Wednesday, December 3rd
I woke up at 1:30pm. I got dressed around 3:30pm. I practiced from 4:30-7pm. I went to dinner at the Market Thai Restaurant in Ladbroke Grove afterwards (awesome sizzling steak strips with thai sauce and coconut rice) to celebrate Andrew’s birthday. It was funny when they turned off the lights, walked out with a cake and lit candles, and walked right by Andrew to another table in the corner. You could see his hopes crushed as they walked away. Hilarious. I came back to the flat, had a glass of wine and listened to the Ranger’s game.
Note the lack of homework.
Tuesday, December 2nd
British Art & Architecture was awesome today. Why? Maybe because it was our last class meeting… or maybe it was because I got my first A on a paper. I’m not sure exactly how, but I’ll take it. Thank you, Susan Bracken. I even answered a question correctly today, just after waking up from a nap. I am so done with college.
After that, I practiced for a few hours then went grocery shopping at the new Waitrose that opened up right next to our flat. It’s beautiful inside, and the prices are comparable to Somerfield. I spent the rest of the night chilling out, watching the office and not doing work.
Monday, December 1st
Shakespeare was a trip this morning as we went over three comedies in 1 class (different than the usual 1 play over 3 classes). I have officially checked out of college. It’s so hard to stay motivated, especially when I’m a few assignments away from graduating. After class, I had a lesson with David Powell which went really well, considering I hadn’t practiced that much this past weekend. The lessons have changed from me playing for a teacher to me playing for someone who seems like more of a peer that can give me a few pointers. It’s not that I think I’ve mastered the euphonium or anything close to that, but I feel that he’s helped me to the point where I can fix the problems that he’ll critique me on before the lesson. I still really enjoy the lessons, as I get to play music for a great musician and we can bounce ideas back and forth about what is best musically.
That night, Omar, Andy, a girl named Ashley and myself went to see Spamalot. We got tickets, and ate in Chinatown at a very new, ritzy restaurant where everything was pretty expensive. I only had soup. Then we went to the show, and it was absolutely freaking hilarious. Everything I ever thought it could be. And I’m glad I got to see it when I did, since it’s closing in a month.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Thanksgiving in London
Sunday, November 30th
After another great breakfast, we set out to find the Harry Potter books down on Oxford Street and hit up the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. That was the only place where I have ever seen a hockey rink, a roller coaster and a giant slide all outdoors at one festival. Kind of odd.
Laura and Kim went to Big Ben again while I practiced, then Kim and I picked up her luggage and headed out to Heathrow to catch her flight. We forgot her passport, but luckily she remembered when we were only 2 tube stops from our flat. She made it on the plane fine, and I spent the rest of the night chilling out at the flat.
Saturday, November 29th
I made some bad-ass omlets, then went to the Wicked theatre to pick up tickets for the matinee performance. Kim, Laura and I went over to see Buckingham Palace and hung out in St. James’ Park for a bit before Laura left and Kim and I went to the show. Wicked is an awesome show, with the intricate stage set-up and scene changes, and the music was really interesting.
After that, we took a walk down the southbank, from the Millennium Bridge down to Tower Bridge. It was a chilly night, but the walk was fun. We got dinner at a pub behind my flat (The Larrick) and had real Aberdeen Angus burgers which were amazing. Then we met up with Omar, Andrew and Laura and we went down to Oxford Circus to check out the Christmas lights. We made our way over to Soho for a bit before heading back.
Friday, November 28th
After breakfast, Kim and I took a tour of Westminster Abbey then made our way down to ICLC. She went with Laura, Seth and Meagan to check out Harrod’s while Omar and I went to try to get tickets for Wicked that night. We couldn’t get the tickets, so I met up with the rest of them down on the southbank to check out the German Christmas village. We took a ride on the merry-go-round and walked all the way down to London Bridge where we went to a pub for dinner. We went back to the flat briefly and headed out to Wetherspoons Pub on Baker Street for some drinks. Not exactly what I had planned for today, but hey, we still saw some cool stuff.
Thursday, November 27th
I got about 3 hours of sleep when I woke up at 5am to catch a Picadilly train out to Heathrow Terminal 4 to pick up Kim. It was really easy to get out there, only took about an hour, and I was there just in time to catch her coming out of the arrivals door. We came back to the flat to drop off her luggage and went straight to ICLC for my Brit Pop class (we covered how crappy the Spice Girls were as well as awesome Irish bands).
After that, we went to some museums (Natural History and V&A) then went over to Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey before heading back to the flat to get ready for the feast. We had 11 people total for dinner (Me, Kim, Andrew, Omar, Eric, Ilyse, Laura, Ilyse’s friend Jen, Omar’s friend Richie, Meagan and Seth) and it went very smoothly, with tons of food and good wine. I gnawed on a turkey leg and ate a few of my baked potatoes. Awesome night.
Wednesday, November 26th
Today I went down to a primary school in Brixton to teach a euphonium lesson to two students in Omar’s class. The school was mainly Afro-Caribbean students, including the two euph students. They were beginners and only knew one note, D natural (or ‘mi’ as they refer to it as). I had to teach them in this large room that was very loud with classes walking through the middle randomly. Eventually we moved into a classroom when the rest of the class was warming up, and then I got to teach them two more notes, C and B-flat (or ‘re’ and ‘do’). They were very interested in learning new things on the euphonium, even though they were actually playing baritones.
After the lesson, they joined the rest of the class for their rehearsal, which was one of the most unorganized things I’ve seen. Students were raising all sorts of hell with each of their instruments, yelling, playing, fighting, not listening to anything the teacher, Alistar (or ‘Titch’), was saying. It was nuts. I decided then that this would be a poor choice to stay here to teach after I’m done. They were rehearsing for their concert next week (which is strange since they only know one note) and it wasn’t going very well. Afterwards, a clarinet player comes up to me and says “hi, can you help me put this away?” and hands me her clarinet. I turned around to officially meet Titch, and when I turned back around, she was gone. I found her wrestling with a trombonist, a tug-of-war match with the trombone slide, and got her to come over to a table to show her how to disassemble the instrument. We went piece by piece, and after it was finished, she closed the case, realized that it was her friend’s case and ran off. Awesome.
After that, I went back to ICLC to practice, then ran some errands and made my baked potatoes for the fest on the morrow.
