Fourteenth Week of Classes

This past week marked the end of my Theatre in London class and our last theatre visit. In class we discussed the play we saw the week before and played a fun trivia game that centered on topics we'd covered and plays we'd seen. It was a fun way to end the semester. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to take a class that not only exposes me to many different kinds of theatre but also allows me to witness art in a different culture. I want to thank Ellis Jones, our professor, for taking us on a fun, informed journey through contemporary theatre in England.

Our last weekly theatre visit was at the Globe. We were going to see Julius Caesar in Italian as part of the Globe's "37 Plays in 37 Languages" event. Since the Globe is close to the Tate Modern, my friend Leanne and I decided to spend the afternoon there before we went to the show. On the way there, we passed by St. Paul's Cathedral and walked across Millennium Bridge, which were of course both worth stopping for photos:

My coat blends in, but that's me standing in front of the massive cathedral.

Millennium Bridge and St. Paul's dome in the background.

When we got to the Tate, we spent our time exploring the main artwork, but skipped the exhibitions, as they were rather expensive. There was certainly enough to see, however, and even though I am, at times, skeptical of the whole idea of "modern art", I found many works of art that I found beautiful and relatable. Even if I didn't like the presentation of a piece of artwork, I could still appreciate the idea behind it, and sometimes this even made me like it more. Here is a picture of one of my favorite pieces:

Red, thin fabric was used to create this suspended staircase.

 When the museum closed at 5:00, we grabbed some dinner at a nearby restaurant and waited for Julius Caesar to start. Unfortunately, the production was not my cup of tea. I am rather traditional when it comes to Shakespeare, and the Italian company had hacked apart the script, filled the production with odd movement work, removed over half the characters, and even changed some plot elements. It was a bit too much for me to appreciate. Some of their choices were very interesting, especially the extreme movement work and the use of three doors on wheels as props, but the cutting of characters, lines, and plot elements made it difficult for me to respect the work. Perhaps if they called it "Cesare" instead of Julius Caesar, I would have been more accepting. I did, however, find an interesting Spanish translation of Hamlet in the lobby. Here is the iconic "to be or not to be" speech in Spanish:

"Existir, o no existir: esta es la question"

The biggest even of my week by far was my weekend trip to Scotland! When the end of the semester began to approach, I realized how little I'd explored other countries. While I went to Paris and Rome on my spring break, I'd already been to Paris and I felt I was wasting an opportunity to explore Europe while I have the chance. So I booked a tour throughout Scotland and went on a three day excursion from Edinburgh all the way up to the Isle of Skye. I am so glad I did. It is the first trip I've taken alone, and it was unspeakably rewarding. I met so many people, saw so many amazing sights, and definitely felt more worldly by the end of it. The first thing I saw when I got off my overnight bus in Edinburgh was the castle:

Edinburgh's castle: unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to explore it.

I went straight to the Haggis Adventures tour bus office and waited for the bright yellow bus to pick me up. There I met a few of my fellow explorers. They came from all over. There were people from Australia, New Zealand, America, England, Ireland and Brazil. We were a diverse group and we started making friends right away. Then we met our driver, Keith and our beyond amazing tour guide Harriet. She was super peppy and enthusiastic and her passion for Scotland was evident from the start. She wore a women's kilt and a Highland Cow hat for most of our hikes.

Harriet in her kilt and Cow hat in front of our bright yellow "Wild & Sexy Scotland" bus.

The first day Harriet took us to the Highlands of Scotland, telling us all about the Campbell Massacre, William Wallace, and the inaccuracies of Braveheart. She had so many wonderful stories to tell and details to share. These are the places we explored the first day:

The William Wallace memorial. 

Hamish, the "Heilan Coo" (Scottish for Highland Cow).
He was HUGE, but also adorable and very friendly, especially if you had some food for him!

We went hiking through the Highlands. Huge mountains surrounded us on all sides,
and the steep climb was worth the view (and this epic picture).

That night we stayed at our first hostel, Saucy Mary's. It was named for a woman who charged a high fee to let boats pass under her bridge, but in order to make it worth it, she would lift up her skirt for them. Ah, the little details you learn about Scotland's residents. There wasn't time to do much exploring that night, just time to hang out in the pub, order some fish n chips and listen to the surprisingly good live music.

