order of the murders. It was so creepy and graphic. Our tour guide was so descriptive and knew every last detail about the victims and the crimes. I learned quite a lot on the tour, maybe too much, and saw some gruesome pictures. Now I know why he was called Jack the Ripper, that's for sure. I will keep it PG so if you are interested in that sort of thing, look it up because it is extremely interesting.

After the tour I needed some normalcy and to erase some of what we heard and saw from my brain so that I could sleep that night! We went back to the basement of CH and hung out with a bunch of people from other schools staying in our dorm. It was a blast! We reminisced about all the things we missed from back home including but not limited to: Chick-fil-a, normal bacon, family, dogs, nice people, sunshine, JMU, the list goes on and on. Some of us went out to the Blues Kitchen in Camden to see live music but by the time we got there they had stopped playing. I decided to call it night!

Thursday, July 5th:

Well woke up about 5 minutes before I had to leave to go to class. It was the first and only day my alarm didn't go off, which is actually not too bad for me! Baily and I had decided to go to Greenwich Dance Agency out in no surprise here, Greenwich. It is about an hour journey on a few trains so we left  with what we thought was just enough time. When we got there we were a little confused because with what we thought was ten minutes before class, no one was there. Turns out class didn't start until 10:30 and it gave us an opportunity to warm up before class. We took class with Sonia, who we had been having for regular classes throughout our time in London. It was cool to see her teach a professional class as opposed to the educational classes she teaches us.

Bails and I had to bop out of class a little early to make it to the Laban Center for Movement and Dance where we were getting a tour and taking classes. After a little confusion we met the rest of the group and toured the most amazing dance building in the world (well at least in my opinion). It was built by the same architects that designed the Beijing Olympic Stadium and several other famous buildings. The architects researched dancers and their necessities and really took that into consideration when designing the building. It is bright, inviting, super angular, and open...all inspired by dancers themselves. The center houses close to 14 studios, a main stage, studio stage, pilates and health space, and cafe. During the day the center is lit by natural light through the windows and at night shadows of dancers can be seen from the outside. After touring the building we had our final class with Sonia in an enormous studio and an improv class with Lyndsey! I am really going to miss their teaching and movement style. OH and you can get your masters at the Laban Center? Don't think that didn't cross my mind ha!

After a fabulous day of dancing we had to rush home, grab a quick bite to eat from none other than the 49 cafe, and get ready in about 30 minutes! That night we went to Camden to see The Dark Side of Love at the Roundhouse Theatre. The play was a mixture of Shakespeare, singing, movement, mixed media, and audience interaction. I was shocked that it was performed by high school students from around the world. No surprise but the play was super dark and focused on the good and bad of young love. It was a little over dramatic for my taste but super interesting. The stage space was an underground circular area with alley ways and a "stage" space in the center. As audience members we walked around and were directed by the actors on where to stand and witness the events of the play. It was another first for my theatre experiences. I would love to see a different play in that space because it was unlike anything I have seen before. 

After the show we walked around Camden and decided to head over to South Bank to see what we heard to be a really cool light show. To kill time we got dessert at a restaurant called Giraffe and yummy drinks! I am not a sweet drink lover but my Mango Lime Daiquiri was delicious! After dinner we went on a balcony to see "the amazing light show" which was a huge let down. We thought we were missing something but turns out it was just a few different colored lights shone on buildings across the water. It sounds more amazing than it was! HOWEVER, we happened to run into some live music right on the Thames. We hung out on the bridge and listened for a while, all of us were getting emotional realizing that it was one of our last nights in London. But it was a beautiful night and a perfect end to the day. 

One of the bars the victims of Jack the Ripper frequented.

Happy 4th of July! Thanks for the balloons Shane.

Kings Cross.

LABAN!

Inside Laban, so cool.

The studio we danced in!

We love Laban! As Shane would say "MOVE"

Yummy drinks at Giraffe in South Bank.

The music man.

We don't want to leave!

The day I officially became a member of the royal family.

Tuesday, July 3:

I know I have said that a lot of days were the best day ever. But this my friends was....THE BEST DAY EVER.

