Originally posted at LiveJournal on Feb. 23, 2012
I was recently invited by two of my cousins to join a 10-day trip to Scotland and England, along with two of their book club members and twelve others. Here are some highlights:
Rosslyn Chapel. I have yet to read The DaVinci Code, but that didn't make Rosslyn feel any less amazing or mystical. Some call it the "woods bursting into song" because it's so full of nature imagery. According to one of the guides, there are over 100 Green Man carvings throughout the chapel. The ceiling is carved with lilies, roses and forget-me-nots, as well as stars and moons. There's the vine-entwined Apprentice Pillar and the window carvings that look like maize and aloe (which some take as evidence that at least one 15th-century Scottish explorer had traveled to North America before Columbus. Others say the carvings were probably stylized depictions of local plants or general patterns, and their resemblance to maize and aloe is coincidental). See more info on Rosslyn's history and design here.
The Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour. Two actors led a small group through some of Edinburgh's Old Town pubs, where they entertained us with tales of Scotland's notable writers. One pretended to be interested mainly in the seedy aspects of the writers' lives (wenches and alcohol, y'know?), while the other insisted on defending them as dignified figures. My two favorite pubs were the Castle Arms and the Jolly Judge. At the Castle Arms, we sat in the cave-like downstairs lounge, me enjoying a glass of mulled wine with a big orange slice on the edge and a big cinnamon stick submerged at the bottom. The Jolly Judge was even cozier -- it's a short, low-ceilinged corridor of a room hidden within an Old Town close (an alley-like side street), just down a flight of steps. Sadly, all available seating inside was taken, so we gathered with our drinks at picnic tables outside -- still pretty nice, since the weather was early-spring-like. I'll just have to come back someday!
Toffee pudding at The Portcullis, a pub just outside Stirling Castle. It's a bread that tastes like toffee and deep gingerbread, submerged in cream and drizzled with chocolate.
The Richard III museum in York. It focuses on the controversy over Richard III and his nephews -- was he involved in their murder or not? In addition to the mock tabloids and such, there was a recording going of a mock court session.
The Jorvik Center, also in York. It has a ride. It takes you around a life-size model of a Viking village, and there are speakers at each side of your head, so you can listen to an explanation of each part of the village. My recording was in the voice a boy speaking as though he's giving me a tour.
Seeing Measure for Measure performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, in a mix of modern-day and more or less Elizabethan costumes (it was like watching the Leonardo DiCaprio version of Romeo + Juliet -- Shakespearean speech coming from characters wearing business suits, sexy maid dresses, or high heels and fishnet stockings). There was even a random dance sequence at the end. As one of my traveling group members put it, it was like a mix of S&M and Tudor style.
Valentine's Day dinner at Thespians, an Indian/Bangladeshi restaurant in Stratford. The food was so good we ordered seconds on some of the dishes -- particularly the lamb with the deep red mint sauce and the lamb with the peanut sauce. And for dessert I had brandy coffee.
Lacock village and Abbey, where parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed.
Wandering around Bath, popping into random shops, walking the labyrinth on the banks of the river and being joined by a few little kids. In the center was a mosaic Gorgon's face surrounded by images from Greek/Roman mythology.
Stonehenge. Just as awesome as I thought it would be. Two of our group members even got a starlight tour as a kind of silver lining to an unfortunate incident involving accidental gluten ingestion; they'd had to stay an extra day at the hotel in Bath while the rest of us traveled on to Salisbury, where they met us the following day.
The view from the top of Salisbury Cathedral.
Another Indian restaurant, this time The Rajasthan in London. My cousins had to leave the next day, so this was our last dinner together. For dessert, I had toffee ice cream with tiny bits of toffee candy sprinkled on top, in a little clay pot. And another brandy coffee.
The Nereid Monument and the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum.
