I take a quick break from recording our Italian experiences to tell of some more recent activity in London. Brianne and I have been awfully busy with comings and goings in the last two weeks!
The major "going" was the departure of our dear flatmate Matt, who trundled off to Spain for several weeks before heading back to Australia for the rest of the year. He's been the best friend we've had in our building, developing a wonderful rapport of shared interests in The Office and Scrubs, witty banter and purile practical jokes. We kept each other in stitches most of the time, and we're sad to see him go. The silver lining is he's storing a lot of his bulkier luggage with us during his time in Spain and will return to stay with us a couple of days in June before heading Down Under.
As a final group activity, the three of us went to see Spring Awakening, a Tony Award-winning musical based on the play of the same name which was soon to close it's London engagement. The show was fantastic, a mixture of bold theatrical themes of innocence and sexual discovery in 19th century Germany, infused with a modern rock score.
We've also had two arrivals in the last few days. Our pals Christine and Darrell from Ottawa are staying in another room of our building for the next few days, taking in the sights of London before heading off on a bus tour of Scotland. I did my best to give accurate directions for them to follow to our door, and after a consultation with the all-seeing all-knowing Wifey and a revision, it seemed to work out okay! We've got The Tower and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese to look forward to.
Brianne and I also met up with family friends Linda and Jim Collacott of Niagara Falls. We met them for lunch near my office and received a lovely care package from home by way of Mom. Things we just can't get here, like NeoCitran and Swedish Berries. Yay! So nice to have faces from home.
For the past week or so, B and I have been in Britain's Got Talent mode, checking out the semi-finals each night. This is of course the showcase for the "worldwide media darling" Susan Boyle. As nice a story as she makes, we're more interested in the street dance groups which have also made it to the finals.
Check out "Diversity" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pg3fvanDDc
and "Flawless" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MamSKGd4y28&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GrOMLylvhQ&feature=related
More to come on Italy soon!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
When the moon hits your eye . . . punch him back
We hopped an early train from Rome to Naples, a reasonably comfortable two and a half hour journey. Once we arrived at our destination, however, we quickly formulated the opinion that Napoli will henceforth be referred to in our memories as "The purgatory through which one must pass to get to Amalfi." The city immediately gave the impression of being dirtier, more cramped, and less friendly than Rome, in direct accordance with what our Rome hostel mates had warned. And clever me, I had pre-booked two nights there, thinking it was a decent home base for visiting Pompeii -- which it was, but offered nothing else to recommend itself. Luckily, the hostel we stayed at was top-notch with a very friendly and helpful owner, and we managed to spend all our time of the next two days out of town.
Continuing in our good fortune at finding fellow countrymen abroad, Brianne ran into two young guys from Brampton purchasing their tickets to Pompeii. We joined them and an American couple currently based in Germany for a trek into the historic ruins in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. One of the Canuck lads had a passionate enthusiasm for Pompeii and offered to be our guide for the day. As it turned out, enthusiasm does not always equal factual accuracy; he was positive the mountain dominating the landscape was too close to be the real Vesuvius, we completely passed by the House of the Faun that he was looking for because the characterestic statue denoting it wasn't as large as he expected it to be from the pictures he'd seen, and the preserved counters with holes in them (see below) were described by him as "public toilets," rather than being -- as we learned from a guidebook afterwards -- "food pots." Doesn't matter, though, he was a terrific guy and we all had a great time.
The ruins of Pompeii are expansive; you're told it's a "city," of course, but the reality of the size doesn't really hit you until you're exploring it. We wandered in and out of dwellings, checked out the amphitheatre, and marvelled at mosaics and frescoes. Our admittedly morbid group goal, however, was to make sure we "saw some dead people." We were searching for the casts of the remains of those who had not escaped the wrath of the volcano. We found them towards the end of our days, and they are eerily fascinating.