Tuesday, November 25th
We forgot to pay rent yesterday, I hope that’s not a problem. My highlight for today was in British Art & Architecture when our professor, the lovely Susan Bracken, accidentally knocked the telephone off the receiver while leaning on it and had a heluva time putting it back up. It’s just hilarious to watch a very proper British lady curse at an inanimate object that doesn’t want to cooperate. She also expressed her severe displeasure with the current Mona Lisa exhibit at The Louvre, with its “hideous cream-colored walls and the millions of Japanese taking photographs next to the sign clearly marked ‘no photography.’ A terrible exhibit, indeed.” I love her.
I tried practicing again today, but my face was still not feeling quite ready to play well again after that marathon of playing on Saturday. It reminds me of last year when our ‘Heavy Metal’ tuba quartet would play at Moonshadows Tavern on the commons on Monday nights and I wouldn’t be able to feel anything in my face for a few days afterwards. Good times.
Tonight I made the perfect tikka masala chicken with orange (probably my 10th time making it) and it was great. I spent the rest of the night cleaning the apartment and getting ready for Kim’s arrival on Thanksgiving Thursday. We also started thawing our 17.5lb turkey. Boo-yah.
After another great breakfast, we set out to find the Harry Potter books down on Oxford Street and hit up the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. That was the only place where I have ever seen a hockey rink, a roller coaster and a giant slide all outdoors at one festival. Kind of odd.
Laura and Kim went to Big Ben again while I practiced, then Kim and I picked up her luggage and headed out to Heathrow to catch her flight. We forgot her passport, but luckily she remembered when we were only 2 tube stops from our flat. She made it on the plane fine, and I spent the rest of the night chilling out at the flat.
Saturday, November 29th
I made some bad-ass omlets, then went to the Wicked theatre to pick up tickets for the matinee performance. Kim, Laura and I went over to see Buckingham Palace and hung out in St. James’ Park for a bit before Laura left and Kim and I went to the show. Wicked is an awesome show, with the intricate stage set-up and scene changes, and the music was really interesting.
After that, we took a walk down the southbank, from the Millennium Bridge down to Tower Bridge. It was a chilly night, but the walk was fun. We got dinner at a pub behind my flat (The Larrick) and had real Aberdeen Angus burgers which were amazing. Then we met up with Omar, Andrew and Laura and we went down to Oxford Circus to check out the Christmas lights. We made our way over to Soho for a bit before heading back.
Friday, November 28th
After breakfast, Kim and I took a tour of Westminster Abbey then made our way down to ICLC. She went with Laura, Seth and Meagan to check out Harrod’s while Omar and I went to try to get tickets for Wicked that night. We couldn’t get the tickets, so I met up with the rest of them down on the southbank to check out the German Christmas village. We took a ride on the merry-go-round and walked all the way down to London Bridge where we went to a pub for dinner. We went back to the flat briefly and headed out to Wetherspoons Pub on Baker Street for some drinks. Not exactly what I had planned for today, but hey, we still saw some cool stuff.
Thursday, November 27th
I got about 3 hours of sleep when I woke up at 5am to catch a Picadilly train out to Heathrow Terminal 4 to pick up Kim. It was really easy to get out there, only took about an hour, and I was there just in time to catch her coming out of the arrivals door. We came back to the flat to drop off her luggage and went straight to ICLC for my Brit Pop class (we covered how crappy the Spice Girls were as well as awesome Irish bands).
After that, we went to some museums (Natural History and V&A) then went over to Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey before heading back to the flat to get ready for the feast. We had 11 people total for dinner (Me, Kim, Andrew, Omar, Eric, Ilyse, Laura, Ilyse’s friend Jen, Omar’s friend Richie, Meagan and Seth) and it went very smoothly, with tons of food and good wine. I gnawed on a turkey leg and ate a few of my baked potatoes. Awesome night.
Wednesday, November 26th
Today I went down to a primary school in Brixton to teach a euphonium lesson to two students in Omar’s class. The school was mainly Afro-Caribbean students, including the two euph students. They were beginners and only knew one note, D natural (or ‘mi’ as they refer to it as). I had to teach them in this large room that was very loud with classes walking through the middle randomly. Eventually we moved into a classroom when the rest of the class was warming up, and then I got to teach them two more notes, C and B-flat (or ‘re’ and ‘do’). They were very interested in learning new things on the euphonium, even though they were actually playing baritones.
After the lesson, they joined the rest of the class for their rehearsal, which was one of the most unorganized things I’ve seen. Students were raising all sorts of hell with each of their instruments, yelling, playing, fighting, not listening to anything the teacher, Alistar (or ‘Titch’), was saying. It was nuts. I decided then that this would be a poor choice to stay here to teach after I’m done. They were rehearsing for their concert next week (which is strange since they only know one note) and it wasn’t going very well. Afterwards, a clarinet player comes up to me and says “hi, can you help me put this away?” and hands me her clarinet. I turned around to officially meet Titch, and when I turned back around, she was gone. I found her wrestling with a trombonist, a tug-of-war match with the trombone slide, and got her to come over to a table to show her how to disassemble the instrument. We went piece by piece, and after it was finished, she closed the case, realized that it was her friend’s case and ran off. Awesome.
After that, I went back to ICLC to practice, then ran some errands and made my baked potatoes for the fest on the morrow.
Tuesday, November 25th
We forgot to pay rent yesterday, I hope that’s not a problem. My highlight for today was in British Art & Architecture when our professor, the lovely Susan Bracken, accidentally knocked the telephone off the receiver while leaning on it and had a heluva time putting it back up. It’s just hilarious to watch a very proper British lady curse at an inanimate object that doesn’t want to cooperate. She also expressed her severe displeasure with the current Mona Lisa exhibit at The Louvre, with its “hideous cream-colored walls and the millions of Japanese taking photographs next to the sign clearly marked ‘no photography.’ A terrible exhibit, indeed.” I love her.
I tried practicing again today, but my face was still not feeling quite ready to play well again after that marathon of playing on Saturday. It reminds me of last year when our ‘Heavy Metal’ tuba quartet would play at Moonshadows Tavern on the commons on Monday nights and I wouldn’t be able to feel anything in my face for a few days afterwards. Good times.
Tonight I made the perfect tikka masala chicken with orange (probably my 10th time making it) and it was great. I spent the rest of the night cleaning the apartment and getting ready for Kim’s arrival on Thanksgiving Thursday. We also started thawing our 17.5lb turkey. Boo-yah.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Lewisham Concert Band
Sunday, November 23rd—Monday, November 24th
On Sunday, I slept and wrote my Shakespeare paper on Othello. I also made excellent bangers & mash (sausage and mashed potatoes). A good day to recuperate.
