London Calling

Okay, fair warning, this post is going to be a long one. It's an entire week of London, so it's quite busy.

I met my family (my dad, stepmom, older brother Michael, and younger stepsister Abby) in Exeter on April 12th and after a short tour of Exeter (the cathedral, the Printworks, the university), we headed to London.

Sunday morning we headed out to the Spitalsfield market where we saw lots of cool things: cute dresses, pocket watches, Lego cuff links, and posters with entire books on one page. I bought myself a fascinator, which I shall have to find some occasion to wear.

Afterwards we headed to Westminster, and past the Houses of Parliament, and walked across the bridge to the London Eye. The view afforded to us was wonderful, including: St. Paul's Cathedral, the Shard, the Houses of Parliament, and the many bridges across the Thames.

We crossed to Jubilee Bridge and walked to Trafalgar Square where we took the obligatory tourist photos with the Lion statues there.

Then we took the double decker red bus around the city (on the way we saw St James Palace and Clarence House, two of the Royal residences in London), before getting off at Hyde Park and walking to Speakers Corner. It was basically a bunch of people yelling at each other, but the concept is a great example of democracy and free speech, and I imagine it can be amazing (depending upon who is speaking of course).

The next morning we took the tube to Leicester Square to get theatre tickets; while the "adults" waited in line, Abby, Michael and I watched the water show at the Shakespeare Fountain and took advantage of the wifi at the nearby Odeon (the cinema at which UK film premieres occur).

We then did a walking tour alone the Strand and the Thames, seeing sights such as: St Clement Danes (one of the many London churches by Sir Christopher Wren of Wren Building Fame back at William & Mary),  Somerset House, Banqueting House (the only remaining part of Whitehall Palace), the Royal Courts of Justice, the Twinning's Tea Shop, the Temple Church commemorating the Templar knights, St Dustan the West (marking the end of the Great Fire), a statue of Elizabeth I, and St Brides (another Wren church).

We finally made it to St. Paul's which was spectacular. We climbed up to the Whispering Gallery (the acoustics of which allow you to whisper at one end and be heard at the other), the Stone Gallery (the bottom outer rim of the outside dome), and the Golden Gallery (at the top of the outer dome). The view was definitely worth the number of steps we climbed to reach it.

That evening we attended Stomp at the Ambassadors Theatre. I had already heard the concept of the show, percussion with found objects, but I never expected it to be as funny as it was. The actors made faces at each other and at the audience, creating a story without ever saying a word.

The next morning we headed to the Tower of London, thankfully as guests not as prisoners (the latter of which hardly ever seem to come out again, with their heads attached at least). The Crown Jewels were amazing. My favorite was Queen Victoria's smaller crown created to go with her widow's mourning veil, it seemed much more tasteful than the other "everyday" crowns.

The Beefeater tour was also cool, our guide was funny if a bit sexist, and we learned interesting facts about the Yeomen Warders (such as the fact that they, and their families are locked into the Tower grounds each night at ten).

We also saw one of the Queen's Guard, he must have been fairly new because his blank face broke a little bit and he cracked a slight smile when a woman in the crowd shouted that she loved him.

After we exited the Tower, we headed to Tower Bridge (which many mistake for London Bridge), where we got some more amazing views of the city (along with pictures of the bridge's construction, other ideas that were considered, and other amazing bridges worldwide).

We took the tube to Kings Cross, where we got our dorky Platform 9 3/4 photos and pretended to be wizards, or witches to be more precise (totally never done that before right?)

On Wednesday we had a package tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. On the way out of the city our tour guide told us interesting facts about the areas through which we were driving (like the window tax during the War of Independence which led to many people bricking up their windows to avoid paying it).

Windsor Castle was beautiful, particularly the State Apartments. My favorite rooms were the Garter Throne Room (home to the current Queen's coronation portrait) and the Queen's Drawing Room. I was also excited to see the famous portrait of Elizabeth I as a princess. St. George's Chapel was also cool, with its Gothic vaulted archways and stained glass windows.

