London 2023 - Week 2

We saw HRH!

Natalie and I were walking from the tube station to our lodging. We were at a stoplight and Natalie noticed motorcycles and lights down the street. Natalie said to wait. She sensed something important might be happening. A car and motorcycles proceeded to approach us. We got our phones ready. 

It was King Charles in his Rolls Royce. He literally rode right past us. We were so excited! King Charles! Even though he did Diana dirty and we don't like him and Camilla, it was still pretty exciting to get video of the king riding right past us. 

Church again at the Hyde Park Chapel. It's so fun to sit by Mel in church. I love having her on study abroad. One of the students didn't come to church because she said she needed to rest. We had reservations at a pub for a Sunday dinner and she was going to join us. We assumed she wouldn't be coming, but she let us know that she was planning on dinner. We had to break the news to her that she was couldn't come. We had to reiterate the policy to students that if they are too sick in the morning for an appointment, they are out for the day. We ended up with a fun group for dinner and the food was amazing! The carrots were so sweet. The potatoes were browned on the corners. Meat and gravy were delicious. Mel and I both agreed that English Sunday dinner needs to be the menu for our Christmas dinner.  

We all went to a free organ recital at Westminster Abbey. The same pieces were played as the previous week. I didn't recognize them. I just sit and relax while listening to the music. After the recital, I got a text from Mel, asking me if Doug East was in London. I told her that yes, her uncle was in London. She saw him by Big Ben. She was so shocked to see him that she didn't say anything. She assumed Doug had a look alike. He was there for work. He had just arrived and was spending one night in London before heading to Reading for work. I wish I'd put it together and had invited him to join us at the recital. It would have been fun. We still laugh about it - running into your uncle in one of the biggest cities in Europe. 

Dinner Crew: Bruce, Maile, Melia, Me, Natalie, and Rennan

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sunday we got an email forwarded to us from Harry Potter studios. It mentioned our 12:30 pm tour. We were thinking our tour was 2:30. A bus was coming at 1:00 to pick us up. The first thing we did was call the bus company to see if they could pick us up at 11:00 am instead. They couldn't change things with short notice. Dang. Then we called Warner Brothers Studios to see if we could change our reservation to 2:30. Nope, they were sold out. Natalie is great at calmly pivoting. I stress more. She helps me not stress and work through things. We had no choice but to cancel the bus and take public transportation to Warner Brothers. Natalie and I mapped it out and it was easy. The students paid for it, but we were able to reimburse them when we were in Italy. The changes created some glitches. It was Michaela's birthday and her parents were in London. They had made plans to have breakfast together, then to meet at Harry Potter. Instead, they had tickets for 2 different times at Harry Potter. They also did dinner instead. 

Harry Potter Studios are so fun. It was also Eliza's birthday. She and Michaela got to open the door to the studio. We spent about 3 hours wandering the sets, looking at costumes, and geeking out over all things Harry Potter. We also treated the students to lunch. They met at the cafeteria at a designated time and Natalie and I lined them up and paid with BYU credit cards. 

Harry's room under the stairs

Ron Weasley's dress robes

Professor costumes

Professor Umbridge's costumes become a deeper pink color as she gets meaner and meaner

We love Dobby

Mel was once Professor Sprout for Halloween, so I had to get this picture

Mirror selfie

Forced perspective at play

Tuesday's tour of up and coming designers with Cindy Lawford was INCREDIBLE! She took us to see 8 designers. The students got to talk to designers and ask them about their paths. They got to see the creativity and determination. They learned that there is always room for someone with good ideas. Some were worried that we didn't have enough visits with designers planned on study abroad, but Cindy came through big time. The students love spending time with her and she seems to genuinely love our students. 

After the tour, Natalie and I were BUSY. We went to the British Museum, The London Museum (it was closed), and the National Gallery. We took lots of photos. We also went to a cheese tasting place for dinner. It was a place with a conveyor belt of plates with different kinds of cheeses. You grab the covered plate that appeals to you as it passes you by. We had a menu to help us see what was on each plate and the cost of each plate. You pay at the end, based on the pile of plates you've got in front of you. We then joined our group at the theater to see "Lion King." A great day!