Monday was spent sitting through my penultimate class of Shakespeare, and after handing in the Othello paper, our professor handed us the assignment sheet for my last paper of my undergraduate career: 8-10 pages comparing at least two of the comedies we’ve read with a thesis based on one of the themes he’s provided (mostly about love). Not exactly what I had expected, but that’s fine. It’s very strange to think that in three weeks from today, I’ll be back in the States. Scary.
Saturday, November 22nd
This morning, Andrew, Omar and myself checked out the Portobello Road Market near Hammersmith, and it was amazing: seemingly endless stands full of food and antiques. I ended up getting 5 giant (and I mean GIANT) baking potatoes for Thanksgiving and 6 oranges, along with a hot sausage sandwich with onions, all for under 5 pounds. Omar and Andrew bought some sea bass to cook Sunday night.
We came back to the flat, and Omar and I got ready for our gig with the Lewisham Concert Band that day in Catford (SE6). Omar left early to try to get to ICLC, which proved extremely difficult because the Circle line and parts of the District line being closed. I thought I had it easy (I only had to get to Charing Cross on the Bakerloo line), but when I entered the Edgware Road Bakerloo station, I was turned away saying “the station is closed, no Bakerloo line.” So, I had to get down to Charing Cross in 20 minutes by changing lines 3 times, and I eventually caught a National Rail train out to South-East London.
The rehearsal lasted about 3 hours, and my face was extremely tired after that. The other euphonium player was Tony who plays in the Guard Band at Buckingham Palace. He was pretty cool, a good player and we seemed to blend tone really well. After Omar and I grabbed dinner at Wetherspoons for very cheap, we made our way back to the Catford Broadway Theatre for our concert at 7:30pm. The concert lasted about 2 1/2 hours and was full of tunes ‘from stage and screen’, including Star Wards, Mama Mia, West Side Story, Disney, Mancini and James Bond. It felt great to play with a band that was really good for a community group, and to sit next to a good player.
After the concert many of the brass players went to a pub next to the train station (after nixing the usual pub they go to because there was an Elvis impersonator singing karaoke extremely loudly). We talked about brass bands and the like before Omar and I ran to catch the last train back into central London. Overall, a great day, even if my face feels like it wants to fall off from all of the playing.
Tuesday, November 18th—Friday, November 21st
After handing in the awesome BAA paper, I practiced for a while and took it easy the rest of the night, trying to soak in everything from the lesson and process all of the information that was crammed into that one hour.
On Wednesday, I slept until early afternoon and got to school to practice. That night, Andrew and I went to a jazz club called Ronnie Scott’s in Soho for a jam session that he wanted to check out. We met up with one lady he teaches with at the Lambeth Music Service, and it was great to hear some really good jazz. We had one hell of a time getting back to our flat at 2am, as the tubes stop running around midnight. We tried figuring out the buses on Oxford Street and realized that none of them really went to Edgware Rd, so we walked over to Oxford Circus and found the right bus. We got back around 3:30am.
Thursday was full of Brit Pop and practicing, followed by a trip to wing night at the American Sports Café near Piccadilly Circus. I had 20 wings (hot and BBQ) with plenty of Carlsberg along the way. After that, we went to the ISH bar for karaoke night, and Katie eventually convinced me to sing ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ with her. We left to go check out the spectacular Christmas lights by Bond Street, and walked back to our flats. It was a great night out.
Friday was spent sleeping and practicing again (that seems to be all that I do anymore) and making food. That night I met up with Andrew at Wetherspoons for a pint, and we were accosted by about 20 Indian men aged 18-21, who were all very interested in the fact that we were American. They asked us about TV shows, movies, even what girls are better (British or American) and what race we thought they were. They told us we had to check out one of the hookah bars on our street, and went to go take more pictures and drink more beer. It was a strange night.
On Sunday, I slept and wrote my Shakespeare paper on Othello. I also made excellent bangers & mash (sausage and mashed potatoes). A good day to recuperate.
Monday was spent sitting through my penultimate class of Shakespeare, and after handing in the Othello paper, our professor handed us the assignment sheet for my last paper of my undergraduate career: 8-10 pages comparing at least two of the comedies we’ve read with a thesis based on one of the themes he’s provided (mostly about love). Not exactly what I had expected, but that’s fine. It’s very strange to think that in three weeks from today, I’ll be back in the States. Scary.
Saturday, November 22nd
This morning, Andrew, Omar and myself checked out the Portobello Road Market near Hammersmith, and it was amazing: seemingly endless stands full of food and antiques. I ended up getting 5 giant (and I mean GIANT) baking potatoes for Thanksgiving and 6 oranges, along with a hot sausage sandwich with onions, all for under 5 pounds. Omar and Andrew bought some sea bass to cook Sunday night.
We came back to the flat, and Omar and I got ready for our gig with the Lewisham Concert Band that day in Catford (SE6). Omar left early to try to get to ICLC, which proved extremely difficult because the Circle line and parts of the District line being closed. I thought I had it easy (I only had to get to Charing Cross on the Bakerloo line), but when I entered the Edgware Road Bakerloo station, I was turned away saying “the station is closed, no Bakerloo line.” So, I had to get down to Charing Cross in 20 minutes by changing lines 3 times, and I eventually caught a National Rail train out to South-East London.
The rehearsal lasted about 3 hours, and my face was extremely tired after that. The other euphonium player was Tony who plays in the Guard Band at Buckingham Palace. He was pretty cool, a good player and we seemed to blend tone really well. After Omar and I grabbed dinner at Wetherspoons for very cheap, we made our way back to the Catford Broadway Theatre for our concert at 7:30pm. The concert lasted about 2 1/2 hours and was full of tunes ‘from stage and screen’, including Star Wards, Mama Mia, West Side Story, Disney, Mancini and James Bond. It felt great to play with a band that was really good for a community group, and to sit next to a good player.
After the concert many of the brass players went to a pub next to the train station (after nixing the usual pub they go to because there was an Elvis impersonator singing karaoke extremely loudly). We talked about brass bands and the like before Omar and I ran to catch the last train back into central London. Overall, a great day, even if my face feels like it wants to fall off from all of the playing.
Tuesday, November 18th—Friday, November 21st
After handing in the awesome BAA paper, I practiced for a while and took it easy the rest of the night, trying to soak in everything from the lesson and process all of the information that was crammed into that one hour.