We woke up the next morning and started exploring the Isle of Skye. It is absolutely beautiful, surrounded by the sea on all sides, with waterfalls running through its green hills. There is a lot of mysticism, myths, and legends surrounding the isle. Harriet told us tales of fairies and giants that were funny and sometimes a bit gory. Here is a picture of one of the gorgeous waterfalls on the Isle of Skye:

That slightly lighter dot on the far right of the hill is a sheep!
They live life on the edge in Scotland!

After our morning and afternoon of exploring the Isle of Skye, we headed back to the mainland to take a guided tour of Eliean Donan Castle. It was restored by the McRae family after it was destroyed in battle. It actually houses the present day McRae family during gatherings. This is the view from the Castle:

Directly bellow is the well, and beyond that, the ramparts, and beyond those, the walkway up to the castle.

We got back on the bus and continued on to Fort Augustus, where we'd be spending Saturday night. Our hostel was called Morag's Lodge and it was a five minute walk away from Loch Ness! After we'd gotten settled, we heard about a cruise of the famous Loch, so we signed up and went down to do some sightseeing before getting on the boat.

My friends Marni, Bailey, and Mauve exploring the stunning banks of Loch Ness.

We hopped on the boat and set off. The wind was crisp, but it was a bright day and the wind whipping my face made me feel exhilarated. To be sailing on a body of water so legendary was truly exciting, even if there was nothing but trout in its depths. Our tour guide believed otherwise, and he regaled us with tales of his Nessie sightings, and all the evidence that sonar and infrared scans of the loch have revealed. He even said he had a picture of the monster, but even though NASA told him it was the best piece of evidence they'd ever seen, they advised him to keep it a secret because otherwise people would come to hunt Nessie. He also mentioned that there isn't just one Loch Ness monster, but about twelve of them in the world- a species that has lasted for centuries and gone relatively unnoticed. I don't know if I fully believed him, but I don't deny the possibility of such a creature's existence.

Decals on the boat's windows made sure everyone had a chance to spot Nessie!

That night, Morag's Lodge cooked us a delicious meal of homemade lasagna and garlic bread- better than a lot of lasagna I've had in America, to be honest. Then we all gathered in the bar for a Pub Quiz- but one unlike any pub quiz I'd ever taken. Marni, Bailey, Mauve (three American students studying abroad in Ireland) and I made up our small but strong team. There were the standard questions, each worth a point, of course, but in between there were challenges. One member of our team had to stand on her chair and dance every time a TV theme song played; another member had to do a seductive dance every time a Disney song played. There was a competition for delivery of the best pick-up line; our team won major points by using an extremely dirty one that I shan't repeat here. Let's just say my acting skills were put to good use, and the man giving the quiz said he had rarely been as flustered. At the start of the quiz, one member from each team was given a full glass of water and instructed to hold it high above their head for as long as they could. The person who held out the longest would receive a ton of points. Well, I was elected to hold the water and at first I just didn't want to be the first one to give up. But before I knew it, everyone had dropped out but myself a rugby player from New Zealand. Well, I couldn't give up then! Eleven years of gymnastics training, my family's keen tradition of trash-talking, and singing along to songs to take my mind off the pain in my shoulder and the numbness in my fingers led me to victory! I held the glass above my head for forty-five excruciating minutes, and won my team eight points. The grand finale of the event was a competition to dress up one member of our team in traditional Scottish clothing scavenged from around the hostel and have a catwalk competition. Bailey competed for us and we dressed her up in a make-shift kilt, a tartan toga, a modified sporran (little bag that sits in front of a kilt), a belt, her clan scarf around her head and finally, a bottle of Scottish beer. Bailey strutted her stuff on the runway and made it to the semifinals. She had to do a dance-off with another team; the winner would take first place. Bailey gave it her all, employing a variety of dance moves to wondrous effect. The crowd cheered loudest for us and we were deemed the winners. It was the best night I had in Scotland. We were on a victorious high the rest of the night.

