Londonderry or Derry? Depends on what side you're one..

If I had entered Northern Ireland with NO introduction to its history or culture I might be having second thoughts about my visit. Without understanding the context of this beautiful country, you can feel the oppression weighing you down. However, thanks to my N.I. friends who patiently explained the situation, I felt prepared to view the country, scars and all.
A BBC account of the troubles here, however I’m not sure what angle they are reporting from.

What I know (thanks to Aideen Maguire), in a nutshell:

"The Troubles" emerged as the result of years of escalating incidents between Catholics and Protestants. Ireland was ruled by Great Britain for most of its history, (1300s-1920). The British came over and worked their way through Ireland quietly taking it over and forcing the previous owners to pay rent. During this time there were numerous revolts by the Catholics against their Protestant landlords.

The settlement of Ulster in 1609 was massive in scale and resulted in the intrusion of a Protestant culture that was completely alien to its Catholic inhabitants. Massacres of both Protestants and Catholics took place throughout the 1600s, as the two sides battled for the right to occupy the land each now called home. This mistrust lay dormant for a few hundred years with small scale fighting still going on. Bad feelings resulting from this colonization by Protestant settlers was followed by centuries of political and social segregation. Ireland was now Governed by the British Parliament. Laws were enacted to keep the Catholics out of office, business and schools. Attempts were made at 'Home Rule', but this angered both the Protestants and Catholics. Protestants didn’t want a government in Ireland because then by law they would have to have equal numbers of each religion in its office. This didn’t make them happy as they liked having their all protestant government. Catholics didn’t want it because they wanted their own Irish Rule.

The resulting compromise was the partitioning of Ireland into the Republic of Ireland (the South) and Northern Ireland in 1920. Redrawing of the border happened soon after and three of this new country Northern Irelands nine counties were given to the South.

Each community continued to be defined by its religious affiliation, with little mixture between the two groups. Schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, entertainment venues all remained segregated. Sporadic violence continued between the two communities and their lack of contact due to increased segregation created feelings of deep distrust between the Catholic and Protestant communities.

Catholic representation in the judicial system was six to sixty-eight in 1968. Catholic employment averaged 30%. The jobs for Catholics tended to be lower end of the job market. Sir Basil Brooke, who served as Northern Ireland's prime minister for twenty years, actively promoted a system of employment where jobs were offered mainly to Protestants. He said, quote!!!... "I recommend those people who are Loyalists not to employ Roman Catholics" School funding for Catholics was only 65% of that given to the Protestant schools.

Inspired by the civil rights movements in the United States, in the late 1960s groups of Catholics and liberal Protestants gathered together to form the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). The violence itself really kicked off in 1968 at the beginning of NICRA's campaign of peaceful demonstrations to enlist the support of the Catholic community. Their first march, took place peacefully but the second march in Derry was violently broken up by the RUC and the B Specials. (Peter's Mom, Barbara marched in this protest and was nearly hit by a large stone as they were being thrown at the marchers.. she and her cousin had to flee from the ambush)

By the summer of 1969 increasing violence between Catholics demonstrating for equal rights and Protestants demonstrating against the Catholics demonstrating led to the intervention of the British government, in the form of the military. The final straw, which escalated the violence to an insurgency (clever word for war!), was the 1971 introduction permanently of Internment without trial by the government of Northern Ireland. Catholics were lifted off the street solely because of their religion and placed in jail without explanation, indefinitely. Catholic anger rose in the form of demonstrations.

The most famous of these anti-Internment demonstrations resulted in the Bloody Sunday killings in Derry in January 1972, when British solders fired into the Catholic crowd, killing thirteen people. From then on violence between Catholic and Protestant soared. With street riots, protests and in essence a Civil War. Unionist (protestant) terrorists formed militant groups such as the LVF, UVF and UDA and the Nationalists (Catholics) had the IRA. It became "an eye for eye" mentality and killings and bombs escalated.

The point got lost along the way and as more and more civil rights were granted to Catholics, Protestants got angrier and more violent. And as they got more violent Catholics did too until it reached the point now where the fight is merely over years of hatred for the opposite community.

Destination: Derry.. now what?!?

I arrived to the Derry Airport (shed, more like it!) comatose from the lack of sleep. I was hoping for a cheap bus- my experience with taxi of late hadn't been very positive. However, due to our delayed flight there were no more buses running to the city. I counted my money, the whole of 21 GBP and investigated my options. Rent a car or hire a taxi.. Hmm... I discovered the city wasn't ridiculously far away and the cab fare would be reasonable. So I hailed a taxi and climbed in the drivers side. My cab driver handed me the keys and said, "So, you’re gonna drive then?"
Urr.. I quickly got out and climbed to my side and gave him directions to my hostel.