On Wednesday, I slept until early afternoon and got to school to practice. That night, Andrew and I went to a jazz club called Ronnie Scott’s in Soho for a jam session that he wanted to check out. We met up with one lady he teaches with at the Lambeth Music Service, and it was great to hear some really good jazz. We had one hell of a time getting back to our flat at 2am, as the tubes stop running around midnight. We tried figuring out the buses on Oxford Street and realized that none of them really went to Edgware Rd, so we walked over to Oxford Circus and found the right bus. We got back around 3:30am.
Thursday was full of Brit Pop and practicing, followed by a trip to wing night at the American Sports Café near Piccadilly Circus. I had 20 wings (hot and BBQ) with plenty of Carlsberg along the way. After that, we went to the ISH bar for karaoke night, and Katie eventually convinced me to sing ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ with her. We left to go check out the spectacular Christmas lights by Bond Street, and walked back to our flats. It was a great night out.
Friday was spent sleeping and practicing again (that seems to be all that I do anymore) and making food. That night I met up with Andrew at Wetherspoons for a pint, and we were accosted by about 20 Indian men aged 18-21, who were all very interested in the fact that we were American. They asked us about TV shows, movies, even what girls are better (British or American) and what race we thought they were. They told us we had to check out one of the hookah bars on our street, and went to go take more pictures and drink more beer. It was a strange night.
Lesson with Steven Mead!!
Monday, November 17th
This was an awesome day, because I got the chance to have a lesson with Steven Mead (www.euphonium.net). The journey to the lesson at the RAF base in Uxbridge, however, was one of the most stressful experiences of my life. After going to a fantastic class of Shakespeare and giving my presentation on the performance of Othello, I warmed up and got all my things ready for the lesson. I left at 4pm, arrived in Uxbridge at 5:10pm, plenty of time to get over to the base for our lesson at 6pm. I asked some locals for directions on how to get to the base, but they all sent me in different directions. After literally an hour of asking and people saying “oh…that’s quite a ways from here…” I was about to give up. It was like a terrible nightmare, where you’re about to have the greatest lesson of your life, and you’re so close, but you can’t find a giant air force base in the middle of town.
Finally, like an angel descending from heaven, the U3 bus arrived at a bus stop and I asked the giant, bald bus driver who was built like a tank, “How the hell do I get to the RAF Uxbridge base?” He motioned that it was this bus, and I was extremely relieved. I then asked a person on the bus where the base is, and he told me exactly how to get to the main gates. I arrived at 6:05pm, and one of Steven’s students, Matt (a euphonium player in the RAF Central Band) signed me in and walked me to the rehearsal hall where my lesson was to be held.
I walked in and was greeted by one of the greatest euphonium players ever, 10 minutes after I was standing in the middle of a dark alley with no clue on where I was or where I was supposed to go to get here. Then we had an hour-long lesson in which we covered a ton of stuff from consistency in the low register to proper breath control. The ideas he mentioned helped me immensely in that one hour, and I left the lesson extremely happy. He even gave me and his student Matt a ride back to the tube station (I rode shotty in his really nice Volvo). After seeing how close the tube station really is to the base, it should have only taken 10-15 minutes maximum to walk there. Wow.
On the tube ride back, I talked to Matt about brass bands, and he explained how he’s in one in Oxford, and that the second euphonium player has to miss rehearsals occasionally, and if this happens, he’ll let me know so I can come up and sub for them. I’m not sure if this will actually happen in my last few weeks here, but that’d be amazing if it did. My next lesson with Steven Mead is slotted for Wednesday, December 10th. When I got back to my flat, I worked on the BAA paper until about 3am. Yeah college.
This was an awesome day, because I got the chance to have a lesson with Steven Mead (www.euphonium.net). The journey to the lesson at the RAF base in Uxbridge, however, was one of the most stressful experiences of my life. After going to a fantastic class of Shakespeare and giving my presentation on the performance of Othello, I warmed up and got all my things ready for the lesson. I left at 4pm, arrived in Uxbridge at 5:10pm, plenty of time to get over to the base for our lesson at 6pm. I asked some locals for directions on how to get to the base, but they all sent me in different directions. After literally an hour of asking and people saying “oh…that’s quite a ways from here…” I was about to give up. It was like a terrible nightmare, where you’re about to have the greatest lesson of your life, and you’re so close, but you can’t find a giant air force base in the middle of town.
Finally, like an angel descending from heaven, the U3 bus arrived at a bus stop and I asked the giant, bald bus driver who was built like a tank, “How the hell do I get to the RAF Uxbridge base?” He motioned that it was this bus, and I was extremely relieved. I then asked a person on the bus where the base is, and he told me exactly how to get to the main gates. I arrived at 6:05pm, and one of Steven’s students, Matt (a euphonium player in the RAF Central Band) signed me in and walked me to the rehearsal hall where my lesson was to be held.
I walked in and was greeted by one of the greatest euphonium players ever, 10 minutes after I was standing in the middle of a dark alley with no clue on where I was or where I was supposed to go to get here. Then we had an hour-long lesson in which we covered a ton of stuff from consistency in the low register to proper breath control. The ideas he mentioned helped me immensely in that one hour, and I left the lesson extremely happy. He even gave me and his student Matt a ride back to the tube station (I rode shotty in his really nice Volvo). After seeing how close the tube station really is to the base, it should have only taken 10-15 minutes maximum to walk there. Wow.
On the tube ride back, I talked to Matt about brass bands, and he explained how he’s in one in Oxford, and that the second euphonium player has to miss rehearsals occasionally, and if this happens, he’ll let me know so I can come up and sub for them. I’m not sure if this will actually happen in my last few weeks here, but that’d be amazing if it did. My next lesson with Steven Mead is slotted for Wednesday, December 10th. When I got back to my flat, I worked on the BAA paper until about 3am. Yeah college.
Edinburgh, Scotland
Sunday, November 16th
We woke up and left the hostel around 9am again, this time going into the center of the city with a few free hours to spend. I did some shopping before heading over to the Queen’s House, also known as the Holyroodhouse, which was very interesting. We saw the room where Mary, Queen of Scots, lived, and her second husband killed a man. We also got to see the ruins of the abbey, which Felix Mendellsohn saw in the 19th century and this sparked him to write his Scottish Symphony. After this, we had a few free hours (more shopping) before catching the train back to London.
