The Ultimate Adventure Update- November 8-29, 2015

This was the first Thanksgiving I've ever spent away from home, and honestly, it's been one of the best I've had. On top of that, these past few weeks have been some of my best since I came to BADA, which is saying a lot because I absolutely adore it here and all of the UK (that I've been to so far).

Since I came back from France and Italy, classes have been terminated and replaced with rehearsals for three shows: Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas, The Sea Voyage by John Fletcher, and The Revenger's Tragedy by Thomas Middleton. All of us students have been divided into these three shows. I'm in The Revenger's Tragedy, a dark comedy with only three women roles, but our production is being done by all women *high five*.

It's been going really well! I love my role- one of the Duchess's sons named Supervacuo- and we've got a really great concept for the show going on. So far we've all been working together really well, I really like my director and stage manager, and we have stage combat so I get to see Philip every now and again which is amazing because Philip is the best!

Sidenote: "Supervacuo" essentially means "redundant," which is really funny to me! But I like him because he has some fun one-liners and overall he's SUPER headstrong and rash and all over the place. We can relate ;)

Hamleting with our rehearsal skull, Kevin

There hasn't been anything else really outstanding to report as far as classes go, to be honest. It's not boring, but there's been nothing out of the ordinary that I HAVE to report. I'm excited for my faculty and family to see the performance- we all get one show- and it's been fun. It's really fun.

It's the weekends where I've been having the most adventures. Edinburgh, Papers, Thanksgiving with friends, Harry Potter

First of all, I FINALLY saw "Matilda the Musical." I've been wanting to see it for a long time now- the music is incredible, and "Matilda" is my favorite Roald Dahl book. I've never seen the movie, but I've loved the story since I read it in middle school. The show was worth the wait, especially because here in London, the children don't have to put on English accents- their accents are all real. Point being, it's a really fun show.

Set of "Matilda!"

I also finally made it to the Tower of London for an afternoon! It was raining, and I was outside most of the day, but this place is absolutely worth it. The Crown Jewels are only the beginning of the Tower- the place is packed with history and crazy cool places to explore. I did the walk all the way around the walls, saw the ravens they keep trapped there (legend has it that if the ravens ever leave the Tower, Britain will fall, so they keep some ravens there at all times just in case), saw the Crown Jewels of course, walked through an amazing exhibit with the kings' armor and swords, and skimmed through a special exhibit up for the Battle of Agincourt. It's the 600th anniversary this year, so this area was up to commemorate the battle's accomplishments and teach a little more about the history, warfare, and timeline of the battle. I was there until closing, when I got to see the Tower of London lit up beautifully over the Thames. I got a hot chocolate and wandered the store for a while before leaving. If you're coming to London, and have a free 3-4 hours, this is a worthwhile trip to make.

Tower in the Rain

My attempt at a Tower Bridge selfie, feat. my umbrella

Medieval Helmet

Here there be dragons

Lovely when the sun's down

The next day, I spent some quality time with the lovely Annie getting tea at Yumchaa! I'm so lucky I have Annie and Elsie here in London. Whenever I miss my friends back home, I remember they're here and the knowledge of that makes me happy. Also, while I was hanging out with Annie, we found out we were going to be in Scotland at the same time!

The following weekend (not last weekend, but the one before. 21-22 of November), we were all in Edinburgh together! I traveled alone, but I still got a chance to meet up with them while I was there.

But I need to talk about Edinburgh. Oh, my goodness, I love Edinburgh. I love Scotland. I wish I could spend a month there.

I got there late on the Friday night, after rehearsal, so my adventures really began on Saturday. I started with walking down Prince's Street and the Gardens until I got to Edinburgh Castle. After stopping in shops along the Royal Mile, I explored Greyfriar's Kirk, and saw the grave of the famous little dog who stayed right by his master's grave for 14 years. There were some references to Harry Potter in that graveyard, but I couldn't find them. Oh well. After that was when I met up with Annie and Elsie and their travel friends at The Elephant House Cafe, where J.K. Rowling started to write Harry Potter. The food was surprisingly excellent and cheap for what they could have charged, especially considering the significance the cafe holds for all us Harry Potter fans! J.K. Rowling lives in Edinburgh, most of the year as far as I know. It's a pity I didn't accidentally run into her.