Bails, Allie, and I decided to treat ourselves to a whole day of all things British, instead of taking a dance class. BUT don't worry I packed them all in later in the week and it was the best decision I made.  Lucky for us we found out that the Queen opens Buckingham Palace to the public for only 3 months out of the entire year. With this knowledge, the three royal family obsessives immediately got online and bought tickets for the earliest tour of the Palace. When we got there we found out that you couldn't take pictures until we exited the Palace into the Queen's very own gated in backyard. Full of beautiful gardens and greenery.

We were given an audio guide, which I am usually not a fan of but for some reason this one was absolutely perfect. Maybe because I was walking around Buckingham Palace, who knows. Needless to say I had chills/was freaking out/thought I was dreaming the entire time. We toured the State Rooms at the backside of the Quadrangle. I got to see everything from the Grand Entrance, several historic art galleries inside the Palace, the Throne Room where William and Kate took wedding pictures, several rooms dedicated to a specific color, the Music Room, Ballroom, the list goes on and on. Altogether I think it was close to 15 different rooms. One of which had a secret door, hidden behind what looks to be a normal table and mirror and leads to the Queens personal suite through underground of the Palace. One of the highlights of going inside the Palace was the special exhibit for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. It housed cases of some of the most famous jewelry worn by the Queen for the past 60 years. I got to see the crown and necklace she wears on all of the English money up close and personal! AND the coronation crown and so much more. It was nuts. I don't even want to know the amount of money all of the jewelry in that room totaled to. The tour finished in the Queen's enormous backyard!

After Buckingham Palace I thought my day could only go down from there, but somehow it got even better! After going in the complete wrong direction we finally made it to my favorite museum in the entire world, the Victoria and Albert museum of design! Bails and I were in fashion heaven. There was an exhibit on British fashion from the 1800's and up which was pretty incredible. AND of course we paid to see the exhibit of British Ball Gown's from the 1950's to the present. We saw everything from a Princess Diana dress to a dress Beyonce performed in at the White House and a number of red carpet gowns. We spent some time in the courtyard of the museum getting coffee from the cutest cups ever. Our last stop in the Museum was the Theatre and Performance exhibit. I have never seen anything like it. It featured all aspects of a show from set design, costumes, posters, and more. AND it included contemporary dance stuff, I never see that in the states. Highlights: Lion King costumes, Chris Martin from Coldplay's costume, Elton John costume, the Black Swan and more! Could of spent hours in there but I needed at least 20 minutes in the gift shop. It was the most artsy little thing and I got some very cool finds.

Then it was off to continue the glorious day at Kensington Palace, home of none other than William and Kate. We didn't go inside but we walked around and looked at the famous gardens. Princess Diana lived there and her loving fans had left flowers outside the gates for her recent birthday. She died over ten years ago and people still put stuff out, they must have really adored her! Baily, Ally, and I met a few of the other girls for high tea at The Orangery on the grounds of Kensington Palace. It was a beautiful high ceiling, all white, big window place that made me feel very British and very fancy. I had not been a fan of English food but this made me a believer! We got our own little tea kettle, I made the wise choice the Palace Earl Grey and a three tiered feast of delicious tea foods! 4 yummy tea sandwiches, a scone with clotted cream and jam, and four baby sized desserts! When I finished the last bite of my food, I think I officially became a royal. In my dreams of course.

To finish off the perfect day we went to see the English National Ballet perform inside St. Paul's Cathedral. The dancing was flawless and gorgeous. I had missed seeing how purely beautiful traditional ballet was! But more than that we were inside St. Paul's Cathedral! Watching ballet, listening to a choir sing, and a live orchestra play, and glancing around at the architecture of the cathedral..nothing gets better than that. I was on the verge of tears the whole night! After the show we went back to our favorite little restaurant Zizi's for dinner, wine, and dessert. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day. One I will not be forgetting any time soon.

The back of Buckingham Palace.

Queen's backyard.

Victoria & Albert Museum

Even the coffee cups were awesome.

Chris Martin wore that!

Black Swan

Kensington Palace, hello Will and Kate!

The Orangery.

High Tea.

Lemon tart, Macaroon, shortbread, and chocolate layer cake (heaven)

Kensington Palace gardens

St. Paul's!

Cynthia Thompson would be so proud!

Thats beauty.

JMU dance takes fish and chips

Monday, July 2:

Woke up early for the last day of classes with Keith, Nazi dance instructor. YES! Love the man to death but there are only so many ways you can throw your hands in the arm and spin and I think we covered each...about five times a class. However, thanks for the amazing 50 minute warm-up every class!

