April 2nd, 2013:
Raleigh-Durham International Airport: I had no trouble getting to the airport. I woke up at 11:00 am, finished packing, and got in the car. My dad drove me and my brother to the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, we parked at the park and ride area, and we waited for a shuttle. The shuttle took us to the second airport terminal and we found our theatre group inside. The airport was airy and comfortable, and I was extremely excited for the trip. I had to go through the body scanner, which I was scared about, but it was easy. There were many shops at the airport where I bought refreshments, and the airport staff were giving out free cupcakes and drinks to passengers.
Flight: After waiting about an hour to board the flight, American Airlines Flight 174, an announcer called out our group number. I sat at 33A, a window seat. I could easily see outside, and the views I saw during landing and takeoff were breathtaking. I haven’t been on a plane since I was 6, so I didn’t remember what riding on a plane was like, but I had a good experience. The food was decent. Nothing made me sick and I liked eating it, so it was much better than I expected it would be. The attendants were friendly and helpful, and I would recommend American Airlines to other travelers. Looking outside made me slightly sick but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I didn’t sleep on the plane at all, so I was exhausted on Wednesday.
April 3rd, 2013:
Tower of London: The Tower of London was awe-inspiring. I still have trouble imagining how old it is and how many historical events took place in it. It was freezing in London on Wednesday, so I didn’t spend a lot of time outside admiring the Tower, but I remember that it had a huge moat and many buildings. Inside, and there were a lot of interesting artifacts. My favorite part were probably the crown jewels. They were huge and extremely sparkly. I also saw numerous weapons, pieces of armor, and types of torture equipment. The torture equipment was another one of my favorite exhibits.
Westminster Abbey: I could use thousands of adjectives to describe the Westminster Abbey and I still wouldn’t fully capture its exquisiteness. It was the most incredible building I’ve ever been in. There were many rooms, passages, and chambers filled with paintings and statues. The sheer beauty of the Abbey completely overwhelmed me. I feel like I didn’t see everything I could possibly see in the Abbey because it was such an overwhelming experience. I’d recommend that anyone taking a trip to London tours the Abbey, but I’d take my time viewing it to make sure I see everything in the building.
Premier Inn Ealing: The hotel we stayed in was called the Premier Inn Ealing. It was a clean hotel, and the staff members were all friendly, but it had a number of issues. One major issue was that there were only 30 minutes of free Wi-fi per room. There were four people staying in my room and we used our free minutes up quickly. It cost £3 to get 24 hours of Wi-fi. We also had to pay £3 to have bacon, eggs, or hash browns for breakfast. These were part of the special “chef’s breakfast” that cost extra money to eat. Lastly, the hotel was far away from the London Underground, or Tube, station. It took about half an hour to travel into the center of London from the hotel.
Hotel dinner: The hotel dinner was disappointing because I, along with the rest of the people in the tour group, expected fish and chips. We weren’t able to have fish and chips for some reason so we had poorly made lasagna and fries. The fries were great, like fries usually are, but the lasagna was gross. I ate it since there was nothing else to eat but I’d rather have had fish.
April 4th, 2013:
Workshop: We went to a theatre workshop on Thursday taught by two experienced actors- one man was Irish and the other was British. They played entertaining games with us then split us into four groups. Each group created words or scenes with their bodies. We spent the last hour of the workshop creating a detailed scene. In my group, a couple fought in a restaurant. The woman angrily flipped over the table and everyone in the restaurant pulled out guns. They shot one another and fell to the floor or ran away. The workshop instructors told us all of the characters had to not be touching the ground at two points in the scene. I played the table, so my job was pretty easy. I fell on my side when I was flipped over, and stayed there for the rest of the scene. I was exempt from the “everyone must be off the ground” rule because I played an inanimate object.