One site within the city that was very popular was the brothel. Seriously, people were lined up outside, it was hilarious, but of course we were there too. Within the recently excavated and restored edifice were separate rooms with stone beds in them, and over the doors to each room were frescoes which quite clearly depicted . . . shall we say, "menu options?" What happens in Pompeii, stays in Pompeii. Following our long and dusty exploration of the ruins, we enjoyed the company of our North American friends over some delectable local pizza.
The next day we made our way down to the docks to hop a ferry out to the Isle of Capri. We had read amazing things in the Lonely Planet guide about the beauty of the island, particularly of The Blue Cove, a grotto accessible only by row boat with hauntingly blue water due to light refraction and white sand. We opted for a motor boat tour of around the entire island shore, with the Cove at the end. The tour was well worth it, showing the beauty of the craggy mountain cliffs and mirrored water and inlet grottoes, all the while inspiring the theme from Jurassic Park to run through our heads.
Once we made it to the Blue Cove, however, we realized it was a complete rip-off. They charge you for the row boat into the cave PLUS cave entry, you're only in there for about 4 minutes, you can barely take a recognizable picture (see below), and all the while your row boat captain is belting out bad opera in the echoing darkness trying to drum up a tip! Sheesh! Well, live and learn.
After regaining our land legs, we ventured up to the main town of the island. Ventured? More like "scaled." It was a 25 minute uphill walk to Capri Town. Along the way we kept passing people on their way down who so compassionately assured us that we were LESS than half-way there. Still, we met a couple of gals from Chicago with whom we completed our climb, took in the admittedly astounding views from the summit, and had a little lunch. Capri Town is packed to the gills with high-end retailers (Gucci, Cartier, etc) and five-star hotels, so there was a lot of just window shopping on our part. We made our way back down and indulged in some gelato which was thoroughly earned, then said goodbye to our Chicago gals, hung out on very rocky beach for a little while and took the ferry back to Napoli.
One thing that made us both laugh: when walking back to our hostel, we saw in the window of a McDonalds a picture on the menu for a grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich entitled "McToast."
Continuing in our good fortune at finding fellow countrymen abroad, Brianne ran into two young guys from Brampton purchasing their tickets to Pompeii. We joined them and an American couple currently based in Germany for a trek into the historic ruins in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. One of the Canuck lads had a passionate enthusiasm for Pompeii and offered to be our guide for the day. As it turned out, enthusiasm does not always equal factual accuracy; he was positive the mountain dominating the landscape was too close to be the real Vesuvius, we completely passed by the House of the Faun that he was looking for because the characterestic statue denoting it wasn't as large as he expected it to be from the pictures he'd seen, and the preserved counters with holes in them (see below) were described by him as "public toilets," rather than being -- as we learned from a guidebook afterwards -- "food pots." Doesn't matter, though, he was a terrific guy and we all had a great time.
The ruins of Pompeii are expansive; you're told it's a "city," of course, but the reality of the size doesn't really hit you until you're exploring it. We wandered in and out of dwellings, checked out the amphitheatre, and marvelled at mosaics and frescoes. Our admittedly morbid group goal, however, was to make sure we "saw some dead people." We were searching for the casts of the remains of those who had not escaped the wrath of the volcano. We found them towards the end of our days, and they are eerily fascinating.
One site within the city that was very popular was the brothel. Seriously, people were lined up outside, it was hilarious, but of course we were there too. Within the recently excavated and restored edifice were separate rooms with stone beds in them, and over the doors to each room were frescoes which quite clearly depicted . . . shall we say, "menu options?" What happens in Pompeii, stays in Pompeii. Following our long and dusty exploration of the ruins, we enjoyed the company of our North American friends over some delectable local pizza.The next day we made our way down to the docks to hop a ferry out to the Isle of Capri. We had read amazing things in the Lonely Planet guide about the beauty of the island, particularly of The Blue Cove, a grotto accessible only by row boat with hauntingly blue water due to light refraction and white sand. We opted for a motor boat tour of around the entire island shore, with the Cove at the end. The tour was well worth it, showing the beauty of the craggy mountain cliffs and mirrored water and inlet grottoes, all the while inspiring the theme from Jurassic Park to run through our heads.
