Darice in London!

Fellow Vassar and Cushing House gal pal Darice Murphy was in London this weekend!  She traveled from Madrid where she is studying abroad and it was lovely to be able to spend some quality time with her–she stayed over Saturday and Sunday nights.  Luckily, I was in prime London tour guide shape following madre/ma mère’s visit and showed Darice around the Londontown!  Her visit was also a great occasion to spend time with Annie and Jenna.

Besides seeing the sights documented below, we spent some time at the Tate Modern, danced Saturday night away at Zoo Bar in Leicester Square (to ridiculous 90s pop throwbacks while sipping on delicious cocktails), and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (clearly the best, and clearly tons of London references). All in all, a great weekend!  The downside: my bed will never be as warm as when I was spooning with my girl :(

Published in: on November 24, 2009 at 5:42 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Friday: back to British

We decided to follow up our day in Paris with a very British day in London.  We crossed the Thames on Southwark Bridge and headed to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.  We looked around the exhibition, caught an Elizabethan clothing/costuming demonstration, and took a guided tour.  There will always be a special place in my heart for Shakespeare (I love studying and performing his works!) and it was great to spend the afternoon expanding my knowledge of him, his works, and his time.

Realizing we could make the 5pm evensong service at St. Paul’s, we quickly headed across the Millennium Bridge to the Cathedral.  Attending service is the easy, free way to see the Cathedral’s interior, and doing so while a spectacular choir is singing hymns was perfect.

Our stomachs were speaking to us, and I decided the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese would be our next stop.  Located in the heart of Fleet Street, the pub is a famous institution rebuilt after the Great Fire and preserved to this day.  It was packed with the after-work on Friday gang, but we grabbed some authentic British grub and lager in the reserved dining room.

We continued walking down Fleet Street and the Strand to Trafalger Square, stopping in at the National Portrait Gallery, open late on Fridays, to see their exhibit on Bob Dylan.

Movie-going is a Dugo gal tradition, so we obviously decided experiencing it the London way would be a worthwhile conclusion to the evening.  We headed to the entertainment-centric Leicester Square to see “the best British film of the year” Harry Brown starring Michael Caine at the Odeon Theatre.  The media studies and film students in me were in heaven!  Culturally, it was interesting to see how different movie-going is here as well.  The Leicester Square Odeon was converted from a stage theatre to a cinema but still retains a full bar and assigned seats.  Although very violent with intense social commentary, Harry Brown was very enjoyable to see and continued the true-British theme of the day!

Published in: on November 16, 2009 at 10:09 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Tuesday: Madre’s favorite things

While I was at class Tuesday morning, Madre managed to snag two tickets for a 3pm matinee of Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap, the longest running play in the world by Madre’s favorite author, and a 5:30pm dinner reservation at The Ivy, one of London’s most respected culinary names frequented by the socialite and theatre worlds.  We met at the St. Martin Theatre at 2pm, but I instantly dragged Madre around the corner to Charing Cross Road to get her bookworm on in London’s famous used book stores.  After making some very appropriate purchases, we picked up some tea and headed to the matinee.  The show was wonderful!  We both thoroughly enjoyed it, and the exquisitely maintained old theatre.

We headed across the street (literally) to The Ivy for a most enjoyable dinner.  Unfortunately, no cameras are allowed inside (paparazzi!), but believe me when I say the old-time glamour meets art deco dècor transported us to another era and socioeconomic stratum.  We began at the bar and sipped our Martini and Raspberry Tart cocktails until our table was ready.  We kept it classic when it came to entrées: I went with the house specialty of a salmon fishcake and sautéed spinach while Madre paid homage to the UK with the Shepherd’s Pie.  We both indulged in the Baked Alaska for dessert, a meringue covered sponge cake filled with cherry sorbet and vanilla ice cream that was set over the top with alcohol-soaked cherries and some flambé action.  We definitely ended on a bang (and Amaretto on the rocks)!

It was a great afternoon and evening full of many madre favorite things!  I loved everything just as much (how could I not love theatre & dinner?!), but my highlight was seeing Madre so happy :)

Published in: on November 16, 2009 at 3:45 pm  Leave a Comment  
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