The Rosetta Stone

Free lunch. The cafe didn't read my card. I said I had no cash, so told them I couldn't buy it. The guy told me it was "on the house." Wow, so nice. 

The old London Wall

Degas

Monet

Picasso

Seurat

Our favorite cheese was a ricotta with cherries

Wednesday we took at bus to Angels Costumes, one of the world's largest costume houses. They've been in business for over 100 years. They do all the costumes for "Wicked." They have racks and racks and racks of costumes in their warehouse. If they lined up all the racks end to end, it would span about 10 miles. We were only allowed to take photos in a couple of locations. They had a temperature-controlled room with furs. They had a room with jewelry and crowns. They had a room of just buttons and patches.  They are meticulous about their work. If they need a uniform for a Belfast police officer, they make sure to use one of their generic police jackets and put Belfast police uniform buttons on it. They told us they need to pay attention to all details because a photo of a character in costume might be blown up on a bus and it needs to be accurate. We went inside a caged room that housed designer items from throughout the decades. Angels will rent costumes to movies, theatrical productions, and even local organizations. They also make new costumes for productions. Sometimes the costume stays with the actor. Usually the costumes are added to Angels' collection. Imagine over 100 years worth of costumes in one space. When we got to the section of religious costumes (robes, angel costumes, priestly robes, etc.) they told us a funny story. One time an intern recognized a robe that was hung with the religious costumes as Obiwan Kenobe's robe from Star Wars. It had been rented out to a local church for their nativity play. WHAT? It got sold to a museum, so now it's in a good home. Mel may apply for an internship there after she graduates. She really enjoyed the tour. 

Costumes from the new 2023 live action Little Mermaid

This is a tiny portion of the warehouse. Racks are 4 high

After Angels, Natalie, Maile, and I went shopping and went to tea at Fortnum and Mason. It was a beautiful traditional English tea. I loved the flavor of tea that I got so much that I bought some to bring home. It was an apricot honey lavender tea. The sandwiches and finger foods and desserts were yum. It was a beautiful setting. I'm so glad we went. 

I love this photo Natalie got. The scones and clotted cream were so good!

Look at this perfect cup of tea

Thursday, we went to the Fashion and Textile Museum in town after having treats at Borough Market. I tasted strawberries covered in melted chocolate and a rich and yummy sandwich. Mel got a fruit crisp that was fantastic. She picked the fruit, the topping, and the type of cream (custard, whipped cream, or ice cream). The museum had a whole exhibit of textiles that were designed by Andy Warhol. His prints were so cute. I also loved the lines of many of the clothing items. His fabrics were sold at JC Penney. Many items were homemade garments. Imagine something I made being displayed in a museum someday. We also got to participate in the couture inside out workshop, where we put on gloves and get to handle high end pieces. We get to examine seam finishes, buttonholes, fabric choices, and more. It's quite cool. 

 

Friday was free day, which meant we got to do whatever we wanted to do. Mel and I went with some others to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We got a good spot and saw the whole thing. Mel and I rushed out of there to run to Studio U. She had her eye on a sweatshirt that she wanted. We went so fast...we had to hurry because it was our last day in London and we had to catch a train to Oxford. We got the shirt and we got photos of the designer/business partner with Mel. 

Then we hurried to the train station to take the train to Oxford to see my sister Kelly, who has been finishing her research and studies at Oxford. She had just flown in from Chicago and was kind enough to give us a tour of the cute town. It's such a fun, walkable city. She showed us her building where she studies and lives. She also walked us around and showed us other buildings that are part of the university. We walked to the mall. It was crazy to see such a modern building amongst the old buildings. We sat to eat lunch, but the waiter was taking too long and we had a train to catch, so we left our table and grabbed pastries. I found out that Kelly is at Oxford because her faculty advisor left Duke and went to Oxford. Kelly was invited to join her. She had to apply to Oxford, got accepted, and went. She's been living in Oxford and going back to Chicago every few weeks to be with Ben and the kids. She finished her PhD and graduated on Mother's Day. Good job, Kelly!

Emily, Melia, Natalie, Rennan, Maile, me

Designer, Mel, business partner

Me, Kelly, and Melia in Oxford

This is Kelly's building. Her bedroom is the window to the left of the peak on the 3rd floor. She wrote her dissertation overlooking that beautiful courtyard.