On the trip back, there were a few middle-aged Scottish women who were raising hell and cackling extremely loudly. A few of our students went back to politely ask them to keep it down as people were trying to do work and sleep, but they were both turned away with extremely rude comments. It was amazing to see how they reacted, like a bunch of 15-year old girls, even though they were about 50. I thought American’s were supposed to act like that, but we were proved wrong.
Saturday, November 15th
We woke up and got out of the hostel by 9am, got to the center of town and made our way up to the castle for a tour. It was awesome being up in the castle and looking down on the town. We got to see the Scottish Crown Jewels and other really old objects around the castle. Omar and I made our way down the Royal Mile to the Scottish Parliament Building, where our next tour took place. It’s a very modern building (built around 2004) and it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the old city surrounding it. The inside is beautiful and uses many energy-saving and eco-friendly concepts.
After that, we all climbed up the giant hill to King Arthur’s Seat, 850ft up. When we got to the top, the wind was knocking everyone over, but it was one of the most astonishing sights I have seen yet. The sun was just about to set and there were storm clouds rolling in, and it looked almost ethereal. We stayed at the top for about 20 minutes before making our way down.
Omar, Zach, Andy and myself tried making it to the top of the Royal Mile for the tour of the Scottish Whiskey Experience, but sadly the tour was closed by the time we got there. We stopped at the pub on the corner, Deacon Brodies, and I had a bowl of tomato soup to hold me over (that restaurant was really expensive). We left on a hunt for a decent pub for some haggis, but every pub was jam-packed with rugby fans watching the Ireland game. We eventually made a giant circle and came back into Deacon Brodies for their expensive haggis. This wasn’t quite as good as the previous night, probably because they didn’t give me whiskey sauce, but it was still a decent meal.
Following dinner, we made our way to a pub on Rose Street called the Thirty Seven Pub, then over to the Auld Hundred. We then decided to meet up with Bill to go to a Ceilidh (Scottish folk dancing). Bill bought everyone (some 20+ students) a round, and then we made our way into the dance hall (basically a gym). I had no idea what I was doing, but it reminded me of when we went Contra dancing in Ithaca a few years ago: some type of square/line dancing with a band made up of stringed instruments, sometimes a keyboard and a bagpipe. I basically followed Bill’s lead the entire night, as he’s been on many of these and knows everything. I was worn out after an hour straight of dancing, and we hailed a cab to make our way back to the hostel. We hung out at the hostel’s pub for a little bit, trying to play ‘snooker’ (British version of billiards). We eventually gave up and passed out.
Friday, November 14th
We arrived on-time to King’s Cross this morning and hopped on the train up to Edinburgh. The train had free Wi-Fi, and I brought my laptop in an attempt to work on my BAA paper on the 4 1/2 hour train ride. Instead, I chatted with some friends and listened to music for the whole way up. When we got to Edinburgh, we immediately hopped on a bus and went out to the hostel (Globtrotters Inn), which was a ways outside of the center of the city. Then we came back into town for a walk with Bill where he showed us Rose Street, Grass Market, the castle, the Royal Mile and the old coffee shop (now Chinese restaurant) where J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series.
Following the walk we were free for the night, so we split off into groups for dinner. We went to a pub called The Mitre, and that’s where I ate haggis for the first time. It was actually really good: it looked kinda gross, sort of like a meat loaf, but it had the consistency of sloppy joe. They served it with whiskey sauce (extremely tasty) and sides of mashed potatoes and mashed turnips (or ‘neeps and tatties’). After dinner we went on a ghost tour in the Greyfriar’s graveyard. It was really creepy, but Laura was so frightened she wouldn’t let go of my arm. We eventually hailed a cab back to the hostel and passed out.
Thursday, November 13th
Today started out with Brit Pop followed by a quick lunch and meeting with Rebecca to go over our Othello presentation for Shakespeare class on Monday. Afterwards, I ran to the National Art Library to do more research with Laura for the BAA paper. We got some really good sources, and stayed until it closed at 5:30pm. Then we went back to ICLC and I had to decide what to do: to go to the play that night for Shakespeare (Love’s Labour’s Lost) or skip the play and practice, as this was my last chance to practice before the lesson with Steven Mead on Monday. I chose the later, and I didn’t feel bad at all. It was a really great practice session, and I definitely needed it.
When the building closed at 8:30pm I went back to the flat before going out to Wetherspoon’s Pub on Baker Street with Omar. It was our last chance to try the 50 beers they had on tap for their beer fest, and we made the most of it. We got home around midnight and quickly passed out as we had to be at King’s Cross station at 8:30am.
We woke up and left the hostel around 9am again, this time going into the center of the city with a few free hours to spend. I did some shopping before heading over to the Queen’s House, also known as the Holyroodhouse, which was very interesting. We saw the room where Mary, Queen of Scots, lived, and her second husband killed a man. We also got to see the ruins of the abbey, which Felix Mendellsohn saw in the 19th century and this sparked him to write his Scottish Symphony. After this, we had a few free hours (more shopping) before catching the train back to London.
On the trip back, there were a few middle-aged Scottish women who were raising hell and cackling extremely loudly. A few of our students went back to politely ask them to keep it down as people were trying to do work and sleep, but they were both turned away with extremely rude comments. It was amazing to see how they reacted, like a bunch of 15-year old girls, even though they were about 50. I thought American’s were supposed to act like that, but we were proved wrong.
Saturday, November 15th
We woke up and got out of the hostel by 9am, got to the center of town and made our way up to the castle for a tour. It was awesome being up in the castle and looking down on the town. We got to see the Scottish Crown Jewels and other really old objects around the castle. Omar and I made our way down the Royal Mile to the Scottish Parliament Building, where our next tour took place. It’s a very modern building (built around 2004) and it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the old city surrounding it. The inside is beautiful and uses many energy-saving and eco-friendly concepts.
After that, we all climbed up the giant hill to King Arthur’s Seat, 850ft up. When we got to the top, the wind was knocking everyone over, but it was one of the most astonishing sights I have seen yet. The sun was just about to set and there were storm clouds rolling in, and it looked almost ethereal. We stayed at the top for about 20 minutes before making our way down.
Omar, Zach, Andy and myself tried making it to the top of the Royal Mile for the tour of the Scottish Whiskey Experience, but sadly the tour was closed by the time we got there. We stopped at the pub on the corner, Deacon Brodies, and I had a bowl of tomato soup to hold me over (that restaurant was really expensive). We left on a hunt for a decent pub for some haggis, but every pub was jam-packed with rugby fans watching the Ireland game. We eventually made a giant circle and came back into Deacon Brodies for their expensive haggis. This wasn’t quite as good as the previous night, probably because they didn’t give me whiskey sauce, but it was still a decent meal.
