Hello hello hello good people from the states! This is your narrator, Tani German, a sophomore music and psych double major reporting from Earl's Court Road in London, England! I'm sure you've heard many of my fellow classmates exude their excitement and joy so far, but let me just say, as an enormous music lover, that this is one of the greatest trips of my life and it has been greatly influential. Right now I am studying to be a vocal performer and seeing all the people on stage so far has compelled me to at least try to make it as a singer, despite the slimmer chances. London reminds me of all the possibilities one can have for the future and it gives me hope, as I'm sure it does for many others.
Now, what influenced my love for London today?
Today started like a typical day - we had class from 9-11am, which many of us are still making an effort to get up for after all our late nights ;) We heard from our classmates Shafer and Jessica about Anna Clyne's "Night Ferry" and Benjamin Britten's "Piano Concerto" which we will be seeing tomorrow night. After class many of us divided into smaller groups and went about doing different things. A couple of people decided to take the afternoon off and stay back at the flat to relax and catch up on some homework. Another group of people decided to tour Kensington Palace and see some pretty fancy clothes of some of the Royalty. And then some people decide today was the day for shopping! My group decided touring the Royal Albert Hall was a good way to start the afternoon.
Let me just say that I have never seen a more beautiful, Roman-inspired amphitheater hall. Everything about it was breath-taking and I was truly in awe of the architecture. The tour guide was full of information, including the building of the theater. As some of you make know, after the untimely death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria was devastated and wanted to commemorate his death. Not only did she declare that all the fencing be painted black for the mourning of Albert, she asked for a giant, gold encrusted memorial to be built along with the royal hall. In order to raise money, they built a HUGE building for a world exhibition called the Crystal Palace, which, sadly, is no longer there. Unfortunately that only raised enough money for the memorial and all seemed lost for the theater. However, a man whose name I seemed to have momentarily forgotten, believed that the show must go on! (har har). In order to get enough money for the theater, it was decided that the theater would sell its seats for a lease of 999 years for only 100 pounds. The seats were sold out to about 350 people, and those seats today cannot be sold by the theater without the permission of the owners of the chairs, who may have obtained this possession by the purchasing of the lease from others or inheritance. Either way, many of the seats still remain empty during the biggest shows!
I know, lots of history, but I thought a little bit of information never hurt anyone :) The theater tour lasted about an hour and was well worth it. Unfortunately that is probably the most many will see of it because the prices of shows can be pretty hefty. Right now Cirque du Soleil is performing for a couple weeks (which is rare because most of the time they have a new show every night) and some of the seats were going for about 70 pounds (equivalent to about $112), and I think that was for the more cheaper seats. As you might have guessed, this place is very popular and special - the queen even has her own box, entrance to the theater, and waiting room. It also has one of the worlds largest organs, 1 short of 10,000 pipes, though we were unable to see it due to the setup of the current show.
I'm sorry I talked SO much about the theater, but it was one of my favorite places I've been so far!
After the theater we stopped at Harrods. I will say only this: you NEED a map or you will get lost. I swear, it's a maze made so the only way to get out is to buy something really expensive :P Also, I had the most amazing Cheesecake of my life there.
Harrods was a popular stop for people today, but what was even more abuzz was our musical performance we were about to see - the world famous Les Miserables. It was most definitely as great as everyone made it seem, for I had never seen it before. The stage was beautiful, the acting and singing were breath-taking, and some tears were definitely shed. Some of the students even stayed after the performance and got some autographs!
But now the day has come to a close and many of us are busy writing away in our journals before our first review of them tomorrow. Thanks for following the blog and all of our exciting journeys!
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