Edinburgh Castle!

Greyfriar's Bobby. Cute little puppy

Annie and Me in Scotland

I split with Annie and Elsie then and explored Calton Hill, where I was convinced I was on top of the world, then the Grass Market, and then the Christmas Market, which was already out and running! Everything was magical until the weather, already cold through the day, became frigid and I got too hungry to be decisive about where to get dinner. I finally did choose a place, but felt too cold to explore any more.

Up on Calton Hill!

A nice view

The next day, I started off early going to Arthur's Seat and hiking up the hill. Going up Arthur's Seat is, without a doubt, my favorite thing I did while I was in Scotland. I could have stayed up there all day, and would have too, had lunch not been a thing and I hadn't run into Bryn and Bennett on the top of the hill!! Next time I go though, I'm going to explore all of the little hills and every path that you can take to get up and down them, or I'm going to go straight to the Highlands where I can hike all day. Or both. Probably both. There was something magical about being on top of Arthur's Seat, for me. I guess the best way to describe it is I felt completely free. Maybe it was being up so high, or the continuous, strong wind, but I could've flown from up there.

At the very top

Top of Arthur's Seat

It was another tiresome trek for food once I got down, but along the way I explored the University of Edinburgh and The Meadows nearby. I got food at the Grass Market, and took my time exploring some really neat shops along my way back to Edinburgh Castle. One shop was a heraldry shop, where the worker pulled up the MacIntyre Coat of Arms for me, and I saw some amazing replica swords from Lord of the Rings! It's a good thing I didn't have a spare 45 pounds, or I'd be bringing a sword back to the USA. Maybe one day...

OH! I almost forgot to mention one of the biggest reasons I had so much fun in Scotland! My last name, McIntyre, comes from one of the Scottish clans. Every shop I went into that sold Scottish souvenirs, or anything to do with a clan, had my family's name on something, somewhere. There was a booklet on our history, our crest put on all sorts of things (including kilt pins), and our family's tartan patterns. I'm still a little blown away by it. All that to say, I learned a lot about my family history while I was there! And of course I got myself a scarf with my family tartan on it. How could I not?

Also, while in all those shops and by listening to the buskers lining the Royal Mall, I've grown very fond, to say the least, of the sound of bagpipes. They make me extraordinarily happy.

Anyways, on my trek back up towards the castle, I got into a great conversation with a man dressed as a Braveheart warrior and an Irish couple. He was taking pictures with people for leukemia research, but was nearing the end of his shift and so just talked to us like normal. Plus, I got to play with one of his (blunt) swords. And before that, I pet an owl!

The owl I pet. His names' Beethoven

Sword.

It was starting to get dark, at this point, and I knew what that meant- it was going to get cold, fast. I'd already been wearing two pairs of socks all day, but I made my way up to the Christmas Market again. At least as it was getting darker, I'd get to see some fireworks. I saw even more than that. Sunday night was the Market's "Light Night," and they'd had young performance groups from around the area performing all afternoon. I caught a few of the last performances, before the big event of the night down at the far end and the biggest stage. Susan Boyle came out and led us all in "Silent Night," and then there were fireworks that rivaled Disneyland. Long live Scotland.

At the Christmas Market.

By that time, it was time for me to go pick up my bag, grab some soup at the Christmas Market booths, and get to my train back to London, but I was sad to go. Scotland is incredible, and I've missed it ever since I left.

Luckily, there's been plenty to keep me busy since getting back to London. I had two papers due this Friday that kept me good and stressed all week and through Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day I didn't do much celebrating, actually, except BADA held a small holiday party for us at the end of rehearsals with pie and mimosas and some other snacks. Our faculty and some of our production staff joined us. I had a lot of fun! And it was a nice way to relax before buckling down and finishing my work.