Unsurprisingly Stonehenge was also beautiful, as was the surrounding land (all of which is owned by the Ministry of Defense leading to some interesting signage about tank crossings, which of course always get the right of way). We also walked over to one of the nearby Barrows, or burial mounds, which apparently would have originally gleamed white with a layer of chalk.

Bath is well known for its beauty and the reputation is well deserved; I was admittedly excited in part because it is the city in which Jane Austen lived when she wrote Pride & Prejudice and Mansfield Park. The Roman Baths were an interesting glimpse into history, but I preferred the Bath Abbey, which was apparently inspired by a weird dream.

On the way back into London we drove through the Cotswolds, which is an area known for its natural beauty, and Pennsylvania, England (the only city in the UK named after a city in the US rather than vice versa).

The next morning we arrived two hours early for the Buckingham Palace Changing of the Guard, so we got a good spot near the gates. It was especially interesting once the band arrived, but I can't believe that they actually go through with this ceremony every day.

Then we headed to Westminster Abbey, where we saw Poets Corner (which is home mainly to memorials rather than actual burial sites) and the tomb of Elizabeth I.

Then we walked to the Churchill War rooms. The underground bunker was pretty cool, although I have minimal interest in military history I definitely have an interest in him as a politician.

On our way to the underground station we walked through the Horse Guards building, where we saw one of the Queen's Life Guards (the cavalry version of the Queen's Guard).

Then we took the tube to Harrods, which is super intense and a bit labyrinthine (I certainly kept getting turned around). We saw a toddler's dress which cost £3500 and a working child's car which cost as much as a real one. My favorites were the Folio Society copies of classic books and the Alexander McQueen dresses.

On Friday we spent another morning in Leicester Square, getting so for a show that night as well as a single ticket for a show in Saturday night.

Then we headed to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, a 1997 recreation. The tour if the building was silent, but for good reason, we saw some of the rehearsal for their performance of Titus Andronicus.

After lunch we headed into the Globe's exhibition where my favorites were the costumes (including an Elizabeth I costume made for their grand opening) and the recordings of famous renditions of Shakespeare speeches (Kenneth Brannagh in Hamlet, Judi Dench in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Peter O'Toole, Laurence Olivier).

We walked along the water to see the HMS Belfast which Michael was pretty excited about. I was less interested, as I said before I'm not much for military history, and one military ship seems much like any other to me.

Later in the evening we saw Relative Values at the Harold Pinter Theatre. The play involved an English aristocrat (Nigel) whose mother (Felicity) and domestic staff (Crestwell and Moxie) disapprove of his engagement to English-born Hollywood actress (Miranda), for both social (such as class distinctions) and personal reasons. The play was hilarious, as well as discussing the tension caused by the drive towards social equality.

Miranda's "American" accent is particularly funny, primarily because it is so bad. It certainly adds to her character as an insincere and unconvincing actress, whether it was intentional or not. I also enjoyed Crestwell, the butler, and his full-of-himself sarcasm.

Saturday morning was my family's last in London, so we headed out to Covent Garden (a market, not actual gardens) and then to Trafalgar Square for a second time, before heading back to the hotel and saying our goodbyes. 

After that I headed over to my new hotel and, after checking in, went out to the National Portrait Gallery. I spent almost two hours there, and could certainly have spent longer. Seeing such sights as: the coronation portrait of Elizabeth I, a bust of Queen Victoria, a political cartoon of Lord Chamberlain, the iconic miniature of Jane Austen painted by her sister, and a portrait of Princess Diana.

Then I headed around the corner to the National Gallery, where my favorites were: the Virgin in Prayer by Sassoferrato, Venice the Grand Canal by Canaletto, Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus by Joseph Mallord William Turner, and of course the Water Lily Pond by Claude Monet.

Then I had my last show in the West End, Jeeves and Wooster in  Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York's Theatre. It was a play within a play put on by Wooster (a silly, shallow, not too bright aristocrat) with the not inconsiderable help of his unflappable butler Jeeves and his Aunt's elderly butler Seppings. Jeeves and Seppings play all of the other roles as well and run into entertaining difficulties when there are more than three characters in a scene. Wooster is frequently sidetracked by the steadily improving scenery and comments on the set pieces or begins some unrelated story, by the end he comments on his success and how easy it all was, despite doing very little of the actual work.