Bailey in her Scottish outfit, about to rock out on the runway. 

The next day we made our way back to Edinburgh, stopping many times along the way to visit historical sights of just admire the scenery. First we visited the Culloden battlefield, the sight where the British massacred the Scottish in their fight for independence from England. It was a beautiful field, with a tower as a monument where people still leave flowers for their ancestors. It was a gorgeous day, but it was sad to walk the paths and remember what had happened here so long ago.

The beautiful field. And a lone cottage that withstood the fighting.

Next, we went to visit some standing stones. There were formations of stones in three separate rings, and within these rings a large round circle filled with stones, hollow in the middle with just enough space for about ten people. Historians think these formations were used in rituals, perhaps sacrifices to the gods. Harriet told us that her fellow tour guide swears he felt one of the rocks vibrating when he stood with his back to it and felt it with his hands. So we all tried that, but to no avail. The only one to feel something was Keeley, but that might have been because Alex was pounding on the other side of the rock.

Trying to feel the mystical vibrations and failing. 

We stopped for lunch in a quiet town and I had the opportunity to try Haggis; there was no way I was leaving Scotland without doing it! So I ordered fried haggis and chips and had Mauve document the occasion by taking a picture of my first bite. It's all the way in my mouth, so you can't accuse me of staging it! For those of you who don't know, haggis is chopped up pig intestines that are then stuffed into a skin and sometimes fried (that's how I had it). Yes, it's absolutely disgusting in description and pretty repulsive in appearance, but if you forget all that and simply taste it, it's not half bad. It tasted a bit like sausage but with some spices involved I have definitely not experienced before. I was proud of myself for biting the bullet (or in this case, pig intestines) for the sake of adventure! PROOF:

My personal haggis adventure.

Our last stop before reaching Edinburgh was the Dunken Cathedral, a beautiful church located in a quiet town that apparently won an award for best public toilets. The cathedral was much more impressive than the bathrooms, and I spent some time sitting in the peaceful interior, admiring the stained glass windows and reflecting on my trip. Then I ventured outside and explored the derelict bell tower and walked through the grass to the river. I sat by the river with Bailey and Alex and we admired the beauty of the day and our awe at what a great three days it had been. Then we boarded the bus again and made it back to Edinburgh.

Dunkeld Cathedral

On our way into the city, our tour guide mentioned how J. K. Rowling had lived in Edinburgh while she wrote the first Harry Potter book. She casually mentioned a café called the Elephant House and noted that Rowling spent every day there, bought one cup of tea to last her the afternoon and scribbled ideas for The Sorcerer's Stone down on napkins. After hearing about this, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have dinner at the very café where the idea for Harry Potter was born. I hunted it down and sat by the window, drinking hot chocolate and eating one of the best caesar salads of my life, possibly because I felt so happy. It was a beautiful café, quiet and warm, the perfect place to lose yourself for an afternoon reading a book. I took my time eating and drinking, reading Mrs. Dalloway, and imagining J.K. Rowling sitting next to me, dreaming up the boy wizard. A trip to the bathroom was a great idea, it turned out, as hundreds of Potterphiles had written messages on the walls: quotations from the books, sentiments of gratitude to Rowling for her wonderful books, drawings of favorite characters. It was a Potter lover's dream bathroom. I could have stayed in there all day reading the messages on the wall.

A perfect end to my Scottish adventure.

Before I caught my bus home at 10:30, I had time to buy a kilt (a women's mini-kilt; I didn't think the full-length ones would be flattering) and meet up with some of my tour friends to go to a pub. We chose a really great one: it had seven rooms, three of which were actually chambers that are part of the underground Edinburgh Vaults, or South Bridge Vaults, located underneath the city. Two had been modeled into bars, and the other was made into a cinema that sat about fifty people and played horror films. Watching Silence of the Lambs in an eerie, stone, dank underground chamber was about as scarily awesome as possible. I was so happy to have a taste of Edinburgh history before I left the city that night.

I'm sorry this post was so long, but I wanted to share with you all my amazing experiences in Scotland. It was truly one of the most rewarding trips I've taken while in the UK. I'm so glad I got the chance to see more of this beautiful area of the world.