Ethan Knox

(2-24)– I have to be honest– I’m pretty sure I slept this whole day away. I can’t remember one thing I did. Sorry!

(2-25)– Today started with British Life and Culture, and instead of a regular class, we had a little excursion. It began with an early morning tube and walk to Westminster, which is still the seat of Parliament. It’s only about 20 minutes away, but it was a little cold and extra windy. I’m wondering if any of us are ever going to get over these sicknesses. When we got to the Visitor’s entrance, which has a giant statue of Oliver Cromwell, we were pretty quickly allowed in, although we did have a lot of screening (airport security level) to do so. When we got out of the cold, they ushered us into the Great Hall, which is the oldest part of the building. it is one of the few parts which survived the burning of the original building. Its ceiling is made of wood and it has no supports, which almost gives it a Nordic, video-game-like style. This is also helped along by the angels carved into the pillars; a myth that God is holding up the roof seems to be the cause of this particular embellishment.

It was actually pretty impressive, although there was a draft since the hall was such a large space. Apparently, since it’s not part of either section of Parliament, the Queen can be in this room (The Queen isn’t allowed in the House of Commons, a tradition since a King once burst into the chamber and carried off members without reason), and it has been used for receptions, banquets, and in-state funerals (where the bodies of the famous are displayed to be visited).

Once the tour guide joined us, we walked through the rest of the building, although we’re unfortunately not allowed to take pictures after the first room. We were allowed to go through the Royal dressing room, the House of Commons (including the chambers where they go to vote), the House of Lords, and the hallways in between, which are elegantly decorated. It was interesting to hear about all the traditions, the way the systems work, and even the amount the Lords make (sometimes, an astronomical 300 pounds an hour). The coolest thing was probably the way that most parts of the building are actually used and seen on the news for things like coronations and public debates. It was like touring the White House, or the Supreme Court; it felt like this is where the laws are made (good and bad) which directly reflects on how life is lived.

After walking through Parliament, we crossed the road to see Westminster Abbey, which is the famous church (which used to be a Benedictine monastery). The architecture is beautiful, and the window I think it’s known for was a pretty industrious looking feat. I can’t imagine planning and building something like this, let alone then filling it with statues and decoration.

We were also mostly not allowed to take pictures here. It’s not very different from other churches, per se, but the biggest thing that sets it apart is how full it is of the bodies of celebrated folk. In Poet’s Corner, for example, lies the tomb of Geoffrey Chaucer, and countless other memorials.

There are some outbuildings, like the cloisters, the College Gardens, the Chapter House (boasting “As the rose is the flower of flowers, this is the house of houses.”), and even a small antechamber known as the Pyx Room (aka, where the treasures of the king were once stored). All were quite beautiful, and like the other buildings here, reminded me of times long gone.

One of the things that really delighted me while here, however, was something entirely unrelated to the church (or so I suppose?). Several families live around the College Gardens, and while I was walking through, this beautiful cat came tumbling out of the stonework walls and ran into the path. I tried to approach it, but it only lingered around me for a second before skittering off into this daffodil field. I don’t know if it just wasn’t able to see me or if it was playing with me, but the cute little thing let me have a little photoshoot. Probably one of my favorite, most idyllic pictures from this trip, if I’m being honest.

After the tour, we had a meeting where we had pancakes for Fat Tuesday (Thanks Mary and Janine!), and a Shakespeare class than droned on a bit, although we talked about A Winter’s Tale, which I’m liking decidedly more as time goes on. We spent some more time hanging out and made a nice dinner before a night out.

At Trafalgar Studios, we went to see A Taste of Honey, which was a play originally created in 1958 by Shelagh Delaney when she was just 19 years old.

The theatre was really interesting and made it feel as if we were going to the production of a movie set rather than a play. This was also helped along by a very talented 3-person band (drums, bass, and keyboard/piano) and a set that rotated and illuminated in interesting ways.

This whole play was pretty sad, but it was impressively put on, technically, and it stands the test of time in certain ways (although the main struggle is one perhaps a little less likely). It follows Jo and in extension her mother Helen, a crude alcoholic. When they move into a new-to-them-but-rundown apartment, the two quarrel about Helen’s boyfriend, Peter. Peter asks Helen to marry him. She accepts; meanwhile Jo, at a new school, has met a sailor (who happens to be black), and who asks her to marry him. When Helen discovers this, she chides Jo for marrying young, but marries Peter anyway and leaves Jo to fend for herself.