Easter morning was my first actual rainy/foggy day in London, so I guess that means I got e full experience. I headed out about 8:00 and waited in line outside Westminster Abbey until 9:45 to attend the Easter Sung Eucharist. The wait was worth it, I was seated only a few feet from the alter and I could see and hear everything. The Abbey was even more beautiful when it was filled with music, and the choir sounded practically angelic.

The service ended around noon so I headed out to Waterloo Station to bug a train ticket back to Exeter after my tour ends next Sunday and the  took the tube to Trafalgar Square where I visited the National Gallery for a second time.

I spent about a half an hour waiting in line to go see Van Gogh's Sunflowers, which are only on display through April 27th so it was now or never. They had both the Amsterdam and London versions on display, and eh were certainly beautiful. It is by far my favorite Van Gogh (even above Starry Night), but Monet is still my very favorite. So I went back into the main gallery after leaving the Sunflowers room and spent a little while sitting in front of the Water Lily Pond.

Then it was time for the Evensong service at St. Paul's, I wanted to make sure that I experienced a bit of both of the great churches in London. It was basically the same as the full service I attended in the morning, just without communion. The choir was spectacular. I would argue at they were superior to that of Westminster, but they were assisted I think by the superior acoustics of their environment. The entire cathedral was filled with sound because of the high roofs and the vast amount of available space. The sermon was also superior. The deacon was pretty funny as he discussed the importance of gratitude and joy in God rather than fear of God.

Overall it was an enjoyable Easter Day, and definitely an enjoyable week in London. I can't wait to come back!

But, I also look forward to my next week traveling around Europe. Next up: Amsterdam!

Venice or La Serenissima

In Venice we had absolutely no trouble at all finding our hostel from the train station, we took this as a good sign of our ability to find our way there (but, as you will find out later, we were proven quite wrong). The hostel was pretty basic, we had a room of eight there, but it had an pretty entrance (a green door with a private bridge).

We went out for dinner only a little after our arrival, to a place called Trattoria Bar Pontini. We each ordered a pasta dish and split it, I got pasta with scallops and mushrooms, and Maddy ordered the spaghetti with cuttlefish in black sauce (which is a particularly Venetian dish, and pretty good, if a little unnerving). We headed back to the hostel for the night, and socialized with some of our roommates (two of whom were also American study abroad students studying at Exeter).

Our first stop the next morning was the Campo di San Marco to attend the sung mass at the Basilica di San Marco. The mass was beautiful, as was the basilica, every time the chorus sang (from their balcony to the side of the alter) the space swelled with sound. I do wish, however, that I had been more able to follow along. Every now and then we would come to a point that I would recognize, and I could pick out what was being said, but other times I would completely lose track of the train of the service until they came around to  the familiar again. 

The basilica is absolutely amazing to look at, the inside of every dome and the underside of every archway (and really across the entirety of the ceiling it seems) was covered in gold and mosaics (and the occasional fresco). I defy anyone to enter the chapel without a gasp of amazement at the sight.

After mass we walked along the grand channel and took in the sights, including: the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Giglio, and the Chiesa di San Vidal, as well as many other beautiful sights. 

We eventually settled on the Campo di Santa Margherita at the cafe Margaret Duchamp, where we ordered Bellinis (a delicious combination of peach puree and prosseco) and bruschette. 

We continued our leisurely stroll around the city before resting inthe Giardino Papadopoli to read for awhile. Afterwards we walked past several more churches, and inside a few before stopping for pastries at Nobile Pasticerria and then for Latte Macchiatos and people watching at a cafe a little further down.

We headed back to the hostel for some rest and phone recharging before heading back out in search of a restaurant. The one we were looking for was not where Google said it would be unfortunately, so we found one that looked good nearer to our hostel. There we tried chichetos (the Venetian version of tapas). We had prosciutto sandwiches, bruschette with tuna, and bread with cucumber and some kind of sauce. It was all pretty delicious, even the tuna of which I was slightly suspicious.

