Day # 2 in London
Waking up this morning wasn’t too hard since I was in a new place with different sights, sounds, and smells, in addition to the mounting anticipation. We started our day with a continental breakfast at the hotel and then made our way to the “tube” (or the London underground transport). We all have passes and it is a brilliant way to travel around here! I’ve picked it up pretty easily and find it a bit easier to use than the metro back home.
We did, however, make a slight goof when we set out for Kensington Olympia, but when we asked a man for help, it turned out he was walking to work and he was the director at the Blythe House that we were headed to! What a great coincidence?!.. I overheard one girl say “divine intervention,” and smiled to myself thinking I was in good company. I have met a few girls on this trip who have connections to my old freshmen IV small group which has been kind of fun. Anyway,.. what were we doing at the Blythe House you might ask?! Well.. we had a private tour of some of the Beatrix Potter archives. The two who ran it were the curators, one for Beatrix and the other for her publisher, Warner. We were able to get an inside look into some her original work and sketches. The archives, however, are spread between a few different locations around England, but the majority of her work we observed was from her Peter Rabbit tale. I knew quite a bit about Beatrix Potter, but here are a few items I learned today: 1. While Beatrix was known for having several pets like rabbits and mice that she brought around, she also used to boil them and other animals after they died so she could study the skeleton and anatomy of the creature for more accurate drawings and illustrations. 2. Her stories often began as letters to real children, whom she knew. The story Peter Rabbit was first written in a letter to a boy named Nolan. 3. She was the first person to actively tap into the merchandising industry by creating plush toy animals of Peter Rabbit. I did greatly enjoy getting the insiders look at her work, and I do admire her ambitious nature and accomplishments. As mentioned on the tour, a particular advantage of hers was that she both illustrated and authored her work, eliminating a creative gap between the two vital parts of creating children’s literature. It was quite inspiring, as I do have a growing interest in the world of Children’s literature!!
After the tour, we set off for the V&A museum to look at some exhibits regarding Children’s literature, but were disappointed to find out that they had been taken down recently. On our way, however.. we passed the “Royal Albert Hall,” which I snapped a photo of for my boyfriend,.. Albert! =)
We then set off for the Kensington Palace, where we had Tea at L’Orangerie. The walk there was beautiful and we strolled through a large park. There are several parks amidst the busy city of London (this was a similar design to the city of Adelaide, Australia, where I studied before). I greatly enjoy this type of city design because it blends a bit of nature into the metropolitan life of London. Looking around, you can see that it is a cherished part of England, as the parks are flooded with families, lovers, kids, practices, coworkers, students, etc. just enjoying a place to sit and spend time together. I dare say they are even more popular than the JMU quad! Nestled behind gardens that surrounded the Palace was L’Orangerie, and it had white columns and walls with indoor and outdoor seating. The furniture was black iron and had white linens and a miniature orange tree decorating the top (they immediately reminding me of the orange trees from the Illusionist, for those of you that have seen it!). By this time, it was nearly 2:30 and I was starving! As much as I like tea and sweet things, I chose to get lunch instead and I ordered a flounder. It came out looking like something from the food channel!.. it was beautiful and quite delicious to a hungry stomach!
After tea, we proceeded to our double-decker bus tour where my day took an interesting turn. We swiftly made our was to the open-roofed portion of the second story of the bus and rode around for a couple hours getting a great view of the sites and snapping photos left and right. Our tour guide, Richard, was particularly friendly and helpful. Now, for those of you that know me, you might recall that I have a small capacity for holding water… and you can only imagine where I might be headed with that! About halfway through our tour, the glasses of water during tea finally caught up to me right about the time we hit major city traffic. I desperately tried to psych myself into forgetting about it, but this seemed impossible. It seemed impossible that I would be able to make it to the end, but I didn’t want to make anyone else get off because this would probably end the tour for them too.. and we would be somewhere off in London without the rest of the group! How embarrassing?! Finally giving into the pain of a small bladder, I asked the group if anyone else needed a restroom. To my relief, there was another who sympathized with my agonizing cries for a restroom! We decided to get off at the next stop and we walked downstairs to chat with the driver. He began to recommend getting off at a certain stop, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying because something was distracting him on the right. The next thing I realized, there was a dump-truck like car to the right of us who was very angry at the bus driver, pulling threateningly close with his car. The bus driver and him began spouting angrily off at each other though the window and then the other driver rammed the side of the bus with his truck, shattering part of the bus windshield! The bus driver was furious and began getting my help to get the man’s license plate. Meanwhile, I’m beginning to shake from the amount of water in my body and the growing intensity of the situation. I helped him get the correct plates, but then the driver pulled off to the left and we parked right next to him, the doors about a foot apart! Before I knew it, the truck driver was coming into the bus yelling and the whole situation began to escalate verbally. I was so nervous and about to pee myself, so when a gap opened up behind the men, I darted off the bus towards a restaurant. Before I could make it ten feet, however, the bus driver popped his head out and said “Miss, do come back!” and there was an element of urgency in his voice. He wanted to get my information since I was a witness to the accident and I jotted down my name and home address. Then I ran like mad for the bathroom! Don’t worry friends, I made it there in time and did not make a public fool of myself. By the time we returned from the bathroom, the truck driver was leaving the bus and the bus driver tour guide spoke with me briefly, apologizing and verifying the information I had given them. We got back on the road and then the truck driver reversed into the bus in anger! We pulled off and the police finally came to talk to the bus driver, tour guide, and myself briefly. It was a bit of an awkward situation to be thrown into, but I suppose will make for a good story in the end, eh?!
By the time we switched to a new bus, I had a terrifying headache and a growing stomach ache. Most of the girls went off to the theater but a few of us went walking around in the evening for dinner. I ended up going to Covent Garden with Laura and Ellie. It was a lovely evening!!! So far, Covent Garden was my favorite place, because the buildings were very interesting and plentiful. There were several interesting shops that we are going to revisit in a week and lovely restaurants. We stopped for dinner at a place called “Bella Italia.” I ordered a pasta dish with ricotta cheese and spinach which was delicious!! We were all so hungry from walking that day that we decided we had room for dessert and I had a banana-caramel crepe! The restaurant was kind of slow, but the three of us didn’t mind at all. We had a lovely time spending the evening at the restaurant eating good food and getting to know each other.
Now , I’m back once again at the Royal National Hotel, but we leave tomorrow morning for a train into the lake District. I’m not sure what kind of internet service I will have there, but if I can post,.. I will definitely try to. Forgive me if personal correspondence is weak, but we are being kept very busy as you can see! I’m surprised I found time to write such a long post. We are required to keep a journal for the trip, so I set up this blog to accomplish two things at once.. update you and journal about my trip!! Hope you’ve enjoyed it! Miss you and see you in a few weeks.
Love, Bethany
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