Once we made it to the Blue Cove, however, we realized it was a complete rip-off. They charge you for the row boat into the cave PLUS cave entry, you're only in there for about 4 minutes, you can barely take a recognizable picture (see below), and all the while your row boat captain is belting out bad opera in the echoing darkness trying to drum up a tip! Sheesh! Well, live and learn.
After regaining our land legs, we ventured up to the main town of the island. Ventured? More like "scaled." It was a 25 minute uphill walk to Capri Town. Along the way we kept passing people on their way down who so compassionately assured us that we were LESS than half-way there. Still, we met a couple of gals from Chicago with whom we completed our climb, took in the admittedly astounding views from the summit, and had a little lunch. Capri Town is packed to the gills with high-end retailers (Gucci, Cartier, etc) and five-star hotels, so there was a lot of just window shopping on our part. We made our way back down and indulged in some gelato which was thoroughly earned, then said goodbye to our Chicago gals, hung out on very rocky beach for a little while and took the ferry back to Napoli.One thing that made us both laugh: when walking back to our hostel, we saw in the window of a McDonalds a picture on the menu for a grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich entitled "McToast."
Monday, May 18, 2009
There are no cats in America (but there are Canadians in Rome!)
Hurray! We landed in Rome and right away we were off. The weather was fantastic and we arrived at the main bus and train terminal around noon. Our hostel was only a short walk away and located in a building that we would later come to know as ‘The standard hostel building’; mainly a dark and worn out building but go 2 or more stories above the street and it’s a cosy world of bunk beds in shared dorms and a tiny kitchen that everyone will attempt and succeed to fit into during free pasta night. After setting down our bags and getting directions from the front desk, we set out into the big, wide and sunny world of Rome. And somehow almost immediately Andrew was able t capture a man on a vespa going by. Eddie Izzard entered into our heads and it became a running joke for us – as always. After about twenty minutes of walking we ended up in a front of a very large, white building with statues at every crest. We later found out this was the monument for the unknown soldier and is also one of the most hated sights for the locals as they consider it an eyesore. There was also a giant column and ruins that looked as there had been many pillars. It was around this point that I spotted the Coliseum off in the distance. Andrew however did not spot it as he was still checking out the buildings around us. When he wanted to stop to check the map I moved him slightly to the right – pointing his head in the direction of the Coliseum – and asked him if we really needed to do that. The next couple of seconds were he thought about it, spotted the Coliseum and then recognized it for what it was was beautiful. I wished I had filmed it on camera. We bought our tickets and made our way in, hassled by offers of tour guides all the way. It looks exactly like the pictures and footage I have seen of it on t.v except smaller on the inside than you would think.. It is a pity that all the marble and statues that would have once decorated it have been stripped off or fallen and destroyed through the centuries. There were plenty of people walking around but it wasn’t an uncomfortable number as May is still not high season. As we walked around and paused to take pictures we were approached by a middle aged couple to take their picture and get ours taken in return. When I handed over the camera to the woman and posed with Andrew she lifted it up and very elfishly called out ‘Say Sex!” They were Canadians from British Columbia with a tour and they had spunk. I like people with spunk. 
After a few hours of wandering around the Coliseum we moved onto the joint sight of the Palatine, which is right across from the Coliseum. I don’t know what it means, but what it is is a hill on which once rested the most wealthy addresses in all of Rome. Down the slope within the same area was the Roman Forum or as we actors refer to it: Where Julius Caesar uttered “Et Tu Brute?” and someone else said “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears!” By this point we had spent almost six hours looking at ruins, so you could say we were all ruined out.
