Despite an unpleasant airport odyssey beginning my trip, London has been incredibly exciting to explore. Beginning a day later than most of the group, my first day in London was greeted by free pints and historic photographs being taken. Yes, as you’ll soon find out on the wall, or maybe just the owner’s cell phone, two classmates and I were the very first patrons to enter the newly renovated London Pub! While that was very exciting it would start a day that, while fun, felt incredibly jarring. As tiredness set in, everything was so new and fun that at times I worried I wasn’t able to truly appreciate it. This morning was a whole other story. After touring the beautiful St Paul’s cathedral some classmates and I went clothing shopping, discovered an amazing falafel place, navigated the tubes for ourselves, and truly got to experience the city!
So what do I mean by experiencing the city? I meant that once given some time to walk around, post sleeping that is, a completely new sense of scale set in. Gone was the roller coaster of yesterday and as the track was removed we got a chance to see what it would be like to actually exist in a city of this scale. On that same token, the sense of scale provided a realization that even in a month there’s now way we could experience everything this city has to offer. With every street, an alley leading to more shops. Every building’s history sometimes dating back hundreds of years. Most importantly though, on almost every other street something theater related! The city holds such an obvious love for the craft it’s incredible. Which is why I’m so excited to see so many more shows while we’re here. One down with The Boys From the Blackstuff, a great show despite being a bit rough at times due to its newness, 12 more to go!
Theatre in London U of A 