The hostel was just like the others in Ireland, straight up! I lugged my suitcases up four flights of stairs to the attic. When I came to register the proprietor handed me a ‘Dear John’ letter from my traveling companions. I was looking to join them for another week of travel around Northern Ireland whilst I looked for accommodation and a job. So now I was in Derry, with no friends, a grand total of 9 GBP, no cash access and no job. The girls at the hostel were very friendly and helpful as they understood my situation. Everything was very eclectic and hippyish.
I decided that while I was sorting out my work permit and money situation I would perhaps work at the hostel to pay for my stay. At the moment though, I desperately needed sleep!! In the morning things always look brighter! I had a walk around the city walls and looked at the murals in Free Derry.

My new stamp collection..

At the Stansted Airport my passport was finally stamped with the work in UK approval stamp. *whew* the whole Germany ordeal and I was finally getting results. You see, I had booked my flight early through AerLingus, which was an incredible deal, not noticing the small print in my BUNAC handbook.
*Please Note: We do not recommend trying to enter Britain from Dublin or the Republic of Ireland as there are generally no immigration officers at passport control. If you do not go through immigration, you will not receive the correct stamp that will enable you to work in Britain.
After a flurry of emails I decided to book a flight to mainland Europe (Germany) and get stamped on my return to the UK. What hassle! The orientation for BUNAC is in the center of London. I knew by now that I could take the Stansted Express same day return for only 16 GBP. Since I was arriving to England at 0700 and my flight didn't leave until 1900 I had plenty of time to get in and out.
HOWEVER, being a bit shell-shocked from my previous 'adventure' I decided to stay put. I would complete orientation by mail once in North Ireland and go from there.

The horrific journey, conclusion. Part 3

The man working the petrol station could speak a little English. We informed him of our problem, that it was essential that we get to the airport before 0600! He finally phoned a taxi after 15 minutes of searching for the number. At 0305 a white, Mercedes-Benz taxi pulled up.
The petrol man tried explaining the situation to our driver. Maybe met the bus at one of the later stops, Worms?
The drivers said something about 100 or 120 Euros to the airport. This was quite a bit of money, as you can imagine.. but it was quite a distance to the airport. We made a count of all our money, I had a 50 note and Tara and 25 plus some coins. We weren't about to tell the taxi driver we didn't have the money. We figured we'd try an ATM at the airport later.
He pulled onto the highway and zoomed through a construction zone while trying to type on his little computer.
He kept pointing to his eye, "I look for bus.. I look" We served to miss some cones and a semi! What on earth was going on?!? After about 30 minutes we pulled next to a long white bus. The driver seemed very excited.. "Look, I see!!" It was the Hahn express!! He had caught up with our bus to the airport.
He signaled to the driver- who then pulled off onto a ramp. Our driver missed the same turnoff and exclaimed, "Scheiße!". Then backed up the exit of the ramp and got out to talk to the driver. After our bags were loaded the driver wrote on a sheet our price. 100 Euro! Wait one minute!! we thought this was just to the airport, we were only halfway there!! There certainly wasn't an ATM at the side of the road either! The bus driver understood our problem and pushed the remaining 30 Euro into the taxi drivers hand.
Feeling very relieved, we climbed aboard the bus, tripping over legs and luggage in the isle. We found our seats with a sigh of relief!
We arrived to the airport at 05:50 with the sun barely over the horizon. Tara ran to the airport to get cash and I stood outside the bus with our luggage so the driver would be sure to get his money. It was bitterly cold!
Just as all feeling left my fingers and toes Tara came back into view. VICTORY WAS OURS!! We profusely thanked the driver "Danke schön!" and paid him his 58 Euros.
From there we successfully made it to Stansted where Tara and I parted ways.

Green Germany

Recycling is huge in Germany! However, this environmental battle was a bit overwhelming at first. This is how it was explained to me:

To begin with, the packaging is more environmentally friendly due to the Green Dot system. Manufacturers and retailers have to pay for a "Green Dot" on products: the more packaging there is, the higher the fee. This clever system has led to less paper, thinner glass and less metal being used, thus creating less garbage to be recycled. The net result: a drastic decline of about one million tons less garbage than normal every year.
From there the people of Germany do their big with the proper sorting of garbage.

Glass: Most has a deposit or "Pfand", much like the 5 cent return in parts of the states. This gets returned to the shop for money. The rest of non-returnable bottles, wine bottles, jam/preserve jars, oil bottles, and juice bottles, get sorted by color. There are separate slots for green, brown and clear class. These bins are somewhere in every neighborhood. The other bins are usually at their doorstep or for apartments, in a shed nearby. These bins are color coded; green, yellow, brown and gray.

