The Tempest and Museums

Sunday morning I had to wake up early because it was a PKP London trip. Each student gets one paid-for London trip and I didn't want to miss an opportunity. Anna was going that day too, so I decided to tag along with her. She had done a London study abroad before so she knows London and wanted to check out a really cool market on Brick Lane that is only open on Sundays. Because I've seen Parliament and all that, I thought it would be cool to have a different London experience. It was so cool! Apparently it's the hipster part of town which suits me quite well. There were a lot of vintage shops and cool little setups. I could have done a lot of damage there but managed to only spend 5 pounds on two cute hair ringlets. There was a ton of cool stuff though. The crowds and the heat got to me after a while so Anna and I went to the Giraffe for some food and air conditioning. On the way there we saw three other really cool markets. One thing I saw and regret not getting was this really cute lace collar necklace. Maybe I'll find one somewhere else.

Outside the market

Goat!!

Next, Anna and I hit up the Tate Britain Museum. There were some cool relatively modern pieces there. Those are always interesting to look at. I don't really always fully appreciate them though. Some of it is just strange. 

Not sure what the car doors are for but this is pretty cool. 

rotting sunflowers. Look at the gross goops flowing down the wall!

Fiona Rae untitled (yellow) 1990

In one room there were all these African looking statues. After a few seconds, Anna and I discovered that there was a weird McDonald's theme. Quite creepy. They're done by Jake and Dinos Chapman and it's the Chapman Family Collection 2002.

Yumm

Goat with... pubic hair

goat <3

This was already creepy but my picture taking lack of skills made it even creepier.

After walking through a big creepy room (filmed above) we wondered into some of the older more classic galleries. I really enjoyed those paintings. Unfortunately since we were in a bit of a hurry we couldn't really slow down too much, but I found some cool paintings.

British School 17th Century "The Cholmondeley Ladies."  According to the inscription, they were born the same day, married the same day, and gave birth on the same day. 1600-1610

William Dobson "Endymion Porter" 1940s

Joshua Reynolds "Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen" 1773

I realized that I should be looking for a George Romney painting in this museum. I only came across this one but it is really lovely. I'm glad I remembered to look out for one. It's "Lady Hamilton as Circe" 1782

I liked this Madonna and Child. It's by William Dyce and done in around 1827

This is a pretty famous preraphaelite painting!

"Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth" 1889 by John Singer Sargent. the inscription says "Ellen Terry was the leading British Actress of the latter part of the 19th Century, famous for her Shakespearean roles."

William Quiller Orchardson "The First Cloud" 1887

Frederic Leighton "An Athlete Wrestling with a Python" 1877

I was randomly looking at little plaques at the bottom of the wall when I noticed that this painting must have been above me. It's so high up on the wall I don't think I would have noticed it had I not come across it's plaque! I'm really glad I did as this is one of the most famous preraphaelite paintings around! I wish I had more time to stop and admire it.

John William Waterhouse "The Lady of Shalott" 1888

John Everett Millais "Hearts are Trumps" 1872

Edward Coley Burn-hones "The Golden Stairs" 1880

Joanna Mary Wells "Gretchen" 1861

Dante Gabriel Rossetti "Woman in Yellow" 1863

A redheaded Eve! This would have been great for my paper on redheads.
William Strang "The Temptation" 1899

Francis Bacon "Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion" 1944

JMW Turner "Norham Castle, Sunrise" 1845

JMW Turner "Venice with the Salute" 1840-5.
It's so interesting to me how Turner can make paintings with such a small color pallet. It's cool how it's out of focus. I like the colors he used, too.

After the Museum, Anna and I decided to walk back towards the Globe or at least a Metro stop. We were walking and came along the green Jubilee way towards Parliament. I did not recognize parliament from the other side! We found one of those cool spinny things at a playground and I played on it a bit and we had a fun little mosey. I wonder why Oliver Cromwell's statue is in front of Parliament. He doesn't seem like a very chill bro to me.

With Anna!

Parliament

My one picture of Big Ben

Next we went and saw the Tempest at the Globe Theater! It was really good! The guy playing Caliban was genius. I loved watching it in that setting because The actors would interact with the audience (falling in, spitting, and splashing "wine." The scene with the Harpy was cool too. The usual Ariel was sick so they had another guy stand in for him which was disappointing but it was funny because he had to read from the script. The dance after the seasons play thing was really hilarious. After the show, Caliban was tearing off bits of his fake skin and throwing it into the audience. One flake fluttered above me and i was afraid it would land on me. Nope, it swooped right down onto Alison and she freaked out and threw it off her. Caliban started cracking up. It was pretty grand :)

With Maddie and Chelsey

Allison 

Below is the facebook link to other pictures online

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151665592095774.1073741844.23565920773&type=1

On my way home. Tourists die for this clock and it's really crappy walking through them in the day but at night it is really neat.

Richard and I signed up for the Wren library tour. Our guide also showed us the courtyard at Trinity. It was really neat.

Craig and Richard

Saint John's. I need to go there because of all the goats.

King's College!

Rich and I then went to the Botanical Gardens for my writing class. Here's my essay below: 

Quickly before class, Richard and I walked to Cambridge's botanical gardens. Knowing that I had an essay to do for this trip, we joked around about its content. Sitting on a giant stump, Richard waxed poetic. "Life is a garden. With cultivation, nurturing, and gentle care, it can grow and blossom into something more breathtaking and beautiful than words. Even dead logs, like tragedies in our lives, provide sustenance for beautiful ferns, mosses, and roses." He and I laughed at the silly cliched nature of what he said and continued walking through the garden.

The funny part was that we were just discussing the nature of trials in our lives and how one chooses to let them affect one's life. Both Richard and I are religious and often trials can be very disconcerting in that context. For many, going through hardships causes a loss of faith. However, we both used our personal tragedies to strengthen our faith in God.

Because he and I are lucky enough to be born in well-to-do families in a developed country we don't know the kind of suffering that happens while living in a war-torn country, or what real starvation feels like. Can we then claim to know what real suffering is? Among some of our trials, Richard dedicated two years of his life completely in a full-time Mormon mission that he felt was a complete failure. I was abused by various means through the course of a year by someone who was supposed to love me and take care of me. Despite these hardships, I'm not convinced that we know the true sense of suffering yet.

While discussing these problems, we were fully enveloped in the beauty of the garden. There is something about gardens that reverts one back to a child-like sense of wonder and exploration. We poked at funny looking plants, wondered at pollen-covered bees, and dared each other to climb characterful trees. I found a hill which I unintentionally called a mountain, and so Richard led the way on a quest to scale the "mountain."

We finally made our way to the rose garden. Richard went back to work creating cliche bits of wisdom. After discussing the difficulty my mother has in keeping roses alive in Wyoming's harsh weather, Richard came up with this gem: "Even the rose gardens of our lives can dwindle and die. Our very hopes and dreams- the things we value and take for granted- can die in an instant in spring's late frost."

Despite the differing natures and varying degrees of them, hardships ares something we all must face and reconcile. Richard and I mused about how to let these trials affect and shape us. Do we let them be destroying forces like a late frost or a means to nurture and shape the rest of our lives like a downed tree trunk? I have been working hard on letting my past strengthen me for what may come in my future rather than be completely frozen in fear for of what horrible thing may come next.

It's horribly embarrassing that my thoughts at the garden were so incredibly and cheesily cliche. However, I was glad to discuss my concerns with one of my closest friends and in what more of a poetic and symbolic setting than in a garden!