ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, OR AS YOU LIKE IT

As some of us are leaving tomorrow, we paid our respects to HRH, Queen Elizabeth II, at Buckingham Palace, where she was in residence, as evidenced by the flag. 

The palace is rather nice, if you like that kind of thing. A bit ostentatious for me . . . I KID! I KID! It was incredible. I got 'stamped' for a free return, and hope to bring my sister back with me. 

Then we stood in traffic for awhile, trying to get photos which convey transportation in motion. As it happens, this synchronized nicely with the changing of the guard, which necessitated a full stop to all traffic as the guard proceeded out and down the mall. Sigh....

Then I tried a couple of tactics. I used my Samsung Galaxy Note II phone camera, with an aperture priority setting, which set a very low ISO of 80, and an aperture of 2.76. Here's the shot:

It kind of looks like there's some momentum going on, doesn't it? Or is that just the optical illusion of the graphic on the cab? 

I was thrilled when a red Ferrari came around the corner. Without changing the settings, I took a series of rapid shots. However, I'm not sure I got the desired effect. Everything looks to be in focus. I guess my phone camera is just too good, maybe?

Even if they're too IN focus, I love the fact that everyone is gaping at the car in all of the photos!

I also tried using my Fuji Finepix JV. I tried setting it to night, to lengthen exposure, and got mixed results. Some came out with everything pretty much in focus,

like this one:
but this one:seems to have worked!

Same settings, but I may have been 'tracking' the biker or something? Not sure how I got lucky, but I want to learn more about how to affect these effects. I'll have some time to practice, now.

Farewell lunch at Hard Rock. I snuck out before there could be any weepy farewells - I hate that kind of thing. I trust many of us will continue to follow each others' goings-on. Look for my continuing adventures with Mollie in London, Bath, York, and then Scotland and Ireland - erin go bragh!

WANDERINGS

So, our weekend this week was Friday & Saturday, because Sunday is our last hurrah. So I finally actually had a chance to do some exploring. I bussed around on Friday, but on Saturday I went to the Y in the morning, and from there I started walking, with the intention of hopping on a bus to go over the river (& through the woods) to Bankside to find the hotel we are staying at Monday. I kept straying from the path, because I glimpsed intriguing alleys or old buildings that just begged me to investigate. 

See what I mean? This is a church at Lincoln's Inn park, where I was also mesmerized by the striations of weather wear on the sculpture below.

I actually found a public 'loo' there, which was spic and span and very convenient. I suspect it was there because there might be a taxi stand type of thing at that spot, as several taxis lined the street.


Then I was in the middle of all sorts of justice-y things, including the Royal Courts of Justice. I think the building below was part of  same, but I snapped it because it reminded me of the Santa Croce "Stendahlisme" story from Florence. That was a striped tower like the one below.

 

When next I checked for a bus stop, I discovered I was around the corner from Fleet Street, so I HAD to go there. I adore this sign....

The huisieme arrondissement?! Londres? Qu'est-ce que c'est? Very peculiar....

Well, by this time I was at Ludgate Circus, and it occurred to me that I was wearing closed shoes (for my class at the Y) for the 1st time since hospital, and I was really regretting it. I took a few photos of cars zipping around, and decided to hop a bus over Blackfriar's Bridge.

Wait for it...this was when I discovered I had 

LOST MY OYSTER CARD.

And yes, I did check everywhere, calmly, assuming (as you are now) that I was just panicked. But noooooo...it was well and truly gone. So engrossed had I been in my sightseeing that I must have accidentally yanked it out along with my bus map or something, and lost it.

Now I had no choice but to walk over the bridge, feet in agony. I stopped for photo ops, below.

THEN, once I was on the other side, I had to go in search of a tube station, of which there are precious few in Bankside. There was one at Southwark, where I was finally able to buy a new card. I knew I was 'around the corner' from my objective, so I trudged on. More interesting discoveries....

 Art on the Tube. That's a tube map on her lap.

THIS is a theatre? Showing Measure for Measure, no less.




I found the hotel, the Citizen M Bankside. It's REALLY nice! I took the closest bus, the RV1, which took me to Covent Garden - yikes! What a mob scene. From there I tried to orient myself, and finally found Charing Cross Road, where I got on the 25 bus. I have more photos, but I am in AGONY, so I'm signing off here. London is amazing. I'm glad I'm not leaving on Monday! Hopefully I'll be able to walk....

YOUR NEW NEIGHBORHOOD

My group put together a video with the essentials students here at the Study Centre will need to know. 

Now I want coffee . . . .

LORD WHAT FOOLS THESE MORTALS BE

Our next-to-last class endeavor together was last night. We rode the London Eye, which was great fun.

Then we walked along the Thames to the Globe, a fascinating display of London life. It was a brisk (to say the least) half hour walk which taxed my poor feet. 

Barely time to hit the restrooms before curtain at the Globe. Our seats were extreme stage left, and a lot of the action was obstructed by a pillar in the stalls, as well as one onstage. But I craned my neck and squiggled around so I could see and hear as much as I could. 

