Seaside Adventures

As most of you know, yesterday I went to Brighton, England for the day! It was cloudy most of the day, but luckily it didn't rain!

The first thing we did when we got there was tour the Royal Pavilion, a palace build for George, Prince of Wales. I thought it was very strange seeing a Chinese-inspired palace in the middle of a small seaside town in England.... but whatever floated this guy's boat, I guess! :P

After that tour, we were free to do anything. We were told that Brighton is the place to get fish and chips, so my friend and I found a cute place and she said it was delicious! I was jealous.

After that we went to the seaside for a while and took some pictures and enjoyed the scenery. The beaches in England are not sand, but pebbly rock! You wouldn't have liked it, Mom ;).

Whenever I saw this:

 I thought to myself "WHY AM I NOT ON THAT BOAT?!?!?" It was beautiful.

We went onto the Brighton Pier after that and walked around the arcades and games and rides - even went on the carousel! :)

We shopped in the town after that, and left around 4:30. It was a great day, and I'm SO happy I got to see the ocean!


This week is busy again, I'm seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream on Monday at Shakespeare's Globe (and I have to stand for 3 hours, not overly thrilled but I guess it's the experience).

And this weekend is Edinburgh, Scotland! We'll be leaving Friday and getting back Sunday, I'm so excited for my first longer trip!!



Lots of Love,
Casey

Royalty and Wizardry

Quick update for you all!

Last Friday, I toured the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace with my friends Stacey and Nicole. I was completely overwhelmed by the beauty and architectural intricacy everywhere I looked, the place is absolutely magical. It's hard to say what room was my favorite, but I think I would have to choose the White Drawing Room. It was so airy and light and beautiful, I could spend forever there. 

This is a cool virtual tour of the room, if you want to see it!

The White Drawing Room

Cool Fact: If you look at the virtual tour, find the Portrait of Queen Alexandra, then look at the 2 big mirrors on either side of her. Both of them have secret doorways that the Queen takes as a shortcut to meet important people in the White Drawing Room!! :) Pretty neat.

Also, I got a stamp on the my ticket that lets me come back and tour the Rooms free for a year..... might just happen!! 

Saturday was Harry Potter Studio Tour. I have no words to describe how amazing it was. I could have easily spent another day going through everything again. My favorite parts were definitely Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Castle Model. I actually started crying a few times during the tour.......no shame. 

I may have to go back again for the gift shop...... I got a Gryffindor mug and a Hogwarts Crest patch but I had my eye on a sweater and necklace too.... we'll see how much money I don't have later in the semester :P

Another week of classes ahead. No theatre visits this week, but I'm going to visit Parish Churches for my History class and the Welcome Trust for my Art class! Saturday is a day trip to Brighton. I hope we have good weather, since it's a beach town! I can't wait to see the ocean!!! <3

Lots of Love,
Casey

Another week in London!!

I can't believe it's already been a week since my last post!! Time is really flying by. 

Some exciting things happened last week, including a second theatre trip, a visit to the Tower of London on Saturday and a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath on Sunday! My favorite was definitely Bath.

I saw Othello by William Shakespeare at the National Theatre on the south bank of the Thames. It was a contemporary take on the original, and for the most part I really enjoyed it! The language was a bit hard to follow, probably because I'm not used to hearing it spoken, but we had great seats and could see all the actors very clearly. I really loved the actors who played Othello and Iago, they both did a fantastic job with their parts.

Saturday my friend Stacey and I went to the Tower of London for most of the day. It was incredible. I never realized the history of the place.... And it's a lot bigger than I imagined, they should really call it the 'Towers' of London ;) my favorite part was definitely seeing the Crown Jewels, even though we had to queue up for almost 30 minutes to get in. It was definitely worth it though!! 

Sunday was a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge was literally a pile of rocks, so we didn't stay very long but it was awesome to get to see it and say I went there.

Bath has to be my favorite place so far that I've visited. It was the perfect mix of old English city with beautiful architecture and history, but had great shops and cafes and restaurants (a lot of which offered gluten free!!) 

This week is busy again, I have another theatre trip to see The Ritual Slaughter on Wednesday, then Friday I'm planning to tour the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace!! Saturday is a day trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour!!!!!!!!! :D can't wait for that!!!

Lots of Love,

Casey

Intellect and The Arts

The past week has been a blur!!! I was so busy with trying to figure out my classes, preparing homework for this week, and traveling in and around London. 