Green: all packaging made of paper and cardboard, newspapers, magazines, waste paper, paper bags, etc.

Yellow: Cans, plastic, polystyrene, aluminum, tinplate and "composite" materials like beverage cartons made of a mixture of materials belong in the yellow bin. Empty spray cans are also allowed here. You are not supposed to put stuff inside each other, like the yogurt cup inside the baked beans tin. This stuff is sorted by hand, so a thought for the end process is always considerate.

Brown: Biological stuff is anything destined for the compost heap in a good gardener's back yard. This includes kitchen scraps, peels, leftover food, coffee filters, tea bags and garden waste. The end result of bio recycling is either energy through the natural fermenting gasses, which is captured and utilized, or garden compost.

Gray: This bin is also the destiny of, finally, "almost the rest". This includes ash, cigarette butts, old household objects like hairbrushes and frying pans, textiles and nylon stockings, diapers, tissues, other personal hygiene items, extremely dirty paper, etc. Everything in the gray bins will be incinerated.

Misc: "the rest", i.e. the stuff that did not feature anywhere else. That is the hazardous waste, which includes fluorescent tubes, batteries and acids, cans of paint still containing paint, thinners, adhesives, corrosives, disinfectants, insecticides, and so forth, has to be treated as hazardous waste. There is a site by the local town council where a truck collects this kind of waste periodically.
Local shopping areas usually have bins for recycling batteries, cell phones, eyeglasses and such.

If you are still left with something you would like to throw away (can you imagine?!) and do not think that it belongs on the "Trödelmarkt" (fleamarket), you have the opportunity at certain announced times to place your stuff outside when Sonstige Müll (miscellaneous items) will be gathered. This could include a sofa, broken hi-fi, chairs, building materials, etc. The funny thing is that not much of this stuff ends up on the garbage dump since many second hand dealers or "collectors" drive round the neighborhood to inspect the thrown out stuff. The majority of it gets loaded into private vans long before the municipal vans come around!
Despite the extra effort and diligence required by First World Recycling, it does provide a sense of pride to know that you actually managed to figure out the German recycling system - something for your résumé, no doubt!

The horrific journey continues.. Part 2

Last blog, Tara and Angela were left standing on a deserted train platform in Germany…

We pulled our heavy bags off the platform and onto the road. Erie looking warehouses loomed in the background and a dark, unwelcoming row of houses lined the horizon.
We stopped and thought of our worse case scenario (other than those to horrible to think of): Perhaps we stay the night in this neighborhood and wait till dawn to sort things out. New ticket to London, etc.
I will be entirely honest with you, no icing on this cake: I have never been so frightened in my life. I mean, more than ‘watching a horror film’ scared.. I was IN the film!! Adrenaline pumping, palm sweating, heart racing, brain churning scared!
We had the excellent idea of saying a prayer for safety and guidance. It was decided that we would follow the lights of the track to the next station. We marched down dark streets making turns and periodically stopping to readjust our bags and sometime for me to run ahead and scope the area out. We didn’t want to lug our suitcases down dead ends!
After following a dimly lit footpath for about 2 miles, we found ourselves in what looked like an Industrial Park. There was one building lit, with life within. In the Deutch Post center, women were sorting mail into bins and boxes. I walked to one of the doors and gestured for assistance pointing to my bus itinerary. One woman nodded her head no and pointed to opposite direction. I walked around the building hopping to see a security officer, only to find that we had reached a dead end.
We wheeled down a few more blocks and under a bridge until we came to a school district. I balanced the heavy bag on my largest suitcase to save time. We had already lost one hour and only had one hour left to get to the station! The bags must have weighed at least 90 lbs together!
We spotted a man standing outside of his car. I walked to him and asked if he spoke English. "Nein"
He waved a water bottle and said.. "… Mit einem problem umgehen… ….. wasser… problem.." He pointed to his car, our luggage and his bottle. I assumed he needed to cool down his car and then help us with our problem. (we now had 40 minutes left)
For some reason, we piled into his car. I guess my brain still wasn’t working very well.. because there we were, at 2 am in a rundown, overheated car with a old man who didn’t speak English!!
We passed the sign for our station and zoomed into the city as Tara and I watched his temperature gage soar higher and higher. He finally found an open petrol station and began dumping large amounts of water into his engine. After a few unsuccessful attempts with his car, we unloaded our luggage and watched as he slowly pulled out of the station, steam pouring out of his hood.
Now it was 20 minutes until the bus pulled out of the station, and we were sitting on the curb at a petrol station who-knows-where!

It's called: 'low fares airline' ...