British Museum: The British Museum was interesting, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed other attractions and museums. There were a lot of ancient artifacts and books, but few objects captured my attention. My favorite exhibit by far was the Rosetta Stone. The picture I took of myself in front of the Rosetta Stone was one of my favorite pictures from the trip. The gift shop in the museum was large and it contained many fun items related to the museum’s exhibits, like a Rosetta Stone made out of chocolate. Sadly, I didn’t buy anything, but if I went back again I’d have a number of items I’d want to buy.
The Phantom of the Opera: I’ve seen The Phantom of the Opera before at the Durham Performing Arts Center, and both versions of the play are incredible, but the version I saw at Her Majesty’s Theatre is better than the touring version. The performances were both equally good, but Her Majesty’s Theatre is where Andrew Lloyd Webber’s original Phantom of the Opera (starring Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman) was performed. I’ve been a fan of the soundtrack from the original London performance for years, so I was ecstatic to learn that I was in the theatre where Phantom was first performed. I bought the soundtrack from the original performance.
For anyone who hasn’t seen Phantom, the story is about Christine Daae, an orphaned girl living in an opera house. A mysterious voice gives her singing lessons, and she believes that the voice belongs to her deceased father. She calls the speaker her “Angel of Music.” The owner of the opera house retires and two new owners take his place. They don’t treat the Angel of Music (who actors in the opera house call the Phantom of the Opera or the Opera Ghost) respectfully, refusing to pay him or leave a box empty for him. The Phantom starts to get angry and, to make matters worse, Christine falls in love with Raoul, the new patron of the opera house. The Phantom hears them confess their love for each other and he angrily starts making horrible events happen in the opera house.
Hummus Bros: Hummus Bros had much better food than the hotel had, but I don’t particularly like hummus so I wasn’t a big fan of this restaurant. There were barely enough seats for everyone to sit down, and the steps to the second floor of the restaurant were narrow. The overall atmosphere of the restaurant was nice, however.
North Gower Street: After eating, the tour group split up. Some people went back to the hotel to retire early, while other people went shopping for a few hours. I was a member of the latter group. Instead of going shopping, my dad and I walked for about twenty minutes to North Gower Street. The door next to Speedy’s Café, a restaurant on the street, is where 221B on Sherlock, the BBC TV show, is filmed. I took a picture in front of the door then walked to Oxford Street and shopped for half an hour.
April 5th, 2013:
Bus tour: It was still extremely cold on Friday, so I was excited for the bus tour. I was able to see numerous attractions in London without freezing to death. The tour guide giving us the bus tour, Allen, was a nice man who knew a lot about London. He gave detailed descriptions of each building and statue we passed by. He was also hilarious. He called us his “plum puddings” and “possums.” The bus drove by the London Eye, Tower Bridge, American Embassy, Shard, and Westminster Abbey. We also drove by many memorials and statues. This segment of the trip was relaxing and fun.
Changing of the guard: We saw the guards at Buckingham Palace change. I’ve seen the changing of the guard at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, and both ceremonies are quite similar- they’re boring, completely overrated, and not worth seeing. We stood by a courtyard for half an hour to see some guards stomping off in the distance. They left the courtyard and passed by us, out of our line of sight. The only part of the ceremony I liked was seeing the mounted guards. There were some policemen on horses much closer to us, and I thought they were neat. It was cold outside when we watched the ceremony, and I’d just had repulsive coffee a few minutes before watching it so I was already in a bad mood when it started. If I had more sleep and it was warmer, I might have found it much more enjoyable.
St. Paul’s Cathedral: St. Paul’s Cathedral was nice, but it wasn’t nearly as pretty as Westminster Abbey. My favorite (and least favorite) part of St. Paul’s was its view. It’s a tall building and, when you climb to the top of it, you have a birds-eye view of London. The view was also my least favorite part of St. Paul’s because I had to climb hundreds of steps to get to the top of the building. The climb was exhausting. I’m not very fit, and I think people who are fit didn’t mind the climb, but if you’re like me you might want to skip it. My legs were shaking by the time I got back down the steps. Walking down was almost as bad as going up, because the steps were narrow and I was terrified that I’d fall.