Last week was "Add/Drop" week for classes, and I was able to switch my theatre class for a different day, so now I officially have Thursday-Sunday off! Perfect for travel and exploration of this great city I live in!

So, to kick off my travels, last Thursday I took the tube to Borough Market, a HUGE food market south of the Thames. Let's just say I was in foodie HEAVEN. I even found a bakery stall that was entirely gluten free. I got a 72% dark chocolate brownie with cacao nibs (Brianna, it had your name ALL over it). It was utter bliss. I spent around 2 hours just wandering around smelling all the ethnic food and staring longingly at all the fresh fruit and vegetables........ and of course, I got some of my beautiful figs ;)

Friday was a sort of "rest" day for me. I went to the gym in the morning and did some homework and reading in the library for class. I also took a walk down Marylebone High St. - my favorite road close to campus, great mix of shops, pubs, restaurants, book stores, grocery stores - everything I could need!

One very exciting thing that happened was the filming of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." starring Henry Cavill...... which was happening literally 2 minutes behind Regent's University!!! It was very cool to see the set and some actors. Sadly I didn't see Henry and his stunning beauty.... a shame :( But this was cool to see:

Saturday was my first trip outside London - to Oxford, the "City of Dreaming Spires"!

Oxford is absolutely beautiful. It's a small city that boasts multiple famous museums, great shopping areas, and of course, Oxford University. There are 38 distinct colleges that make up the University, but each are independent and self-governing. We were able to tour the Christ Church College. The now-famous staircase was the film location of Professor McGonnagall meeting the first years in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:

Also, the courtyard at New College was the film location of Malfoy being turned into a ferret by Professor Moody in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!!!

Needless to say, I had quite a fair few moments of fangirling. Not ashamed ;)

I could go on and on about the beauty and history and architecture of Oxford!!! I'm so glad I was able to visit!


Sunday my friend Stacey and I went to the Marylebone Farmer's Market (I got more fruit, what's new) and then we went to Old Spitalfields Market! It's a huge indoor market that sells a variety of clothes, jewelry, bags, food etc. It was a great day!!

Today was my first outing to the Theatre for my class. We saw Hysteria at the Hampstead Theatre - it was a fictional story about Sigmund Freud at the end of his life. Very interesting and captivating. I enjoyed it very much!!


I think it's time to finish up this post, it's almost midnight and I'm exhausted! Lots more fun to come this week, though!! 


Lots of Love,
Casey

Quick Update

Hi everyone!!

I figured I would post a quick update on the last few days! My last post ended with the Boat Party, so I'll start from there.

Last Friday, Regent's took us on a Thames River cruise at night from about 7-11:30 pm. It was pretty fun, but lasted way too long (I was still so jet lagged and wanted to leave about an hour in). I'm sure you saw a few pictures on Facebook :)

Saturday, I went on a 3 hour Bus Tour of London, where we saw the major sites and buildings such as the Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theatre, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. It was a beautiful day and we were able to get out and walk around at most of the places I mentioned, so it was great to see the buildings close up.

After we got back from the Bus Tour, Regent's University was taking students to Camden (NW of Regent's Park), where there is a market and a lot of unique shops. I found a restaurant called Honest Burgers that has gluten free burger buns! And across the little alleyway from Honest Burgers is an entirely gluten free bakery called Cookies and Scream. I know where I'll be going back to eventually :)

Monday started my first day of classes, which was Literary London at 9 am. It involves reading passages from British authors, as well as a couple field trips in London. After class I decided to explore Marylebone High St. near campus, and I found a great restaurant with a GF menu, and the most amazing bookstore I've ever been in:

Today was a very busy day; I had my first Contemporary London Theatre class at 9 am. I had to meet with my advisor after that to change into the M/W section of this class, since it fits better with my schedule. Thankfully there was a spot open! This class will involve going to about 8 plays at various London theatre venues, as well as a couple backstage tours. 

I had my first London History class from 2-5. This class only meets once a week, and about half the classes are field trips to historical sites throughout London.

I have not yet had my last class, which is Introduction to Studio Art on Wednesday's, 2-5 pm. 

So, as you can see, most of my classes involve quite a few field trips and excursions throughout London! I think it will be a great way to visit sites that maybe I wouldn't have known about or had time to see otherwise!


Lot's of Love,
Casey