Same breakfast as always! And if you’ve forgotten what that is for me, it consists of one croissant, 2 mini blueberry muffins, a small cup of orange juice, and one or two cups of tea depending on what I feel. After finishing before everyone else, as always, I headed out on my morning routine, also, as always. I met the group at the station like normal and we headed out for the Tate museum. I wasn’t looking forward to yet another museum, and didn’t really see anything that I really liked. We were given two hours or so to check out the museum and I was done and had seen everything I’d wanted to after half an hour. So I sat in the café and had some tea and watched a video about the sculptor that they had an exhibition for. After an hour and a half, we left to have lunch before going to the Tate modern museum. We took a bus boat across the river to a stop near the Tate modern. This was THE MOST incredible boat ride I’ve ever taken in my life. Why you ask? Simple. That’s because we passed underneath the bridge (I forget what it’s called) that’s seen in the beginning of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince- the footbridge that the death eaters attack whilst muggles are walking across it. I had someone take a photo of me with it in the background, of course. That was just really awesome to see. First Hogwarts at the Lacock Abbey, then the Great Hall at Christ’s Church in Oxford, then the famous footbridge magically torn apart by the death eaters in London. Harry Potter world scavenger hunt- complete. I can die happy.
We ate at a pizza place and got some delicious gelato afterwards that we ate while we walked to the Tate modern. Once in the museum, I definitely enjoyed myself. This was without a doubt my favorite museum from the entire trip. I saw They had an entire wing dedicated to Surrealism. I saw two Salvador Dali paintings, a Picasso, some Man Ray pieces, and other various infamous surrealists. On the floor just above the surrealism wing, there was a special exhibition entitled ‘Exposed’. It was extra to get in, but TOTALLY worth it. It was an entire Photography exhibition about surveillance and street photography snapshot types of photography. Absolutely up my alley. I saw so many photographs that I love and many pieces by photographers that I admire. I saw work by Henri Carter-Bresson, Robert Frank, Weegee, Friedlander, Paul Strand, and other famous photos by photographers I can’t think of. It was an incredible collection, and later I found out that the Exposed Exhibition is the first entirely Photography display that the Tate modern has ever had. Again, excellent timing! (I’m pretty sure Armon, my Photography instructor in charge of this trip, knew about this exhibition. There’s no way we just happened to be there in the time frame that it is being shown. Ha) I lost track of time in this exhibition- now that’s saying something. Usually I fly through museums. I looked at the time when I entered, and when I looked at it again a little more than half way through I realized it was time for us to be regrouping downstairs. (Well that doesn’t say anything about where my passions lie at all.) After leaving, I bought a book on the way out at the little shop. I bought a Street Photography book that really goes into depth about what makes a photograph a ‘Street Photography’ photograph and what not. I’m saving it for the plane ride(s) back and can’t wait to read it. After leaving the museum I sat outside for awhile (Armon told everyone they can have an extra hour in the museum and I had already walked out so I didn’t want to go back in.) and enjoyed the time in the sun under the uncanny blue skies and sunshine. I love people watching, and if you love people watching, you should travel to a different country, because the people watching in a different country is significantly better than the people watching in your home country. 1) you will never recognize anyone or see anyone you know and thus will never be interrupted. 2) you sometimes can’t understand the languages being used by the people you are watching, and are given the opportunity to guess and translate their words however you want- this can be quite funny, and definitely squeezes a chuckle or two out of me when I participate (as if that’s a rare thing). 3) Also along the lines of not understanding the country’s language and that being spoken, you are given absolute entire freedom of interpretation; it’s like a guessing game or charades. Very fun to try and figure out what people are having conversations about when you can’t speak the language they’re using. (Yes, they speak English in England, but it’s completely normal to hear at least two other languages other than English throughout the course of the day. When I was sitting alone outside the museum, there was a group of old ladies behind me speaking in German, and a middle-aged couple at the table next to me mumbling in Russian. I love hearing Russian.)
We got back to the hotel, and I hung out in the room with the television like I do every night. I watched the France vs. Mexico game (good job Mexico, France played like crap) and curled my hair with a straightener (an incredible feat, especially with a tiny travel-sized straightener only meant for straightening). After some time, everyone else, like always, went out to the bars and what not. While everyone was getting all spiffed and dressed up (which I don’t understand why it’s even necessary to get dressed up and wear nice clothes when you risk a stranger or even yourself spilling some sort of nasty drink on your good clothing) I got on the interwebz. I had the computer for awhile, seeing as everyone else was not going to be back for quite some time, and was able to skype my Ma, Pa, kid sis (and her new ukulele), and even Mister Strider Pants Man. I miss that cat and I can’t wait to chase him around the house again when I get home. While skyping my fam, I got the wonderful news of our family summer trip plan for this summer. We will be traveling to the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter and what not in Orlando Florida at the end of July. I am STOKED. It’s also going to be extra fun because it’s just the family this summer. No significant others (sorry zach hahah, but you’re not the biggest HP fan anyways. Plus you smell. Just kidding. I don’t even think you read this blog.) It’s going to be the first time in a few years that it’s solely our family traveling, and that alone is something that I’m extremely excited about. It also could have a lot to do with having been traveling around for an entire month with a bunch of strangers and longing to just travel with my family or people I know again. Ha. After a long, good skyping, I returned the computer, and got ready for bed. I found the Sixth Sense on tv- a classic in my heart, and the first official scary movie that I ever saw. My mom and I rented it when I was 13 or 14, and thus inspired my love for scary movies. (I guess my obsession with horror films is your fault mom, so good job. JK LOL) I could seriously quote that entire movie. I was watching it in the room alone saying the lines before the actors said them. If you know any movies where you can do that, try it, because it’s incredibly amusing. Just make sure no one else is in the room with you, because then you just become an annoying arrogant loser person.
My ipod headphones are kind of broken. The wires are kind of breaking and they’re really testy and it sucks. Nonetheless I got them to function just fine for me and went to bed listening to Sufjan Steven’s Seven Swans album, my favourite of his, and it put me right to sleep. (In a good way, not the boring way.)
Oh- one last thing. When I was coming back to the hotel on the subway (we kind of got separated as a group, but it didn’t matter because we all knew where we were going and how to get there), I witnessed a classic fun-loving English person conversation. It went like this: Oh, and try to imagine this in English accents- that’s what really makes it. (duh)
(Lady sitting next to an open seat offering it to the woman standing next to her)
Woman 1: “Oh- would you like to sit?!”
Woman 2: “Ah, nah, that’s quite alright.”
Woman 1: “Oh sure.”
Woman 2: (after pondering the offer some more) “You know I had a big milkshake with my lunch… got to burn off all of those calories after that! But thanks anyways, Cheers!”
(laughter)
I love English people. There always just so cheery (no pun intended) and kind and happy. They’re always watching out for one another, and I really adore that. They’re just always having a jolly-good life.
No comments:
Post a Comment