We walked for a bit longer before making our second pastry stop of the day, where we got to fruit tarts which turned out to be heavier than expected and filled with candied fruit. They were incredibly sweet, and I could not quite finish mine.

Afterwards we ended up making another complete loop around Venice, somewhat by accident as Venice is extremely labyrinthine and we got a little lost. 

The next morning we went out for breakfast at the cafe Santa Sofia, where I had some more delicious hot chocolate with a croissant. The we headed along the long and winding rout to Campo di San Marco, in search of jewelry and venetian masks. We eventually found our way to two of the mask shops that I had heard were mong the best, Ca del Sol Maschere and Atelier Magera. I looked through several masks before finding one that was pretty enough to display, comfortable enough to wear, and not so elaborate that I would worry about it getting damaged.

On the way back towards San Marco we walked past another one the churches on my list, among many others that we saw on our walks through the city, the Chiesa di San Zaccaria (dedicated to the father of St. John the Baptist).

By that point it was time for lunch, so we decided to head back o Margaret Duchamp. We walked along the Grand Canal for a bit, taking pictures in front of the canal and in front of the Bridge of Sighs. Luckily this time we managed to find Campo di Santa Margherita without getting lost. Along with lunch we decided to try a cocktail that had been invented in Venice, the Spritz. Unfortunately it was far too bitter for my tastes, although the olive and the slice of orange in the drink were both delicious. Then we required coffee in order to continue to function, so I ordered another Latte Macchiato and sat and talked in the shade for a bit longer. 

We walked through San Marcos on the way back to the hostel, once again forgetting the way we had come and taking yet another new route (it's a miracle we ever found anything we were looking for). The walk back was also lovely, and we looked in a few more shops on the way, but we didn't end up getting anything.

Later we headed out to dinner at the Ristorante da Rafaelle, which had a gorgeous view of the canals and from which were could watch the gondolas. We shared a Caprese appetizer, Risotto with asparagus and shrimp, and a bottle of Fruilano wine. It was a wonderful last dinner in Italy, with good food and good wine.

It was definitely an interesting last day, and actually fairly relaxing. I think that, as much as I enjoy traveling, I could not have traveled for longer. By that point I was a bit exhausted and ready for a break.

The streets were practically empty on our last morning in Venice, understandable as it was still before even 6:30 as we walked towards the train station, and very few shops were open. Venice looked a bit strange and unnerving with all of the crowds absent from its streets.

We were at the airport and through security by eight, and our flight didn't depart until 9:50, so suffice to say we were there in plenty of time. The Treviso Sant'Angelo airport was tiny, only 10 gates and a couple of small stores. We browsed the few shops that were there while we waited, and I debated the merits of bringing home a bottle of Bellini (although I ultimately decided against it).

The view from our plane as we were coming into London was beautiful, so I once again took some pictures from the window. I have to admit that coming back to Exeter felt like coming home, it's hard to believe that it was a completely new place only about three months ago.

Florence/Firenze

Our train from Rome only took about an hour and a half, so we arrived in Florence at 5:30, giving us time to check in at our hostel before heading out in search of food. The views from the train were wonderful; there were rolling green hills, farmland with mountains in the distance, and many red-roofed Mediterranean houses. I would certainly have taken pictures if possible, but such is life.

We found Dany House with only a little trouble (we walked around a nearby piazza a couple of times before finding our turn), but as we arrived earlier than we had originally planned there was no one to let us inside for nearly twenty minutes. After Ella (one of the owners, along with her husband Jonathon) let us in she gave us a very helpful map with several suggestions of things to do and places to eat, and was generally very enthusiastic. The hostel was quite small, with only three rooms for guests, along with Ella and Jonathon's private room.

At Ella's suggestion we ate at a nearby restaurant, Il Cipiglio, and tried the well-known Florentine Steak (a super rare steak which is apparantly a traditional Tuscan dish). It was alright, but not particularly to my taste, although I am glad that I tried it anyway. On our short walk back we had a lovely view of the city and the Duomo, which was therefor the subject of my first picture in Florence (at least my first that was not of food).