After class Becky, Katelyn, and I ventured over to the British Museum! We got to see a really cool exhibit of Islamic pottery and paintings. I wanted all of the tiles for my future home! The museum is enormous so we only got to see a few exhibits. Highlights: exhibit on how sacred death is around the world, this never ending table of pills woven into cloth of all of the thousands of pills two people took over their lifespans with pictures and explanations of some of the pills, the Rosetta Stone (kinda a let down but still cool nonetheless), old Egyptian architecture and tombs, and bits from the Parthenon!

After the museum we walked around the area, shopped, and got tea at this cute little art and tea shop Tea and Tattle. We had to rush back for our FINAL WEEKLY MEETING with Shaners! This meeting he fed us none other than the infamous Fish and good ole Chips. Now before anyone freaks out I did eat and enjoy the meal. However, I didn't really get all the hype. It was just fried cod and chips, which are like big steak fries! It would never be something I would order on my own but it was a great experience. I felt very British indeed. And Shane gave us all little posters from the London transport museum with different quotes.

That night we went to see Pina Bausch for the second time! Dora Duvisac, an alumni from the JMU dance department happened to be floating around London and joined us for the incredible performance!  This piece was made after her visit to Palermo, Sicily. You can count on Pina Bausch to be thoroughly entertained the entire performance. From the moment the huge wall of bricks fell in silence to open the piece I was enthralled by her nonstop, detailed, and evocative story telling. If you ever get the chance to see her company perform, take it.

After the show and being completely empty of food having gone without dinner we ventured to Tesco, the only place open late on a Monday night. BUT to our own surprise we discovered Tesco Meal Deals. Chips, a drink, and a sandwich/pasta thing all for cheap! Too bad it was the last week!

Islamic tiles...beauty. 

This entire thing was filled with different pills.

"I could teach you how to speak my language, Rosetta Stone" thanks Drake (that's for you Becky)

Egyptian things.

The British Museum.

Dora comes to see Pina Bausch! 

green and trees and air

Sunday, July 1:

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS, my best friend from home who turned 21)

Anyways! Tis the day we went to Stonehenge and Bath!

We woke up at the crack of dawn to catch our tour bus for the trip. Luckily it was totally worth it! The bus we took throughout the day was comfortable and pretty nice for a bus. And our tour guide was a hoot. Him and our bus driver Martin (if you have seen the Parent Trap you will understand how fun it was to have a bus driver named Martin) provided quite the entertainment for the day!

Our first stop was Stonehenge! Located smack in the middle of nowhere and when I say middle of nowhere I really mean luscious green countryside of Wiltshire. I think the mystery of what Stonehenge really is and why it is there is what made looking at it so interesting. We were given an audio tour, but I found myself a little distracted by the views and opted out of the listening. The sights were enough info for me! We only had a short and sweet hour at Stonehenge, which ended up being just the right amount of time. Much longer and we would of started taking jumping pictures (oh wait, we did that).

Our journey from Stonehenge to Bath was absolutely beautiful. We went through a number of tiny villages and as our tour guide pointed out, all of which had undoubtedly a pub, central to the village. I am kind of a nerd about old buildings and history, so seeing all of the old villages was truly something special.

Bath was unbelievable! It is called the golden city because most of the buildings are made from the same color limestone. Bath is also special because it stands out from other cities in England for its architecture. The city transported me to Italy, a place I have been dying to go to for forever now! So it was nice to be able to experience something completely different from London. When we arrived we were dropped off in front of Bath Abbey, a beautiful church in the center of town. We decided to stick with our tour guide who led us up through the streets past Jane Austen's home! YES the actual home she spent many years writing and growing up in! Into The Circus, a circular formation of apartment buildings inspired by the Roman Colosseum. And finally to the Royal Crescent, another set of beautifully architected apartments overlooking the city of Bath.

We then decided to part ways with our tour guide and get the most delicious Italian lunch at the Martini Ristorante. We were greeted by the friendliest group of waiters and a cozy little interior. Not to mention the best spinach and ricotta manicotti with a creamy tomato sauce, can we say yum! If you know me at all, this was one of my favorite meals of the trip! After lunch we all broke up and a few of us headed to the Jane Austen Museum. Unfortunately you had to pay to walk around so we settled for the gift shop! We mosied around enjoying the beautiful city and came across an adorable vintage store and bopped into Prince Charles own store, Highgrove. We couldn't leave Bath without experiencing the Roman Baths. So we went into the famous Pump Room, where you can get tea or lunch or if you are cheap like us just try the Bath water! Which we did...and as my good friend Carolyn put it "It's like when your necklace gets stuck in your mouth at the pool". And as our tour guide would say, one sip is most likely enough haha...