The following day we woke up bright and early (and a bit bleary eyed) to go to the Vatican. We took the Metro which was much wider and more roomy than the tube in London, and arrived only a 10 minute walk away from Vatican City at around 8:30 a.m. The beauty of arriving so early meant that there were no crowds and some of the cleaners were still at work. La Pieta was still being wiped down by one of the few people who are permitted behind her glass protection and there was a zamboni cleaning all the marble floors in preparation for the thousands of people who would soon be walking all over them. Immediately we made our way to the summit of St. Peters Dome – a massive undertaking for someone (me) who is not the most fond of heights. We took the savings of 2 euros and climbed the stairs rather than taking the lift. At the first opening we were still within the dome and immediately over the canopy of the high alter. Directly below our feet were the six feet tall letters that quoted “You are Peter…” and around us were the amazing mosaics that can be seen from the ground but from where we were standing were HUGE. From there we climbed even higher and onto a slant to get to the peak where we were greeted with a view of Rome in the morning. It’s blue and dusty. And white and brown. And loud and ancient. You have to see it for yourself. After a very careful descent we took a stroll through the Basilica and then made our way to a lunch of Pizza and pasta. After lunch it was off to the Vatican museums. (Note: If the Basilica is free then they really make up their weight in this fare – it is 14 euros each to enter the museums and there is no special price if all you want to see is the Sistine Chapel – it’s at the end of the tour and no sooner.) Although the tour takes you through artwork of all the Italian masters, Botticelli, Da Vinci, the Roman statues that stood all across Rome, amazing frescoes and mosaics, everyone is really just there to see the Chapel. There is no point trying to take a picture of it – for one there are the guards stationed everywhere constantly repeating ‘No Pictures’ and secondly it is so ill lit to preserve the paint that no camera, no matter how expensive would be able to do it justice. As per before, the pictures in your art books are probably the clearest you will see. With that done we headed through the streets of Rome to stop at the Piazza Navona (Gelato!), the Pantheon (big but boring) and the Trevi Fountain (stunning, just stunning.) All that was left to do was topple into bed and sleep. Don’t ask me how many stairs I had climbed in those first 2 days – I had stopped counting when I reached one thousand.
After a few hours of wandering around the Coliseum we moved onto the joint sight of the Palatine, which is right across from the Coliseum. I don’t know what it means, but what it is is a hill on which once rested the most wealthy addresses in all of Rome. Down the slope within the same area was the Roman Forum or as we actors refer to it: Where Julius Caesar uttered “Et Tu Brute?” and someone else said “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears!” By this point we had spent almost six hours looking at ruins, so you could say we were all ruined out.The following day we woke up bright and early (and a bit bleary eyed) to go to the Vatican. We took the Metro which was much wider and more roomy than the tube in London, and arrived only a 10 minute walk away from Vatican City at around 8:30 a.m. The beauty of arriving so early meant that there were no crowds and some of the cleaners were still at work. La Pieta was still being wiped down by one of the few people who are permitted behind her glass protection and there was a zamboni cleaning all the marble floors in preparation for the thousands of people who would soon be walking all over them. Immediately we made our way to the summit of St. Peters Dome – a massive undertaking for someone (me) who is not the most fond of heights. We took the savings of 2 euros and climbed the stairs rather than taking the lift. At the first opening we were still within the dome and immediately over the canopy of the high alter. Directly below our feet were the six feet tall letters that quoted “You are Peter…” and around us were the amazing mosaics that can be seen from the ground but from where we were standing were HUGE. From there we climbed even higher and onto a slant to get to the peak where we were greeted with a view of Rome in the morning. It’s blue and dusty. And white and brown. And loud and ancient. You have to see it for yourself. After a very careful descent we took a stroll through the Basilica and then made our way to a lunch of Pizza and pasta. After lunch it was off to the Vatican museums. (Note: If the Basilica is free then they really make up their weight in this fare – it is 14 euros each to enter the museums and there is no special price if all you want to see is the Sistine Chapel – it’s at the end of the tour and no sooner.) Although the tour takes you through artwork of all the Italian masters, Botticelli, Da Vinci, the Roman statues that stood all across Rome, amazing frescoes and mosaics, everyone is really just there to see the Chapel. There is no point trying to take a picture of it – for one there are the guards stationed everywhere constantly repeating ‘No Pictures’ and secondly it is so ill lit to preserve the paint that no camera, no matter how expensive would be able to do it justice. As per before, the pictures in your art books are probably the clearest you will see. With that done we headed through the streets of Rome to stop at the Piazza Navona (Gelato!), the Pantheon (big but boring) and the Trevi Fountain (stunning, just stunning.) All that was left to do was topple into bed and sleep. Don’t ask me how many stairs I had climbed in those first 2 days – I had stopped counting when I reached one thousand.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Treading the Boards
The weather in Olde London Towne has actually been glorious for the past week and a half, and while most of the daylight hours are spent working, we do try to make the most of the weekends. This past Sunday Brianne and I went down to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the south bank of the Thames for their annual free-entry day in honour of the Bard's birthday. Times being what they are, we're always on the lookout for any activity with the word FREE in the title.