Seeing The Lion King again. I liked the actor who was Adult Simba much better in the London version than in the Chicago version. His performance was more convincing overall as someone who's meant to be a leader, someone who's trying to run from bad memories but can't get over a nagging restlessness. The music, and costumes, of course, were gorgeous and The Circle of Life intro had me almost in tears again. And Rafiki's "He Lives in You" was even better the second time.
On the other hand, there were still many times when the dialogue sounded forced, and you could tell they were just repeating the movie script. Scar was completely unconvincing -- in both the Chicago and London versions, he was more bored and whiney than menacing. In the London version, I could barely hear his voice above the hyenas in "Be Prepared."
The stampede scene was equally weak, and the transition from the lioness' grieving song to Timon and Pumbaa's first appearance was way too abrupt. It's like the transition in Bambi, after his mother dies. Check out Nostalgia Chick's "Top Ten Disney Deaths" episode and you'll see what I mean :)
Reading Challenge progress
Total page count: 980
Speaking of Bath, of course I stopped at the Jane Austen Center. Sadly, there was only enough time to visit the gift shop (I know, I know *hides head in shame*), but I did find a marvelous anthology of intentionally crack-tastic Austen fanfic.
Bad Austen: The Worst Stories Jane Never Wrote. Ed. Peter Archer and Jennifer Lawler. Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media, 2011. 199 pages.
The editors had held an online contest for Austen-style parodies, and their favorites were published in the book.
Highlights:
A duck version of Pride and Prejudice.
Elizabeth and the residents of Pemberley partake in some Scooby-Doo-style mystery solving.
An Austen-style conversation between Katie Couric and Sarah Palin.
Vampires.
An Austen-style House episode.
Bennet Bridezillas.
Cringe-worthy semi-public…um…PDA.
And a sprinkling of Darcy/Collins (sort of).
Interspersed among the stories (often, to my annoyance, interrupting the narrative) are "Did You Know?" boxes. It was interesting information, of course, and made me realize with shame how little I know about Austen. There were a few eye-roll moments, though, when the editors made statements like: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that the first line of Pride and Prejudice is the best and most famous opening sentence in English literature…" or "Jane Austen is surely, deservedly, the world's favorite novelist."
To be fair, I guess a little harmless hyperbole is allowed in a book that's poking fun at its own subject.
I was recently invited by two of my cousins to join a 10-day trip to Scotland and England, along with two of their book club members and twelve others. Here are some highlights:
Rosslyn Chapel. I have yet to read The DaVinci Code, but that didn't make Rosslyn feel any less amazing or mystical. Some call it the "woods bursting into song" because it's so full of nature imagery. According to one of the guides, there are over 100 Green Man carvings throughout the chapel. The ceiling is carved with lilies, roses and forget-me-nots, as well as stars and moons. There's the vine-entwined Apprentice Pillar and the window carvings that look like maize and aloe (which some take as evidence that at least one 15th-century Scottish explorer had traveled to North America before Columbus. Others say the carvings were probably stylized depictions of local plants or general patterns, and their resemblance to maize and aloe is coincidental). See more info on Rosslyn's history and design here.
The Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour. Two actors led a small group through some of Edinburgh's Old Town pubs, where they entertained us with tales of Scotland's notable writers. One pretended to be interested mainly in the seedy aspects of the writers' lives (wenches and alcohol, y'know?), while the other insisted on defending them as dignified figures. My two favorite pubs were the Castle Arms and the Jolly Judge. At the Castle Arms, we sat in the cave-like downstairs lounge, me enjoying a glass of mulled wine with a big orange slice on the edge and a big cinnamon stick submerged at the bottom. The Jolly Judge was even cozier -- it's a short, low-ceilinged corridor of a room hidden within an Old Town close (an alley-like side street), just down a flight of steps. Sadly, all available seating inside was taken, so we gathered with our drinks at picnic tables outside -- still pretty nice, since the weather was early-spring-like. I'll just have to come back someday!
Toffee pudding at The Portcullis, a pub just outside Stirling Castle. It's a bread that tastes like toffee and deep gingerbread, submerged in cream and drizzled with chocolate.