In Act Two, we find Jo without a husband but pregnant. She finds a new life in her mother’s old apartment with a friend named Geoffrey, who is gay. He takes on the role of a surrogate father and asks for Jo to marry him, although she refuses (knowing that there is no physical love between them). They begin to live a relatively happy life, although Jo is still not sure how she will take care of a child, when Helen returns and ultimately asks to move back in. Helen’s personality and homophobia forces Geoffrey to leave, knowing that Jo will be unable to navigate the pairs dueling. As Jo goes into labor, unaware that Geoffrey has gone for good, she admits to her mother that the baby is going to be African American. Helen, unable to handle this news, runs to a pub and leaves her daughter on the couch alone, waiting for someone to help her.

Although a lot of people didn’t really understand the show, I liked it a lot. I think it was a moving portrayal of the darker parts of life, the pain of motherhood and the mother/daughter relationship. Obviously, as an older play, it’s structure is not exactly as we expect, which threw some off, but I thought it was interesting and beautiful in many ways (although it’s content was grim). They also had several short sections where the actors sang in the Jazz age style, and that really intrigued me. The use of music, usually upbeat, played off the opposite story.

Afterward, on our way home, we found a giant crowd in front of the Dear Evan Hansen theatre. Thinking it was just a cast stage door, we almost walked through but noticed that there were black cars and a huge crowd. We stuck around for a bit and speculated about who it could possibly be. One of the girls, Emma, made a joke that it was the Queen, and the girl in front of us turned around and casually said: “Oh, it’s Kate Middleton!” Shocked, we all freaked out, and the girl told us that she had walked by and saw her inside. We wandered to the front door and waited, and lo and behold- out came Will and Kate!

This chance meeting was honestly insane and unexpected. I never thought that I would see royalty, let alone someone in line for the throne. We ran home and bragged all about it. Something that cool will make me remember this trip for a lifetime (as if I wasn’t going to already).

We spent the rest of the night watching a movie and went to sleep after a bit! Overall a full, but really good, day!

(2-26)– I started off the day with a run in Hyde Park and found this pretty view. I’m still trying really hard to get out to the parks that are a little further away, but haven’t had a chance yet or wanted to spend the money! Soon, hopefully!

After my run, I spent some of the day preparing for class and then hung out in the flat. I went and got food from a little shop right down the road and then came back and hung out with everyone for a bit; with the coronavirus scaring half of Europe, we’re considering canceling some of our trips and rebooking closer to home. We’re definitely not going to Italy anymore, but we’ll see about the rest. Maybe Wales or Scotland will get added to the list.

Then Nicole, Jacob and I stayed up late and made banana bread with our brown bananas, which Nicole embellished by adding dried pieces on the top. It reminds me of home and my mom’s cooking. I love zucchini and banana bread, so it was like a dream. With twelve people it got gobbled up pretty quickly, but I still had a few delightful slices.

We played cards for a bit and then, our baking urge still not satisfied, made some scones. Both dishes were second batches, and I would argue that both came out better than the first. Nicole disagreed and thought the second scones were tougher, but they still were gone after breakfast the next morning.

(2-27)– We slept in for a little bit today and then those of us that had class struggled to London Journal. I think a lot of people must have been tired because the energy seemed a little low. We talked for a bit about nonfiction/travel writing craft and then moved on to our first workshop for the class (flash nonfiction draft). It’s interesting having a class that has so many varied ranges of writing experience. I felt like I know quite a lot about workshopping at this point, so it was easy for me to critique/compliment, but I always forget how other people have trouble with it. Although I don’t think I walked away without learning anything new about how I could fix my writing/make it better, I wish that the people in my group had been a little tougher on me. I guess that will be part of the learning process as we continue the semester!

Later that night, everyone in the boy’s room and one of the girl’s rooms went out to O’Neill’s for cheap Thursday’s even though we have to be up early to get to Prague tomorrow.  It was a fun night and we danced a bit, getting out some energy before our flight. The music wasn’t really very dance-able, though, so we wrapped up faster than normal and headed home for a couple of hours rest before leaving for the weekend!

See you in the Czech Republic!