We met up around noon with our pals Clare and Jonathan at The Swan, a lovely restaurant we've blogged on before. It's a little bar and brasserie attached to the Globe, offering lovely light fare for theatre patrons and the public. Brianne and Jonathan went for the soup of the day which B always raves about, while I tried a new English traditional dish, a pork pie. Tasty all around, if not the most filling.
We queued up after lunch and entered the Globe Exhibit (something that would've been £8 each any other day, huzzah!). We made our way through halls depicting the history of the Theatre and of Shakespeare, touching on costuming, sets, props, daily life, and the endeavour to build the modern theatre in the first place. Interesting, but a bit dry, and I was glad we were getting it for free. At the end of the educational halls, we came upon an actor portraying the young Shakespeare himself, giving away little prizes for those who could give him a line-reading of his work. Clare and Brianne earned little Globe-themed buttons, a fun trinket.
We made our way into the central gathering area of the exhibit, decked out in bunting with many activities and demonstrations all around. There was an opera singer on one stage and a combat troupe in another corner (not as good, I felt, as our combatant friends back in Toronto).
We poked around in the gift shop for a while, laughing once again at the plush Plague Rat dolls. There was also a video booth area where they were trying to set a world record by having every patron recorded reading two lines of Sonnet 29. All four of us did our part in this attempt.
The highlight of the day came at the very end. We aspiring actors all signed up for a workshop which gave us the chance to recite lines of Shakespeare on the actual stage of the Globe in front of the rest of the patrons! Everyone was given the option of reading from pre-printed excerpts, but we were allowed to perform anything we had from memory. It was an awesome feeling to step forth onto the stage (like every other stage, it felt smaller when you're ON it) and let 'er rip. Brianne did a piece from The Comedy of Errors, while I did a portion of the prologue to Henry V. It was a wonderful thrill to cap the day, dreaming of how great it would be to make such a playful game a reality. One day . . .
We met up around noon with our pals Clare and Jonathan at The Swan, a lovely restaurant we've blogged on before. It's a little bar and brasserie attached to the Globe, offering lovely light fare for theatre patrons and the public. Brianne and Jonathan went for the soup of the day which B always raves about, while I tried a new English traditional dish, a pork pie. Tasty all around, if not the most filling.
We queued up after lunch and entered the Globe Exhibit (something that would've been £8 each any other day, huzzah!). We made our way through halls depicting the history of the Theatre and of Shakespeare, touching on costuming, sets, props, daily life, and the endeavour to build the modern theatre in the first place. Interesting, but a bit dry, and I was glad we were getting it for free. At the end of the educational halls, we came upon an actor portraying the young Shakespeare himself, giving away little prizes for those who could give him a line-reading of his work. Clare and Brianne earned little Globe-themed buttons, a fun trinket.
We made our way into the central gathering area of the exhibit, decked out in bunting with many activities and demonstrations all around. There was an opera singer on one stage and a combat troupe in another corner (not as good, I felt, as our combatant friends back in Toronto).
We poked around in the gift shop for a while, laughing once again at the plush Plague Rat dolls. There was also a video booth area where they were trying to set a world record by having every patron recorded reading two lines of Sonnet 29. All four of us did our part in this attempt.
