Lacey proposed going to the Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert today and since that is in the neighborhood of where we lived the first time I lived in London, I said of course. Instead of taking the Tube, we walked through Kensington Gardens to get to the museums. It was a brilliant sunny day and on the way we passed Kensington Palace Green where Mom, Maddie, and I would sit many an afternoon eating Walkers and reading Bridget Jones. It was slightly surreal to see it again.
I had to defer recalling old memories because our neck of the woods was right on Cromwell and the museums were left. We came to the Natural History Museum first and I think Lacey put it best when she said "I think this beats Buckingham Palace." The Natural History Museum is made of light brown and blue-grey stone and slightly resembles the Palace of Westminster. It really is impressive, wonderfully kept up and clean. You go through the doors and the lobby is just as stunning as the exterior, stained glass, mosaic ceilings, stunning arches. The Brits really know how to treat their museums; Lacey and I kept wondering aloud about how clean and well maintained it was.
In the lobby was a large dinosaur skeleton that would have thrilled Finn though we made for the Red Zone to see the gemstones. En route, we had to weave our way through other displays, mostly of taxidermied animals. I thought this was a bit macabre and weird even with its educational value. At last, we came to the Red Zone and after zipping through boring geology displays, we came to shiny, sparkly gems. So much shiny. So much sparkle. So many colors and varieties. Much more interesting than magma and plates, though there was a cast of a person who died at Pompeii, which was cool.
After shiny things, it was time for more shiny things! We crossed the street to the V&A and after passing through the sculpture gallery, we found the jewelry exhibition. All sorts of rings, brooches, tiaras, necklaces, bracelets, etc most of which was truly stunning. We didn't get to see the whole thing though because Lacey had to leave for her internship interview. After leaving her at South Kensington station, I walked back down the Cromwell Road to find Kensington House.
I first came upon the Internet cafe where Mom and Maddie first saw Dad and I coming up the road. I took a picture of it and of course the three skeezes sitting at a table hollered for me to come sit with them and which one of them had I been taking the picture of. I ignored them and kept walking. I found Kensington House, which is now called the Astor Kensington, but was too afraid to go inside to see if the mysterious stain was still there. Bobo Bubbles, our favorite laundry, and Sainsbury's, our grocery store, were all still there and looked much the same. Gloucester Road as well is much the same and the circular public toilet that so amused me at 12 is also still there. It really felt like absolutely no time had gone by since last we were there.
After stopping at tkts for tickets to that night's performance of The Woman in Black , I came home and promptly died. I had to take a nap or else my body was just not going to move anymore. After walking so much yesterday and then somewhat again today, I could not do anymore. I am going to have to cut back on consecutive touring days, which work will accomplish for me anyway. I left for the theater at 7 and once again was able to find my way with relative ease.
The Woman in Black is a thriller about a solicitor named Arthur Kipps who is sent to a remote mansion to go through a woman who has just died's papers and encounters a ghost while he is there. I really enjoyed it, though I would have preferred a more traditional set up. There were only two men in the show: Arthur Kipps and The Actor. The story was told as a performance that Arthur and The Actor are giving so that Arthur can exorcise The Woman in Black that has been haunting him for years. The Actor plays Arthur and Arthur plays all the other characters and then there was a woman in the non-speaking role of The Woman in Black. It was effective, but I still would have preferred the story be told as a straightforward narrative as the performance angle made the beginning drag as The Actor and Arthur figure out and rehearse their performance. The Woman in Black herself was genuinely terrifying with a gaunt, old woman face that I am sure takes hours to apply and white contacts. I will admit there was a moment or two when I screamed out loud and many more when I flinched or gasped to myself. The only real complaint I have is about the women's bathroom which was literally the size of a small closet and thus was very hard to negotiate with all the women needing to go to the bathroom at intermission.
Well, I start work tomorrow. I am slightly anxious about that and really have no idea what to expect. I just hope that it will be helpful to me and I in turn can be helpful to them. We shall soon find out I guess. Hold your thumbs for me. And now to end I thought, since I have been here one week, that I would give an update on my summer goals.
1. Stop biting the inside of my lip (HA, not even close)
2. Beat my dependency on daily diet soda (Done, one soda since I have been here and it was a regular soda. Water from the kitchen sink is cheaper.)
3. Make friends despite my socially fearful nature (In progress, slow at the start but certainly picking up now)
4. Go for a jog/walk in Hyde Park every day that I am not touring (There really hasn't been a day when I wasn't touring in some form or other, so we shall see)
5. Take full advantage of my 18 days working at Battersea Arts Centre (More on this next week after I have actually worked)
6. Try new foods that I ordinarily wouldn't, especially British Isles specialties (Failure, food is expensive so I have been sticking to sandwiches and cereal to sustain myself. Hopefully soon.)
7. Acquire a working knowledge of British slang much like Australian last summer (Have learned much already. Advice slip=receipt. Hob=stove range.)
8. Go to Paris, Dublin, Cornwall, and Chawton (Paris is planned, others to follow.)
9. Keep a private journal in addition to this blog (Have written as much as is necessary since most goes in this blog)
10. Have the time of my life (Getting there)
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