Tea: After leaving St. Paul’s, we went to a small restaurant to have afternoon tea. I’ve only had tea a few times, but I’ve always liked it. The tea we had tasted fine. The restaurant gave us sugar cubes and crumpets. I thought the meal was incredibly British and I loved it.
Thai restaurant: We went to a Thai restaurant for dinner. I don’t know the name of the restaurant but it was a chain restaurant in Soho. We had two courses. The first was a salty soup that I hated. I’ve had it before and I’ve never liked it. The second course was a delicious blend of vegetables, noodles, and chicken. It more than made up for the first course.
Spamalot: I’ve never watched all of Monty Python and the Holy Grail before (I watched it once at school but I missed the first half so I didn’t know what was going on) so I had no idea what to expect from this show. It blew me away. Both acts were hilarious and I laughed throughout the whole show. Spamalot is about the Knights of the Round Table, led by King Arthur, who go on a quest to find the Holy Grail. I loved how the show broke the fourth wall by making pop culture references. One character even tells another character that they’re in a musical. The actor playing King Arthur, Stephen Tompkinson, broke character when the leader of the Knights who say Ni, a group of enemy knights, renamed themselves a ridiculously long name that Tompkinson couldn’t remember. The name was over thirty seconds long so I don’t blame him. I also liked that the show mentioned gay rights and had homosexual characters. At the end of Spamalot, everyone in the audience sang along to “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” It was a perfect ending to a perfect play.
April 6th, 2013:
Sherlock Holmes Museum: The Sherlock Holmes Museum was much nicer than the British Museum. The employees at the museum (dressed as Mrs. Hudson) were all courteous and respectful. The museum embodied what life as Sherlock Holmes or John Watson must have been like. I thought that the letters from people who believe Sherlock is real were the most intriguing exhibit. There were also life-size statues of creatures from the stories and notes from Sherlock’s journal. I loved the gift shop. It had pens that look like hypodermic needles and deerstalkers. I bought both items.
Forbidden Planet: Forbidden Planet is a store that sells something for every nerd. It has books, shirts, and toys related to every TV show, anime, or book series you can think of. It was Doctor Who Day when I visited the store, so I got a free goodie bag and Jammie Dodgers. I also bought Doctor Who action figures, a sonic screwdriver, and a Sherlock book. If it wasn’t so far away I’d definitely want to go back.
Harry Potter guided tour: One of Richard’s (the tour director’s) friends is a big Harry Potter fan, and she led a Harry Potter guided tour. We went to a few filming locations, including the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. The woman running the tour split us into houses and gave us house points. She also quizzed us on Harry Potter trivia. I haven’t read the books or watched the movies in a while, so I didn’t know any of the trivia answers. I got to ride on a double-decker bus. I’ve always wanted to ride one and it was as cool as I hoped it would be. My team ended up coming in second and I got even more candy.
Indian restaurant: The last restaurant we went to served Indian food. The food was decent but unmemorable. There was meat and rice served in a soy sauce. I liked it but I’m not inclined to eat it again.
Rock of Ages: We were supposed to see Les Miserables, but EF Tours messed up and made us see Rock of Ages instead. It’s definitely an interesting show, but I think some middle schoolers learned about subjects that they probably shouldn’t learn about for a couple years. The show was extremely inappropriate. It had strippers, alcohol, coarse language (including the F-word), and many sexual references. I was exhausted during this show, and I somehow fell asleep during the first act. I’m not sure how, because there was loud music being played the whole time, but I was tired enough that I didn’t care. I became engrossed in the plot when I woke up and enjoyed the second act. Some tour group members left after the first act but most high schoolers stayed and watched the whole performance.
April 7th, 2013:
Heathrow Airport: The trip back was uneventful. I bought a box of “biscuits” (cookies) from Harrod’s and didn’t fall asleep on the plane. What can I even say about this trip? It was incredible. I saw amazing sights and was able to experience a different culture. I bought a lot of souvenirs so I’ll be able to remember London, and I’m definitely planning on going back at some point in my life. If you ever have a chance to go, go. You won’t regret it.
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