The next morning we got up at about nine and had breakfast at the hostel, which consisted of several kinds of pastries and tea, before heading out. It was fairly raining that morning, so we decided to try to spend our morning in the Galleria dell'Accademia, one of the famous art museums of Florence and the one which houses the original Michelangelo's David. We waited in line for about an hour, taking advantage of the fact that we could read (I on my iPad and Maddy on her Kindle), while two guys behind us were very vocal in their displeasure with waiting.


The museum was incredible, especially David (which was much larger than I had pictured in my head). There were also some beautiful statues by Lorenzo Bartolini and paintings by Alessandro Allori. One of my favorites was the copy of Andrea del Sarto's Madonna del Sacco by Irene Parenti Duclos, which is apparently the only painting by a woman on permanent display.

Afterwards we headed back towads the Duomo, by which point the sky had cleared up at least a little, so we got some better pictures this time. The inside was much more austere than the churches we had seen in Rome (especially Santa Maria Maggiore), but the paintings on the inside of the dome more than made up for the simplicity elsewhere. I certainly understand why it is considered one of the more beautiful churches.

It was almost one by then, so we went looking for lunch. On the way we passed the Palazzo Vecchio (where we saw a replica of David) and the Loggia dei Lanzi (where we saw some statues of which we had seen the plaster models in the Galleria). We had a quick lunch of paninis at a pizzeria before making our way to the next long line at the Galleria degli Uffizi.

The Uffizi was both much larger and much more impressive than the Galleria, unfortunately with a much longer wait of more than two hours. We saw many amazing paintings and sculptures in the Uffizi, among my favorites were: Boticelli's Venus, reliefs from the Augustan Altar of Peace (or Ara Pacis), the Medici Sleeping Ariadne (a Hadrianic version of which is housed in the Vatican Museums), Albertinelli's Visitation, and Michelangelo's The Holy Family (the only painting by Michelangelo in Florence).

When we finally got out of the museum, at about five, our feet were killing us. So we found a cafe in which to take a break, and get a snack. I tried panna cotta with creme caramel and an Italian hot chocolate (which is much thicker than hot chocolate at home, and came with sugar to sweeten it). We walked around the river a bit afterwards, we even saw the Ponte Vecchio (a bridge with shops jutting out from the sides, the shops actually used to be people's houses, I think living on a bridge might make me a bit nervous).

For dinner we went to La Prosciuterria, where we had a platter of meets and cheeses, a bowl of bread, and a glass of chianti. It was actually one of the best meals I've had in Italy so far, along with Piccolo Arancio. We actually each bought a set of their wine glasses as souvenirs.

The walk home was lovely, I took a few more pictures of Florence at night on our way back to the hostel (the Duomo was almost prettier in the dark). When we got back we hung out in the common area with some of the other hostel guests for a bit (there was a girl from Peru, one from Mexico, a guy from Texas and his friend from New Mexico, a guy from New Jersey who we'd met the night before, and a girl from Connecticut).

The first thing on our list the next day was to get our train tickets to Venice, which would take us closer to two hours even on a high speed train (I wonder how long a regular train would have taken?). Then we walked through the historical center of town and crossed the Ponte Veccho. It was complete chaos, the bridge was incredibly packed with people and, as cool as the bridge (and the many beautiful jewelry shops lining it) was, I would not do it again.

After crossing the river we made the exhausting trek uphill to the Piazza di Michelangelo, which provided us with a spectacular panoramic view of Florence and the surround area (it also provided us with yet another replica of David, someone sure is popular). While my feet were definitely killing me after all those stairs, the view was worth it.

We headed back into town and grabbed some food at a pizzeria across from the Basilica di San Lorenzo, before heading into the leather market the street over. We looked at a few of the stalls and accidentally haggled a purse down from €70 to €30.

We walked back to Dany House to pick up our bags and went to catch our train. On the way we made a stop at a pasticerria, Forno, to pick up an assortment of Italian cookies to eat on the train (which were delicious by the way, and I'll definitely have to learn to make some).