The Richard III museum in York. It focuses on the controversy over Richard III and his nephews -- was he involved in their murder or not? In addition to the mock tabloids and such, there was a recording going of a mock court session.
Seeing Measure for Measure performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, in a mix of modern-day and more or less Elizabethan costumes (it was like watching the Leonardo DiCaprio version of Romeo + Juliet -- Shakespearean speech coming from characters wearing business suits, sexy maid dresses, or high heels and fishnet stockings). There was even a random dance sequence at the end. As one of my traveling group members put it, it was like a mix of S&M and Tudor style.
Valentine's Day dinner at Thespians, an Indian/Bangladeshi restaurant in Stratford. The food was so good we ordered seconds on some of the dishes -- particularly the lamb with the deep red mint sauce and the lamb with the peanut sauce. And for dessert I had brandy coffee.
Lacock village and Abbey, where parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed.
Wandering around Bath, popping into random shops, walking the labyrinth on the banks of the river and being joined by a few little kids. In the center was a mosaic Gorgon's face surrounded by images from Greek/Roman mythology.
Stonehenge. Just as awesome as I thought it would be. Two of our group members even got a starlight tour as a kind of silver lining to an unfortunate incident involving accidental gluten ingestion; they'd had to stay an extra day at the hotel in Bath while the rest of us traveled on to Salisbury, where they met us the following day.
The view from the top of Salisbury Cathedral.
Another Indian restaurant, this time The Rajasthan in London. My cousins had to leave the next day, so this was our last dinner together. For dessert, I had toffee ice cream with tiny bits of toffee candy sprinkled on top, in a little clay pot. And another brandy coffee.
The Nereid Monument and the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum.
Seeing The Lion King again. I liked the actor who was Adult Simba much better in the London version than in the Chicago version. His performance was more convincing overall as someone who's meant to be a leader, someone who's trying to run from bad memories but can't get over a nagging restlessness. The music, and costumes, of course, were gorgeous and The Circle of Life intro had me almost in tears again. And Rafiki's "He Lives in You" was even better the second time.
On the other hand, there were still many times when the dialogue sounded forced, and you could tell they were just repeating the movie script. Scar was completely unconvincing -- in both the Chicago and London versions, he was more bored and whiney than menacing. In the London version, I could barely hear his voice above the hyenas in "Be Prepared."
The stampede scene was equally weak, and the transition from the lioness' grieving song to Timon and Pumbaa's first appearance was way too abrupt. It's like the transition in Bambi, after his mother dies. Check out Nostalgia Chick's "Top Ten Disney Deaths" episode and you'll see what I mean :)
Reading Challenge progress
Total page count: 980
Speaking of Bath, of course I stopped at the Jane Austen Center. Sadly, there was only enough time to visit the gift shop (I know, I know *hides head in shame*), but I did find a marvelous anthology of intentionally crack-tastic Austen fanfic.
Bad Austen: The Worst Stories Jane Never Wrote. Ed. Peter Archer and Jennifer Lawler. Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media, 2011. 199 pages.
The editors had held an online contest for Austen-style parodies, and their favorites were published in the book.
Highlights:
A duck version of Pride and Prejudice.
Elizabeth and the residents of Pemberley partake in some Scooby-Doo-style mystery solving.
An Austen-style conversation between Katie Couric and Sarah Palin.
Vampires.
An Austen-style House episode.
Bennet Bridezillas.
Cringe-worthy semi-public…um…PDA.
And a sprinkling of Darcy/Collins (sort of).
Interspersed among the stories (often, to my annoyance, interrupting the narrative) are "Did You Know?" boxes. It was interesting information, of course, and made me realize with shame how little I know about Austen. There were a few eye-roll moments, though, when the editors made statements like: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that the first line of Pride and Prejudice is the best and most famous opening sentence in English literature…" or "Jane Austen is surely, deservedly, the world's favorite novelist."
To be fair, I guess a little harmless hyperbole is allowed in a book that's poking fun at its own subject.
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