NOBODY DOES SHAKESPEARE LIKE THE BRITS! We saw A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of my favourites. 

The direction, choreography, music, musicians and cast were all brilliant, and I was enjoying myself thoroughly until intermission, at which point I was told I was too loud! It really ruined my mood, but I decided not to let it. I ignored the comment and loved the show!

The play was so well done; the mechanicals were amazing. The actor who played Francis Flute (who plays Thisbe in the play within the play) reminded me of Sheldon from Big Bang Theory – hysterical! Everyone was excellent. I am always partial to Helena, whose “Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born?” speech I delivered on the stage of the Globe on a past visit with theatre students. The duality of the characters was delicious, and expertly executed. My flatmate noted that Puck almost appeared to be Puck in disguise when he played Philsotrate, an intriguing idea. I absolutely adored the show; I will likely try to see it again with my sister after this program is over – just a few more days now. I want to visit the theatre shop as well, which we didn't get time to do. 

Then we made some attempts to do our assignment of night photography, but I was confused by the directions and slightly dispirited. So we went home. Too bad. 

London Theatre

I WON'T GROW UP, SAID PETER POTTER

Why do we love Peter Pan? And other non-conformists? I'll tell you why. 

Because we want to believe that we can choose to do whatever we want. Don't you? 

Pick a wand, any wand....

 Some people, who accidentally take a wrong turn and get stuck in something they think they're "supposed" to do still seek solace in literature and imagination about all of the potential other what-ifs. This is the greatest gift we are given, but usually mostly as children. 

Now, this is the most important thing we CAN give children, absolutely, but why should grown-ups not continue to dwell on possibilities, too? Some people do, and get paid for it – you see? It can be done! But some of us grow to think that this realm of make-believe is just that, and make the unfortunate mistake of abandoning this great sphere of joy -- again, because we think we're supposed to. 

I HAVE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING.

YOU ARE NOT 'SUPPOSED' TO DO ANYTHING

EXCEPT WHAT YOUR HEART DESIRES.

It's GOOD to break the rules. And it's even more important to know that it's good, and important to NEVER stop thinking outside of the triangle. It's a basic survival skill, and you ignore it at your own risk. 

I act & feel & think like a six year old most of the time and some people don't understand me. That's ok; I don't care. I know I'm being true to me. Boy, were we in our element today! We went to the Harry Potter Studios outside London. (It's ok; it's not dizney.) 

Wands

 J. K. Rowling and the masses of people who have been involved in the production of her stories into films have given us a great gift: permission--indeed encouragement--to keep on wondering and playing. This is wonderful, but . . . why do need permission? 

Some more wands, all named for actual crew members

We need magic and faeries and wizards and dragons today more than ever. All of these stories are fables which remind us that we can ALWAYS choose our path; we can ALWAYS defeat the wrong-doers; we can ALWAYS fight for right...and WE CAN WIN.

This lesson is never not needed! But we're like the grown-ups in The Little Prince, who have forgotten how to draw a sleeping lamb or an elephant in a boa constrictor. And then we’ll need to rely on the children to remind us. Otherwise, there’s a grave danger that we will forget, and the children will have to do everything, and they’re already too busy now!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…

NOT! Our Hyde Park trip this AM got rained out. Kind of ironic, inasmuch as our photo focus for today was water (check out my pic on our Facebook page)! But we all met instead for our afternoon outing to Kensington Palace and high tea at the Orangery, don’t you know? 

Pretty thrilling to think we were in William, Kate and the BABY’s palace, AND that the baby and mommy and daddy arrived home mere hours after we left! The palace history is fascinating . . . Victoria, Georges, et al.  Very tastefully done displays, which included animated projections, synopses of stories, and displays appropriate to various chambers.

etched glass Crystal Palace representation

quote by Victoria about meeting Albert:
"I said I couldn't think of marrying for three or four years, but seeing Albert has changed all this"

I especially liked the royal wallpaper and signage....

 At 3 o’clock it was tea time. I cannot tell you what a delightful experience this was! It was so . . . CIVILIZED! 

row leading to Orangery

A thread I've found running through my posts during this all-too-brief stay has been an increased sense of appreciation for the Brits and their culture. I've talked about how studious they are in maintaining a connection with their history, and how cavalier they are about the arts. Contrasting yet complementary characteristics. As a people, they are endowed with a sense of perspective, I think, which is another theme I've been examining. They seem to be able both to take themselves very, very seriously, AND make ridiculous fun of themselves. They are sometimes stereotyped as very reserved, and there are things about which they are quite solemn, such as their royal family, and understandably so. They recognize that they got to where they are today only because of the peculiar set of circumstances, good and bad, which came before. Yet they have such a lovely sense of humour about it all. We need only think about Monty Python to see how silly they realize others must on occasion perceive them to be. But they welcome the hordes of perennial tourists, because they have a genuine joie de vivre (forgive me my French, your Majesties) which makes them curious, gregarious and a lot of fun to get to know. I’m so glad I’ll be staying on in the UK after my FSU experience!