To wash out the taste of metal in our mouths we grabbed some ice cream and hit the road. Back through the beautiful countryside of England we saw Salisbury fields and closer to London got a peak at Windsor Castle! We ended up getting back to the dorms later than expected and of course starved. A few of us decided to try the infamous Pizza Express right around the corner from our dorm. Turned out to be a bust. Bails and I shared a disappointing pizza. BUT to end the night Spain won! WOOHOO the streets were filled with cheering and a ridiculous amount of Spaniards. Where they all came from? No one knows. To celebrate I finally got my Twix McFlurry, thats right American friends a Twix McFlurry aka heaven :)

Big Rocks also known as Stonehenge

Jumping pics, fail (Katy?)

Bath Abbey

Jane Austen's humble abode! And our tour guide.

The Circus.

Gray telephone booth. Apparently loads of movies are filmed in Bath so they painted it gray to camouflage it.

The Royal Crescent.

NOM

Jane Austen Museum

Bath Fountain inside the Pump Room...where our water came from.

Roman Baths

English countryside.

TWIX.

THE camden pub crawl and birthday celebrations

Friday, June 29:

We started out the day dancing of course! We took our Friday class with Sonia, my favorite teacher of the trip. She has taught me all about monkey space, mars bars, chocolate twists, and telescopes. AND yes all of these relate to dance somehow. Katelyn and I just couldn't get enough dancing so we made our way over to Pineapple Dance Studios and took a contemporary jazz class with a teacher from the states! Afterwards we were dripping in sweat and starved so we made a very slow trek to Alara, a Health and Foods store. I had the biggest piece of vegetable lasagna I have ever seen and of course I ate every last bite of it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing school work (yuck) and getting ready for the big night ahead of us, Camden Pub Crawl here we come! The crawl started out at The Wheelbarrow, where we got our wristbands and vouchers for free shots at the bar! My friend Morgan who is also studying in London met us at the bar with a group of her hilarious flat mates. After soaking up some live music at The Wheelbarrow we frolicked our way literally across the street with tour guide Greg in the lead to Belushi's. Upon arrival we were given more free shot vouchers and were informed of several discounted drink offers (the reason why the pub crawl was totally worth it). Then it was onto the next one, PROUD! Easily the coolest place we went to. It is a bar/club set in old horse stables, how cool! Our next stop was the Blues Kitchen, host to some fabulous live music. Lots of soulful dancing took place AND Marissa turned 21 at the stroke of midnight at the Blues Kitchen. Don't worry we celebrated well. LAST STOP KOKO! Koko is an old beautiful theatre thats been transformed into a club. Couldn't get enough of KOKO. The club scene hasn't been our favorite but Koko took the cake. I went to sleep that night with feet the size of balloons, a sure sign of a good night.

Saturday, June 30:

We all took the luxury sleeping in after the big night out and lazily made our way to Harrods the most luxurious incredibly large department store ever. I could have spent hours in that store. Unfortunately a sock cost close to 200lbs so the only thing I could afford was inside the Harrods gift shop :) We walked around Kensington, a really nice area of London and then plopped down in Kensington Gardens for Marissa's birthday picnic. The typical picnic food was in attendance. Digestives, fruit, boursin cheese (our fav), cheddar, bread, chocolate, etc etc. We had planned to go to Abbey Road, but ran out of time and got birthday ice cream!

That night we saw Ganesh vs. the Third Reich. Tobby Jones, the actor who plays the voice of Dobby and was in Ever After was in attendance! The show was performed by a company of actors with disabilities. The show reminded me of The Producers, going back and forth between rehearsal and the "actual show," which told the story of Ganesh's journey through Nazi Germany to reclaim the Swastika. We were all a little exhausted after seeing the show, emotionally and physically so we went back to the dorm, ordered pizza, and celebrated Marissa's 21st!

The Camden Pub Crawl goers.

MORG

KOKO!

Birthday Picnic

Birthday girl with her mint ice cream!

The elevators in Harrods.