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The past couple weeks have been insanely busy! It got especially crazy because we started having class field trips last week. These trips are one of the coolest things about studying abroad. For the classes I chose, I get to go on 14 trips this semester-- that's one or two a week! Last week I had two trips, and I had two more this week. In addition, a group of friends and I went to London for a tour of the Buckingham Palace state rooms on Sunday!
Our first trip was to Windsor Castle last Tuesday for my Fine Arts class. We did a quick walk-through of the castle with audio guides, then got to explore the town for a bit. Later on, we came back to attend Evensong in St. George's Chapel. During Evensong, there are many readings done by priests and lovely music sung by a boy's choir.
One of London’s finest attractions is its recreation of William Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre! Opened to the public in 1997 by actor Mark Rylance, the Globe is a nearly-perfect representation of what the original Globe of 1599 would have been like. The modern day rendition is made out of mostly traditional materials, such as plaster, oak, and thatch, and there is no roof, similar to the original theatre. Last Wednesday, my literature class (Texts on Film and Location) got to see Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." This play is a romantic comedy that follows two love stories. One is the up and down relationship between the young and handsome Claudio and Hero. The other story is about the reluctant and witty romance between Benedick and Beatrice, who start off hating each other only to fall in love later on. The unique part of the Globe’s production of Much Ado was that it was set during the Mexican Revolution, so the costumes and props were all extremely colorful. There was also a lot of singing and dancing! The Mexican setting was especially touching because it was the day after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Central Mexico, killing 355 people and injuring over 6,000 more, so the show was actually dedicated to the victims of the earthquake. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures or videos during the show, but I was able to snap a couple photos of the theatre before it started.
Last Sunday, a group of friends and I headed to London for the day. We had bought tickets for a tour of the 16 state rooms of Buckingham Palace, and were super excited! The tour was with personal audio guides, but it was super interesting. Each of the state rooms displayed some of the gifts the Queen had been given from different countries. After the tour, we headed towards town and came across a super random Japanese festival at Trafalgar Square! After getting some food at Subway (which was not nearly as good as it is in America, btw) we checked out Hillsong Church for a bit at the Dominion Theatre. I thought it was really cool how community-oriented this church is compared most other churches I've been to. Such a cool experience!
A couple of days ago my literature class went on another trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. In this super cute town we visited Shakespeare's birthplace, the site where his house had been (New Place), and his daughter Susanna's home. At Shakespeare's Birthplace, they have rooms set up how it could have looked when he lived there. The coolest part was that they had three actors in the gardens, and you could request any Shakespeare play for them to perform. At New Place, since the original house was destroyed years ago, people have built monuments to Shakespeare's work. There is also a beautiful garden that is fun to wander through. Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna, was married to Dr. John Hall. Visiting their house, Hall's Croft, we saw some of Dr. Hall's surgical tools and learned about some of the medical ways of their time. For dinner a group of us decided to check out a fancy-looking restaurant after seeing an advertisement for half off pizza! The pizza was so delicious! After dinner, we headed to the Swan Theatre to see Christopher Marlowe's "Dido, Queen of Carthage." The mythological story is set after the Trojan War, with a few Trojan refugees arriving in Carthage. The refugee Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus, tells Queen Dido of all the horrors of the war, and she mercifully gives him, his son, and his friends a place to stay. Venus, however, decides to make Dido fall in love with Aeneas so she will give him a fleet of ships and make him a king, so she has her other son, Cupid, inject Dido with Venus's own blood (as she is the goddess of marriage and love). Consequently, Dido falls madly in love with Aeneas and gives him everything. Unfortunately, Aeneas is called by Jupiter to go to Italy, so when he leaves Dido burns herself to death. Although this is not one of Marlowe's most well-known works, it was still very fun to see (even though it was a depressing tragedy)!
Finally, we ended the long two weeks with a play about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien last night for my C.S. Lewis class. The play was set at the pub they always met at, "The Eagle and The Child," and followed them discussing their writings and other aspects of their lives. The actors were so good I almost felt like I was actually seeing and hearing Lewis and Tolkien in person.
Overall, things have picked up pace here at Newbold, but I love it. All the trips make coming here more than worth it.