I hope you all enjoyed the photos of Salvation Road in the last blog. I am starting this blog with some back stage activity and a break-a-leg greeting from APO Theatre Honor Society back at school. This blog will cover our cast dinner, art visit, theatre visits, and my first three days in Edinburgh, Scotland. Enjoy!
On Sunday, October 20 the cast. crew, family, and friends had dinner at The Archduke Restaurant on the South Bank. We have made this a tradition, and this year we had 31 people. Anna, Julia, Ryan, Nick, Amanda, and Marlee had family come to the show and explore London. Tracy Lehnertz, Associate Dean of International Programs, Brian Schmisek, the new Provost at Saint Mary's and Judy Myers, Co-Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance came to the performance and Tracy and Brian came to the dinner as did other guests.
Tracy and Brian.
Corey and Billy
Anna and Ryan with their parents.
Julia with her family.
Kevin Smith, a former student, and Liam Hahn a recent theatre alum both came to the show! It was great to see them support us!
Chiri from Germany is a friend of Nick. Did you know Nick has been to Germany. A lot. Ask him. He'll tell you all about it. Ahnika, Marlee and her dad.
Tracy and Nick aunt.
Jen and Brian.
The cast and crew presented me with the best creative gift! They built this double decker London bus out of Legos. So cool!
They also put themselves, Judy, and myself in the bus!! Clever.
We take the #9 bus a lot to and from our flats! So it was perfect.
Here is the cast and crew. I will post in another blog the student with their Lego counterpart. I also have a Lego Gary....
On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we went to see plays. On Monday for the Page to Stage and Theatre in London class we went to the Young Vic to see Lorca's Blood Wedding. I am sure we will have a great discussion in our next class about this production.
On Wednesday we went to the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith to see Solaris based on the novel and two films. We loved it! Great Sci-Fi on stage.
On Tuesday evening, I took the Page to Stage Class to see Peter Brook speak at the National Theatre. We use his book, The Empty Space, in both Directing I and the Page to Stage Class. After his talk he signed copies of his new book which deals with the use of music in plays. Ahnika, John and I bought copies and had them signed. He is 94 and still going strong.
After the book signing, John, Ryan, and I went to see Brian Friel's Translations at the National which was very good. Here are a couple of pictures of the set.
The Art in London class on Wednesday went to the Royal Academy of Arts to see the Antony Gormley exhibition. Students feel that thus far this has been their favorite exhibit.
The squares in this giant artwork are slices of bread.
You can tell that they are theatre majors!!!!
I love this baby.
Ahnika posted these. Made of windows. So cool. Love the colors.
On Thursday morning we met at King's Cross Station to take the 11:30 train to Edinburgh, Scotland. Ahnika was on the wrong platform.
After we arrived and checked into our hotel and hostel we went to dinner at the Albanach Restaurant. An annual event. Sorry for the blurry group picture. This was outside the restaurant.
Haggis!!!! Love it. Served with mashed potatoes, turnips, carrots, and greens. Served with a whiskey sauce.
Jen got steak with peppercorn sauce, fries, and beer battered onion rings. The next night I went back and had their beer battered fish and chips. Great!
Julia's hamburger.
Marlee's veggie burger.
Ahnika's haggis burger
More haggis eaters!!!
Hanna had chicken pot pie with leeks.
Anna also had haggis Brave girl. They all liked it.
At 10 pm we went on the Haunted City and Tunnel Terror Tour. This was a very weird night. Our tour guide was very creepy but good. After all the years of doing this tour, this year's tour had the most activity in the tunnels. We didn't get much of a city tour as in the past but spent a lot of time in the tunnels and actually went into rooms I have never been it before. One really strange thing is all the photos I took came out pitch black on my camera. And no I didn't have the lens cap on the lens. If you want to see what the tunnels look like go to last year's or other years' Scotland blogs I posted. They are all there.
Our tour guide. The man in the blue vest had to leave the tunnels mid-tour. Weird stuff was happening to him. We heard the whistling she talked to us about. Knocking. Some of us saw a woman in white watching us. Others saw a young blond boy with blue eyes who followed some of them around and held their hand. Really freaky. In one room one of the students felt like she was on fire and her body heated up. She was never told that people died in that room from a fire that was above when they couldn't get out. Our guide didn't tell that story, but it was told to me in the past and one other male student years ago felt like he was burning up in the same room. We do the Auld Reekie Tour.
Here are some photos of the Edinburgh Castle that Ahnika and I took this weekend.
I took these at different times today.
Arthur's Seat. The students plan on getting up at 6 am and climbing this tomorrow before we head back to London. They will have tomorrow to explore more of Edinburgh. They got back from their three day backpacking tour at 5 pm today (Sunday). We leave at 6:30 pm tomorrow for London.
The view from my hotel.
The five star Balmoral Hotel. Years ago my cousin and his wife took me to Scotland for a weekend, and we stayed here. Luxurious!
The Bagpipers! Everyday on the Royal Mile various bagpipers play throughout the day! You know you are in Scotland.
You can listen to this guy!
As some of you may know Edinburgh is where Harry Potter was written. Rowling wrote it in this coffee house which pays tribute to her.
There are a number of celtic crosses in the courtyard of the Castle. Here is one from India.
I've seen more red telephone boxes here in Edinburgh than I have in London. They have practically disappeared in London.
This heart is in front of St. Giles Church. If you observe people walking by, you will notice that they spit on it. It is for good luck!
Joe Tadie I took this photo for you!
Along the Royal Mile people can pay and have their picture taken with an owl. These two almost look make-believe.
This passed me on the Royal Mile yesterday.
The Fringe Shop for the Fringe Festival. Here is where I bought my pigeon T shirt and hoodie last year! The pigeon was the symbol for the Fringe Festival.
Interesting architecture.
Road below the Bridge.
St. Giles Church
A statue of Bobby. Rub his nose for good luck. He belonged to a policeman who patrolled between Greyfriars and the Castle. When the policeman died and was buried, Bobby visited his grave everyday for 14 years and stayed there all day. He would leave at night and was back the next day.
There is a second memorial to Bobby at Greyfriars churchyard.
It's kind of charming that people leave sticks at the sight for Bobby.
Inside Greyfriars Church
Harry Potter fans. Here is Thomas Riddell's tombstone.
Last night there were fireworks outside my hotel window. I only managed two photos at the end....
THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!
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