The highlight of the day came at the very end. We aspiring actors all signed up for a workshop which gave us the chance to recite lines of Shakespeare on the actual stage of the Globe in front of the rest of the patrons! Everyone was given the option of reading from pre-printed excerpts, but we were allowed to perform anything we had from memory. It was an awesome feeling to step forth onto the stage (like every other stage, it felt smaller when you're ON it) and let 'er rip. Brianne did a piece from The Comedy of Errors, while I did a portion of the prologue to Henry V. It was a wonderful thrill to cap the day, dreaming of how great it would be to make such a playful game a reality. One day . . .
Friday, April 17, 2009
When Did This Become A Beauty Contest?
I have a problem: I am not a visible minority. Nor, am I 'at least 5 foot 10 inches' or 'startlingly beautiful.' What does that even mean? Luckily I still have work in theatre right now, but as I look around for future work (preferably Shakespeare in the summer and a large Panto for Christmas) all I can find on public posts are for the following.
1. Looking for Asian woman age range 50-70 to look confused and then happy.
2. For outdoor performance of Midsummer Nights Dream. Helena. Female age 20-30. Must be at least 5 foot 10
3. For Music Video or Promo videoor Feature Film. Gorgeous, Startlingly beautiful girls needed. Modelesque\
4. (My favourite) For television series. Any age range female. Must be ugly or crone like. No pretty girls please.
Damn, if only I wasn't in the mid-range of looks. Here I am, stuck at the absurd height of five foot four and with failry average looks. If only I had been born slightly uglier - I would have the theatre job market set right now. Hmm, I wonder - what if I were to go in and black out some of my teeth, wear a bit of a fat suit and put lots of pimples on - would that help? There's nothing I can do about the height. I tried putting on my tallest pair of heels and even then I barely stand at five foot seven.
As for the startingly beautifyl looks - I tried cutting out a magazine ad and taping it to my face, but I don't think that's what they had in mind with their ad.
The real issue hear is - what if someone who was able to make the works come off the page and was perfect in every single way except for their height; does it really matter? Do people worry about this style of casting when they are hiring Kate Winslet or Angela Lansbury? I can just imagine that casting conversation.
1: Sir, we have Angela Lansbury here for you to see, we thought she would be perfect for the job.
2: Why did you think that?
1: Well, you said you wanted an older actress with lots of umbridge, someone who had a background in song and dance and is comfortable on camera. Someone people would recognize and respect.
2. That's all well and good, but she's too short. Is it possible to dig up Gloria Swanson? I always liked her look....
1. Looking for Asian woman age range 50-70 to look confused and then happy.
2. For outdoor performance of Midsummer Nights Dream. Helena. Female age 20-30. Must be at least 5 foot 10
3. For Music Video or Promo videoor Feature Film. Gorgeous, Startlingly beautiful girls needed. Modelesque\
4. (My favourite) For television series. Any age range female. Must be ugly or crone like. No pretty girls please.
Damn, if only I wasn't in the mid-range of looks. Here I am, stuck at the absurd height of five foot four and with failry average looks. If only I had been born slightly uglier - I would have the theatre job market set right now. Hmm, I wonder - what if I were to go in and black out some of my teeth, wear a bit of a fat suit and put lots of pimples on - would that help? There's nothing I can do about the height. I tried putting on my tallest pair of heels and even then I barely stand at five foot seven.
As for the startingly beautifyl looks - I tried cutting out a magazine ad and taping it to my face, but I don't think that's what they had in mind with their ad.
The real issue hear is - what if someone who was able to make the works come off the page and was perfect in every single way except for their height; does it really matter? Do people worry about this style of casting when they are hiring Kate Winslet or Angela Lansbury? I can just imagine that casting conversation.
1: Sir, we have Angela Lansbury here for you to see, we thought she would be perfect for the job.
2: Why did you think that?
1: Well, you said you wanted an older actress with lots of umbridge, someone who had a background in song and dance and is comfortable on camera. Someone people would recognize and respect.