Following dinner, we made our way to a pub on Rose Street called the Thirty Seven Pub, then over to the Auld Hundred. We then decided to meet up with Bill to go to a Ceilidh (Scottish folk dancing). Bill bought everyone (some 20+ students) a round, and then we made our way into the dance hall (basically a gym). I had no idea what I was doing, but it reminded me of when we went Contra dancing in Ithaca a few years ago: some type of square/line dancing with a band made up of stringed instruments, sometimes a keyboard and a bagpipe. I basically followed Bill’s lead the entire night, as he’s been on many of these and knows everything. I was worn out after an hour straight of dancing, and we hailed a cab to make our way back to the hostel. We hung out at the hostel’s pub for a little bit, trying to play ‘snooker’ (British version of billiards). We eventually gave up and passed out.
Friday, November 14th
We arrived on-time to King’s Cross this morning and hopped on the train up to Edinburgh. The train had free Wi-Fi, and I brought my laptop in an attempt to work on my BAA paper on the 4 1/2 hour train ride. Instead, I chatted with some friends and listened to music for the whole way up. When we got to Edinburgh, we immediately hopped on a bus and went out to the hostel (Globtrotters Inn), which was a ways outside of the center of the city. Then we came back into town for a walk with Bill where he showed us Rose Street, Grass Market, the castle, the Royal Mile and the old coffee shop (now Chinese restaurant) where J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series.
Following the walk we were free for the night, so we split off into groups for dinner. We went to a pub called The Mitre, and that’s where I ate haggis for the first time. It was actually really good: it looked kinda gross, sort of like a meat loaf, but it had the consistency of sloppy joe. They served it with whiskey sauce (extremely tasty) and sides of mashed potatoes and mashed turnips (or ‘neeps and tatties’). After dinner we went on a ghost tour in the Greyfriar’s graveyard. It was really creepy, but Laura was so frightened she wouldn’t let go of my arm. We eventually hailed a cab back to the hostel and passed out.
Thursday, November 13th
Today started out with Brit Pop followed by a quick lunch and meeting with Rebecca to go over our Othello presentation for Shakespeare class on Monday. Afterwards, I ran to the National Art Library to do more research with Laura for the BAA paper. We got some really good sources, and stayed until it closed at 5:30pm. Then we went back to ICLC and I had to decide what to do: to go to the play that night for Shakespeare (Love’s Labour’s Lost) or skip the play and practice, as this was my last chance to practice before the lesson with Steven Mead on Monday. I chose the later, and I didn’t feel bad at all. It was a really great practice session, and I definitely needed it.
When the building closed at 8:30pm I went back to the flat before going out to Wetherspoon’s Pub on Baker Street with Omar. It was our last chance to try the 50 beers they had on tap for their beer fest, and we made the most of it. We got home around midnight and quickly passed out as we had to be at King’s Cross station at 8:30am.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Galleries, Friends and Arsenal
Wednesday, November 12th
Today I gave my euphonium a bath (don’t judge me) and tried to do a lot of research for my BAA paper. I made it to the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and spent an hour and a half looking for print material pertaining to Rubens’ ‘Winter.’ The one book I found that might have had that piece in it took another hour and a half to get to me. This is due to their process of filling out a sheet, putting it in the box, having the sheets collected once an hour, having their staff find the book for you and bring it to you. By the time I got the book, it was 20 minutes before closing time. I got some information out of it, but it was frustrating nonetheless.
After this, I went back to the ICLC to play a little bit of euphonium and meet up with other members of our Brit Pop class to head to Billy Elliot at Victoria’s Palace Theatre. It was a really great musical (never seen the movie), and the young kid who played Billy had a good voice and was a phenomenal dancer. It was a really fun, entertaining musical with its touching moments. I love going to performances like these for homework. Why can’t all of college be like this?
Tuesday, November 11th
Our British Art & Architecture class met at the Banqueting House by Parliament. The house was designed by Inigo Jones and commissioned by Charles I for his dad, James I. The ceiling was full of beautiful religious and mythological depictions of James I by Rubens (what a bad-ass). After this, we went to the National Gallery to look at a few portraits.
After that, I went back to the ICLC to warm-up for my lesson at 3pm. The lesson went fairly well, and was focused on playing all the way through pieces, something I don’t do nearly enough of. At one point, he asked me to “play something” so I noodled around for a few minutes, trying to make logical, cohesive ideas. It was really bizarre to just improvise for my teacher. That’s how I usually warm-up so I guess it isn’t such a strange thing to do, but it was weird to do that in front of a teacher.
That night we went to an Arsenal football match and it was amazing. The stadium was nearly maxed out at 60,000 fans, all wearing red and black, all chanting their crazy Arsenal chants. It was very different than American sports events where they pump up the music to get the fans into it. Here, no music was played because the energy everywhere in the crowd was electric. Arsenal won 3-0 against Wigam (terrible Premiere League team). It was rather crazy leaving the stadium and trying to get home, but we managed it in about 45 minutes. What a great experience.
Monday, November 10th
It poured all day today, which made it truly exciting to get around the city. Our Shakespeare class met at the Globe theatre for a ‘tour’ (short talk about the history of the Globe) and a discussion about how plays were prepared and performed back in Shakespeare’s day. Apparently the actors would only get scrolls of their own parts with 2-3 word cues, have a week or two to learn them, and they would rehearse the play at 10am the day of the performance. They would rehearse until 1pm (3 hours), take 1 hour for lunch, then the performance at 2pm. Nowadays, plays are rehearsed for about 4 1/2 to 6 weeks. The actors back then must have been amazing, or the crowd just didn’t care.
After that, I got to hang out with Maggie. We had lunch at the Wargrave Arms (pub around the corner from my flat) and hit up platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross (it apparently ruined her childhood because it wasn’t as cool as she had hoped… oh well). It was great to finally hang out with one of my good friends from back home and catch up.
Sunday, November 9th
I felt like crap today, but I still made myself practice and do some homework. I also went to the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace to look at their exhibit “Bruegels to Rubens: Masters of Flemish Painting” for my British Art & Architecture paper. It was a really awesome exhibit: 3 rooms, blue walls and amazing art. I’m finally starting to develop a much better appreciation for the artwork that we’ve been studying. I chose Rubens’ ‘Winter’ landscape painting, a giant oil on canvas depicting a beggar family around a fire under an open barn, taken in by a farming family with the dead of winter in the background. The skill Rubens had to create these landscape paintings is just phenomenal. Even though I felt terrible, I still really enjoyed myself for an hour and a half.