Friday night, despite being exhausted, I went to see a play at RADA. Our stage manager for The Revenger's Tragedy is a RADA student, so he got some of us free tickets to see one of the performances there. It was called "In Arabia, We'd all be Kings," about some of the lowlife in New York during the 80's and 90's. The performers did an excellent job, but the play itself is disturbing. Poignant, yet disturbing.

Saturday was when the real Thanksgiving happened. Alexa, Olivia, and I cleaned up our flat and cooked all afternoon- Olivia made cranberry sauce, baked brie, and the turkey; I made stuffing; and Alexa made gravy- and we had friends over that night for a "friendsgiving." We did it potluck style, so Brooke made desserts while Sarah brought potatoes, etc., and ended up with a huge feast. Our flat was full of great friends and good food and good conversation, and we all fit inside which was lovely! Plus, despite the mulled wine Olivia pulled together, no one got drunk, so everything was happily in control, which makes me happy. We all ate way too much, and stayed up late into the night, even after most people had gone. I'm proud of us. Cooking and hosting Thanksgiving is a very adult, and difficult, thing to do usually, but we succeeded.

Our beautiful feast! (-dessert, +random kale?)

Plus, while we were out shopping for groceries, Alexa and Olivia let me get a little Christmas tree for our apartment. He's very small, and covered in glitter, but I love him. I named him after our Revenger's Tragedy rehearsal skull- Kevin.

And finally, yesterday, to end the weekend off, our flat slept in for a while before going to our last Master Class at BADA. We had a Q&A session with the lead actor from one of the shows we saw earlier in the semester, "A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes." It was a play that infuriated me at the time, but hearing what this actor had to say was fascinating and helpful. He had incredible advice to young actors, including what he wished someone had told him about acting when he was where we are right now: "You're going to be OK."

After the class, Brooke, Alexa, Olivia, Karli, Jordan, Emily, and I went to King's Cross train station to be tourists at Platform 9 3/4. We had a blast!!!

For those readers who don't know, King's Cross station is where, every year, on September 1st, the students traveling to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry run through the wall between platforms 9 and 10 to get to Platform 9 3/4, where the Hogwarts Express Train leaves to take them to school. Nowadays, there's a fun Harry Potter shop at the spot, with a place you can take a picture running through the wall. We all bought something fun in the shop, either for a friend or to have for ourselves and commemorate our own Hogwarts houses. For isntance, I am at last the owner of a Ravenclaw scarf. I am a very proud Ravenclaw. Karli is also a Ravenclaw, Olivia and Jordan are Slytherin, Alexa is Gryffindor, and Brooke got Ravenclaw on her last quiz, but we're all pretty sure she's a Hufflepuff. That's what she got the first time she took it, and it fits her very well. Emily... Oh Emily. She's taken the quiz 7 times now and keeps getting mixed results. We really have no clue. She could be either Hufflepuff, Slytherin, or Ravenclaw, because she's gotten all those results multiple times. So, when she took her picture going through the wall, they let her wear all three scarves and it was fantastic.

Off to Hogwarts, Bye!!!

Emily and her 3 scarves

Platform 9 3/4

We were hoping to head to Winter Wonderland- London's Christmas Market in Hyde Park- afterwards, but it was getting pretty rainy and late. Instead, we got dessert at King's Cross and then headed back to our flats. I must announce that I tried a mince pie, something I've been wanting to do, while we were at this dessert. Traditionally, mince pies have mincemeat in them, and I have no idea what that is. This one just had dried, candied fruits. It tasted like a trail mix pie, and it was delicious.

So, there you go. We're finally updated, and there's only 2 more weeks of BADA to go. I can't think about it. I adore the UK, and I love London, and, even though I miss everyone back home, I wish this semester would never end.

Fight on, friends.

PS: WE BEAT UCLA!!!!!!!!!! FIGHT ON TROJANS!!!!!!!!

Proud London Trojans. FIGHT ON