Catch-up Time 2! Tues, July 8th: Barbican Library and St. Paul's Cathedral Library

Tuesday, 8 July, 2014

Today was especially disparate in terms of the levels of excitement I felt. The morning was glorious, the afternoon…a letdown at best.

Tuesday morning we went to the Barbican Lending and Music libraries, both of which were wonderful. We were split into two groups, and mine was led by Jonathan. He was

hands-down the coolest librarian I have ever met! His enthusiasm was palpable, and he was on fire with the jokes. I have always appreciated subtle wit, and Jonathan had that in spades. He felt like a Howard Hawkes character, and I mean that as a compliment. He showed all of us how to be a librarian, and you can really tell he loves his job. First, he led us to the children’s library, and you can see me in Dr. Welsh’s photograph on the side. (We're in the Children's Library.) 

Catch-up Time! July 7th: LAARC and...Somewhere Else

Hello, all!

I’m catching up on the blog right now, so brace yourselves! This post is about last Monday, July 7^th. We went to the London Archaeological Archives and Research Center (LAARC), and it was a satisfying trip. Considering that by last Monday I had taken about 1,000 pictures, I had serious picture-taking fatigue, so I don’t really have any pictures from that visit but do have one Dr. Welsh took (see below).

Quick Update...Exciting News!

Hey, folks! Just a few updates before we head to Scotland on this brisk English morning. The coach is already two hours late, and we're getting a little anxious waiting on the drive. However, this has turned out to be a wonderful thing...because I just got tickets to see Martin Freeman star as Richard III! I'm about to explode from

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/10949592/Martin-Freeman-fans-ruin-Richard-III.html

excitement right now! Sarah and I are going together next week, and I assure you that you can expect a thorough review afterward. I have not bee this pumped about something for a while. 

He's received fantastic reviews and a standing ovation every night. There was a bit of a controversy about his casting - whiny hoity-toity people were complaining about Freeman's younger fans cheering too much during the show. Since that "story" broke, though, the director Jamie Lloyd has come forward to denounce that criticism and say that Freeman has been so good everyone was cheering at the end, and not just young people. My friends saw the production yesterday and claimed it was hands-down the best theater experience of their lives. Sarah, who is seeing it again with me, said she can't even articulate how much she loved it. I'm pretty excited!

I'll be composing drafts of blog posts in my notebook while on the bus and will update them later tonight. Keep your eyes open for posts about Stonehenge, Dover castle, the British Library, and Kew Gardens, to name a few. Thanks for reading, y'all!

Love,
Laura

London Playhouse Theatre Production of "1984"

Hello, all! 

I'm sorry for the lack of updates this week. We went to two places each day, which came to about ten visits this week. As you can imagine, I was exhausted each day and did not have the energy to blog. I will catch up on those places, as well as the LondonAway! visits from last weekend. First, though, I would like to tell you about my first trip to the London stage!

One of my goals in coming to London was to see a stage play - preferably Shakespeare, but anything good would do. As some of you know, I read 1984 by George Orwell on the plane and as a nightstand book; I had wanted to read a classic English novel while in London, and 1984 seemed like a good choice. 

Stratford-upon-Avon, Part 2

Welcome back to the blog! I'm going to pick up where I left off in the Stratford adventure, which was the "Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus" tour. 

When we first arrived in Stratford, I asked Dr. Welsh what she recommended doing while in town, and she suggested the Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus. The bus is essentially a tour through the town, stopping at each designated site of Shakespearean importance.

Stratford-upon-Avon, Part 1

Well, everyone, the visit to Stratford-upon-Avon was by far the best day I have had on this trip: best weather, best attractions, best tours, best food—best everything! As you can imagine, I took enough pictures to fill a book; as a result, this post will have to be split in two with Part 1 dealing with Shakespeare’s birthplace, the Stratford public library, and the River Avon.

The ride to Stratford was about two hours, which after the 8-hour plane ride felt like nothing. Half-way through we did make one pit stop at a place called Welcome Break.

The British Library and the Big Bus Tour! July 3rd

Hello, constant blog readers! I've dropped the ball on writing for this blog, so you should expect lots of catching up within the next few days. 

Yesterday, we toured the British Library, one of the largest libraries in the entire world. Holding over 200 million pieces, the British Library's collection when lined up covers over 300 miles.