Today I gave my euphonium a bath (don’t judge me) and tried to do a lot of research for my BAA paper. I made it to the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and spent an hour and a half looking for print material pertaining to Rubens’ ‘Winter.’ The one book I found that might have had that piece in it took another hour and a half to get to me. This is due to their process of filling out a sheet, putting it in the box, having the sheets collected once an hour, having their staff find the book for you and bring it to you. By the time I got the book, it was 20 minutes before closing time. I got some information out of it, but it was frustrating nonetheless.
After this, I went back to the ICLC to play a little bit of euphonium and meet up with other members of our Brit Pop class to head to Billy Elliot at Victoria’s Palace Theatre. It was a really great musical (never seen the movie), and the young kid who played Billy had a good voice and was a phenomenal dancer. It was a really fun, entertaining musical with its touching moments. I love going to performances like these for homework. Why can’t all of college be like this?
Tuesday, November 11th
Our British Art & Architecture class met at the Banqueting House by Parliament. The house was designed by Inigo Jones and commissioned by Charles I for his dad, James I. The ceiling was full of beautiful religious and mythological depictions of James I by Rubens (what a bad-ass). After this, we went to the National Gallery to look at a few portraits.
After that, I went back to the ICLC to warm-up for my lesson at 3pm. The lesson went fairly well, and was focused on playing all the way through pieces, something I don’t do nearly enough of. At one point, he asked me to “play something” so I noodled around for a few minutes, trying to make logical, cohesive ideas. It was really bizarre to just improvise for my teacher. That’s how I usually warm-up so I guess it isn’t such a strange thing to do, but it was weird to do that in front of a teacher.
That night we went to an Arsenal football match and it was amazing. The stadium was nearly maxed out at 60,000 fans, all wearing red and black, all chanting their crazy Arsenal chants. It was very different than American sports events where they pump up the music to get the fans into it. Here, no music was played because the energy everywhere in the crowd was electric. Arsenal won 3-0 against Wigam (terrible Premiere League team). It was rather crazy leaving the stadium and trying to get home, but we managed it in about 45 minutes. What a great experience.
Monday, November 10th
It poured all day today, which made it truly exciting to get around the city. Our Shakespeare class met at the Globe theatre for a ‘tour’ (short talk about the history of the Globe) and a discussion about how plays were prepared and performed back in Shakespeare’s day. Apparently the actors would only get scrolls of their own parts with 2-3 word cues, have a week or two to learn them, and they would rehearse the play at 10am the day of the performance. They would rehearse until 1pm (3 hours), take 1 hour for lunch, then the performance at 2pm. Nowadays, plays are rehearsed for about 4 1/2 to 6 weeks. The actors back then must have been amazing, or the crowd just didn’t care.
After that, I got to hang out with Maggie. We had lunch at the Wargrave Arms (pub around the corner from my flat) and hit up platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross (it apparently ruined her childhood because it wasn’t as cool as she had hoped… oh well). It was great to finally hang out with one of my good friends from back home and catch up.
Sunday, November 9th
I felt like crap today, but I still made myself practice and do some homework. I also went to the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace to look at their exhibit “Bruegels to Rubens: Masters of Flemish Painting” for my British Art & Architecture paper. It was a really awesome exhibit: 3 rooms, blue walls and amazing art. I’m finally starting to develop a much better appreciation for the artwork that we’ve been studying. I chose Rubens’ ‘Winter’ landscape painting, a giant oil on canvas depicting a beggar family around a fire under an open barn, taken in by a farming family with the dead of winter in the background. The skill Rubens had to create these landscape paintings is just phenomenal. Even though I felt terrible, I still really enjoyed myself for an hour and a half.
Liverpool Trip
Saturday, November 8th
The next day we went through the museum entitled ‘The Beatles Story.’ It was really well done, with an audioguide (commentary by Beatles members, Brian Epstein, George Martin, other famous people) and recreations of their recording studios, the first clubs they played in (including a full-size recreation of the Cavern!) and rooms of photographs (tons of John Lennon). Right at the end they had Lennon’s famous white piano in a white room. There was also a kid’s discovery section with a drawing/coloring section, which is where we spent a good 30 minutes coloring in pictures of the yellow submarine for our Brit Pop journals.
After that Omar, Rebecca and I took a tour of the Cains brewery, which is supposedly frequented by Prince Charles and Quentin Tarantino. The tour guide was a lady who must have been on speed or crack or some other ‘upper,’ and she explained the difference between ales and lagers. We saw the bottling room, the giant tanks where the beer is…well…brewed, and the rooms where they stored the ingredients back in the day. Not too much stuff to see as it’s all done by computers now, but we did get free food (tiny sandwiches) and two free pints. Omar bought a case of their Raisin beer (not really fruity, it’s actually dark and bitter and amazing) and we sprinted back to the hostel to catch the bus.
The final stop was Crosby Beach where the English artist Anthony Gormley (b. 1950) created 100 life-sized identical statues of himself placed at various points on the beach. Some are very close to the shore, while others are hundreds of meters out to sea, with many in between. The ones further out are visible when the tide is very low, looking like a swimmer’s head, way out in the sea. It was ridiculously windy, and Omar and I had fun walking around taking hilarious pictures with the statues. We loaded back on the bus and headed home.
Friday, November 7th
We left early for a 5-hour bus ride up to Liverpool. The ride wasn’t too bad because Emer McParland (our British Pop professor) came with us and brought some Beatles DVDs to watch. Once we got to L’pool, we dropped our stuff off at the hostel (a YHA 4-star hostel) and took a walk around by the docks. Laura and I were hanging out with Emer the whole time as she told us about the city (where she’s from) and some stories from her childhood. I told her about my former group, the Heavy Metal Tuba Quartet, and how we’d play Beatles tunes in bars in Ithaca. Apparently she didn’t think a tuba quartet could jam out, so I’ll have to play her recordings.