2. That's all well and good, but she's too short. Is it possible to dig up Gloria Swanson? I always liked her look....
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Supercalifradgalisticexpi...Oh, I Give Up!
As a little treat, Andrew and I went to see Mary Poppins playing in Cardiff. Now, you may ask, 'Why Cardiff?" Well, cause that is where it was playing. It was a simple 3 hour bus ride from London (with the appropriate amount of pick n' mix to snack upon) and then a short treck out to our Bed and Breakfast. Here's the thing: there was a large and very important match going on, so most of the best places were booked up. According to the booking info we should have been at a lovely three star B&B. It was however, barely passable as a one star. Andrew may still cringe at this, but I try and laugh it off as it was only one night. The place was clean but the linen was very thin. The springs on one of our twin beds (yes, some double rooms have twin beds) stuck through the mattress and there were lip stains on the glasses in the bathroom. Definately one of the worst B&B's I have ever been to and anyone who rated it otherwise must have been severely drunk or high. 
Luckily it was a lovely day so we went on a little walk around Cardiff. We went to the Red Dragon centre right near the Millenium Theatre where the show would be. There was a bowling alley, a Dr. Who exhibition and several restaurants. We decided on the one that was advertising 2 for 1 fajitas as it had been FOREVER since we had had some. Sitting down to our meal we are greated by a distinctly North American accent. The young man is originally from the U.S but has lived in the U.K for a long time and is wondering what on earth we are doing in Cardiff. Chatting ensues along with the most lovely fajitas I have seen. Bliss. On to walking around the pier and then into the theatre. 
Cool theatre. One of the best I have ever been into and the seats were perfect. Everything was built with a strong incline so that no matter where you sat you didn't have to worry about some really tall guy sitting in front of you and blocking your view. Right cracking good show, with some amazing special effects and set pieces. I missed the full story line of the Disney film as well as some of the songs that were cut (I love to laugh, sister suffragette) but all in all a good show. Also very cool was that everything was written out in both english and welsh.
Cool theatre. One of the best I have ever been into and the seats were perfect. Everything was built with a strong incline so that no matter where you sat you didn't have to worry about some really tall guy sitting in front of you and blocking your view. Right cracking good show, with some amazing special effects and set pieces. I missed the full story line of the Disney film as well as some of the songs that were cut (I love to laugh, sister suffragette) but all in all a good show. Also very cool was that everything was written out in both english and welsh.The next day we went bowling and I lost amazingly to Andrew. (Several of my balls went into the gutter and I ended up having the gutter ramp put up as by gum i was going to hit some pins! ) Then a quick look around the outside of Cardiff Castle (no time to look around) and onto our bus to go back home. Andrew and I napped most of the way after an awful sleep in the B&B and swearing that we would investigate their star system before booking elsewhere...
Happy Easter!!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Castle in the Rain
Our dear friend Matt hasn't had as much opportunity us to venture beyond the confines of Olde London Towne, and so we were pleased to take a day-trip with him out to Leeds Castle . . . which, of course, is in the county of Kent just an hour south-east of London and NOT in the city of Leeds, UK. That's a mistake you can only make once, because your significant other will have murdered you after schlepping to the wrong place. When we left Victoria Coach Station, the driver made a joke about Brianne fussing over Matt making sure he had his ticket in order, saying "It's not every day you find a mother like that."
In addition to the wild local birds on the grounds, there is also an aviary of tropical birds such as parrots, toucans, and macaws. They also keep a range of birds of prey like owls and vultures. We saw a rather up-close exhibition of these birds, as it was too rainy at the time to have them flying about.
We braved the hedge maze, one of the best I've ever seen. After we all got a bit separated and lost, Matt made it to the centre first and alternately taunted us and guided us to his location. The exit of the maze goes through and underground grotto of mood-lighting, sculptures and sound effects.
We also revisited our childhood silliness on the kid's jungle gym. They sure know how to construct them here. A lovely trip despite the rain.
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