We got back to the hostel, put our stuff in our rooms (that were finally ready) and hopped onto the coach bus with a tour guide who took us on the Magical Mystery Tour. He took us out of the center of town, and our first stop was Penny Lane, then to the houses that Ringo grew up in, to the house George grew up in, over to Strawberry Fields, John’s house and finally Paul’s house. It is a very interesting city in that it hasn’t fully recovered from World War II; the center of the city is being built up quite well, but the outskirts haven’t been as much. Ringo’s neighborhood was especially rough. In fact, they’ve boarded up the windows and doors to most of the houses in that neighborhood because they’re going to flatten everything then build it all up again.
After seeing the houses, we went back to the center of the city to the Cavern Club, which is where the Beatles had many of their first gigs. The club is underground, made entirely of brick and isn’t exactly the type of place you’d think to have a “club.” The main room is long and very narrow, with a ridiculously small stage at the end. On the sides are two other rooms connected by archways in the brickwork. Basically, the place looks like a dungeon. Back when the Beatles would play there, the amount of people jammed into the club and the amount of heat they produced caused condensation to drip down the walls. Apparently after everyone left, the cleaners would go in and completely saturate the walls and floors with cleaners, so I can only imagine what it must have smelled like: cleaning solution and B.O. Awesome. Also, outside of the club there’s a brick wall, and each brick has the name of a person or group who have played at the Cavern, including the Beatles, Queen, Jimmy Page, Oasis, Bono, etc.. What an awesome place.
We ate dinner at the hostel, consisting of beef stew and French fries (I had about 3 plate-fulls). After a quick nap, we went out hunting for fun. In the center of the city, we happened upon a giant futuristic mall (that was mostly outside) equipped with Santa’s Grotto. This was definitely the part of the city where they’ve thrown tons of money to rebuild and it shows. There were so many Christmas lights, it felt like a city of Griswolds. We made our way to the Cavern for some drinks and to hear some music. Through the course of the night, I heard two solo acoustic guitarists (first was terrible, second was really good) and a rock trio, all playing plenty of Beatles covers as well as tons of American tunes (I heard ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ twice). There were plenty of sketchy Liverpoolian men that were handing out drinks to girls. One guy was so drunk he caressed my hair (what the heck is it with middle-age men and my hair?). It was still a fun night regardless.
The next day we went through the museum entitled ‘The Beatles Story.’ It was really well done, with an audioguide (commentary by Beatles members, Brian Epstein, George Martin, other famous people) and recreations of their recording studios, the first clubs they played in (including a full-size recreation of the Cavern!) and rooms of photographs (tons of John Lennon). Right at the end they had Lennon’s famous white piano in a white room. There was also a kid’s discovery section with a drawing/coloring section, which is where we spent a good 30 minutes coloring in pictures of the yellow submarine for our Brit Pop journals.
After that Omar, Rebecca and I took a tour of the Cains brewery, which is supposedly frequented by Prince Charles and Quentin Tarantino. The tour guide was a lady who must have been on speed or crack or some other ‘upper,’ and she explained the difference between ales and lagers. We saw the bottling room, the giant tanks where the beer is…well…brewed, and the rooms where they stored the ingredients back in the day. Not too much stuff to see as it’s all done by computers now, but we did get free food (tiny sandwiches) and two free pints. Omar bought a case of their Raisin beer (not really fruity, it’s actually dark and bitter and amazing) and we sprinted back to the hostel to catch the bus.
The final stop was Crosby Beach where the English artist Anthony Gormley (b. 1950) created 100 life-sized identical statues of himself placed at various points on the beach. Some are very close to the shore, while others are hundreds of meters out to sea, with many in between. The ones further out are visible when the tide is very low, looking like a swimmer’s head, way out in the sea. It was ridiculously windy, and Omar and I had fun walking around taking hilarious pictures with the statues. We loaded back on the bus and headed home.
Friday, November 7th
We left early for a 5-hour bus ride up to Liverpool. The ride wasn’t too bad because Emer McParland (our British Pop professor) came with us and brought some Beatles DVDs to watch. Once we got to L’pool, we dropped our stuff off at the hostel (a YHA 4-star hostel) and took a walk around by the docks. Laura and I were hanging out with Emer the whole time as she told us about the city (where she’s from) and some stories from her childhood. I told her about my former group, the Heavy Metal Tuba Quartet, and how we’d play Beatles tunes in bars in Ithaca. Apparently she didn’t think a tuba quartet could jam out, so I’ll have to play her recordings.
We got back to the hostel, put our stuff in our rooms (that were finally ready) and hopped onto the coach bus with a tour guide who took us on the Magical Mystery Tour. He took us out of the center of town, and our first stop was Penny Lane, then to the houses that Ringo grew up in, to the house George grew up in, over to Strawberry Fields, John’s house and finally Paul’s house. It is a very interesting city in that it hasn’t fully recovered from World War II; the center of the city is being built up quite well, but the outskirts haven’t been as much. Ringo’s neighborhood was especially rough. In fact, they’ve boarded up the windows and doors to most of the houses in that neighborhood because they’re going to flatten everything then build it all up again.
After seeing the houses, we went back to the center of the city to the Cavern Club, which is where the Beatles had many of their first gigs. The club is underground, made entirely of brick and isn’t exactly the type of place you’d think to have a “club.” The main room is long and very narrow, with a ridiculously small stage at the end. On the sides are two other rooms connected by archways in the brickwork. Basically, the place looks like a dungeon. Back when the Beatles would play there, the amount of people jammed into the club and the amount of heat they produced caused condensation to drip down the walls. Apparently after everyone left, the cleaners would go in and completely saturate the walls and floors with cleaners, so I can only imagine what it must have smelled like: cleaning solution and B.O. Awesome. Also, outside of the club there’s a brick wall, and each brick has the name of a person or group who have played at the Cavern, including the Beatles, Queen, Jimmy Page, Oasis, Bono, etc.. What an awesome place.
We ate dinner at the hostel, consisting of beef stew and French fries (I had about 3 plate-fulls). After a quick nap, we went out hunting for fun. In the center of the city, we happened upon a giant futuristic mall (that was mostly outside) equipped with Santa’s Grotto. This was definitely the part of the city where they’ve thrown tons of money to rebuild and it shows. There were so many Christmas lights, it felt like a city of Griswolds. We made our way to the Cavern for some drinks and to hear some music. Through the course of the night, I heard two solo acoustic guitarists (first was terrible, second was really good) and a rock trio, all playing plenty of Beatles covers as well as tons of American tunes (I heard ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ twice). There were plenty of sketchy Liverpoolian men that were handing out drinks to girls. One guy was so drunk he caressed my hair (what the heck is it with middle-age men and my hair?). It was still a fun night regardless.
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