..part of the charm of Europe is the ease and low price of air travel..

my flights from country to country were facilitated by Ryan Air, a no-frills airline. My expenses for air travel were strikingly low. Take a look at the costs:

Shannon to London-Luton (approx) 23 USD
London-Stansted to Frankfurt-Hahn (and back) 26.96 GBP
London-Stansted to Derry 18.07 GBP

There are a few obvious differences between these flights and regular transatlantic services. The savings begin at ticket purchase all the way to flight landing and luggage claim.

First, you purchase your ticket directly online (avoiding fees and commissions) and pay additional fees for each bit of check-on luggage (about 5 GBP), which reduces the amount of load in baggage for the plane. The fare scheme is simple, it increases as the plane fills up.. rewarding early reservations. There is only a single passenger option and the airline only has a single type of airplane which reduces training and servicing costs.
The airports are very tiny (WARNING: often many miles from the actual city they advertise.. read the small print!! i.e. Stansted is NOT London) Sometimes you have to pay up to the same amount just getting connecting transportation to your destination. This still leaves you with mores savings than major airlines and airports. This is because the smaller secondary airports are cheaper and less congested which avoids air traffic delays and utilizes lower landing fees)
At the departure gate I noticed that the same staff working the gate were the flight attendants. I suppose working multiple roles eliminates hiring an excess of staff, limiting personnel cost.
Upon entering the plane I noticed there was no seat number listed. This is because the unreserved seating encourages passengers to board early and quickly. It's like a bus!
Free" in-flight catering and other "complimentary" services are eliminated, and replaced by optional paid-for in-flight food and drink, which represent an additional profit source for the airline.
The point is, you get where you're going without the annoying details and expenses!!

A bit of advertising controversy....

the horrific journey begins Part 1

The following week was a school holiday at Landau. Felix had left the previous Saturday with Connie to visit some friends. Andi left with her boyfriend, Mario the following Monday morning. Felix and Andi gave us careful instructions and a schedule of train departures for us to get from to the train, bus and plane. It was as follows.

Station..........Time...Track/Stop
Landau...........23:49...4
Neustadt.........00:09...5
Neustadt.........00:33...4
Ludwigshafen.....00:59...3
Ludwigshafen Bus.03:05...6
Hahn Airport.....04:50
Ryan Air.........06:00...7

We watched for the precise timing, bus number and station name.
Exactly 2349 our expected train rolled in. We climbed aboard and watched for our Neustadt stop. Tentetively I pushed (what I assumed was) the open-door button. *swish* we were out. We walked to the next platform, at 00:09 to wait for the 00:33 train. It arrived at 00:31 and departed exactly 00:33. (do you see a precise pattern?)
From there it got somewhat confusing. The stations were whizzing past and there were probably 3 people on the train (including two douchebags who were smoking in front of the Rauchen verboten 'smoking is forbidden' sign).
We watched as Ludwigshafen .. Oh no! was that our station!?! Surely not, it was only 00:51. Then at 00:58 another Ludwigshafen stn came into view. We doubled checked the spelling, it looked okay. Yes! So close to our time.. we didn't miss it! I hastily pushed the button and we rolled our suitcases off onto

... plank boards....... ... ..

..............in complete darkness

......................with NO ONE around..............

............at 01:00 A.M....
we watched with great dread as the tail lights of the last train of the night faded into the horizon.

Gottesdienst am Pfingstsonntag

On Saturday morning Felix drove us to Landau where we joined Andi at her University. She has a very nice apartment in the student housing building. Because it was the Pentecost week break the place was very quiet. Mario brought over a salad for dinner and we had a very nice chat (Tara and I talked at Andi for about four hours catching her up on all the Coe gossip).
Sunday we attended church with in the City Center. I'm afraid I could only catch a few words of the service and the Lord's Prayer. Being at a new church in a new language can be quite difficult!
in the Protestant College Church at Landau in the palatinate (Pfalz)
Predigt über 1. Korintherbrief 2, 12-16
Wir aber haben nicht den Geist der Welt empfangen, sondern den Geist, der aus Gott ist, damit wir die Dinge kennen, die uns von Gott geschenkt sind. Davon reden wir auch, nicht in Worten, gelehrt durch menschliche Weisheit, sondern in [Worten], gelehrt durch den Geist, indem wir Geistliches durch Geistliches deuten. Ein natürlicher Mensch aber nimmt nicht an, was des Geistes Gottes ist, denn es ist ihm eine Torheit, und er kann es nicht erkennen, weil es geistlich beurteilt wird. Der geistliche dagegen beurteilt zwar alles, er selbst jedoch wird von niemand beurteilt. Denn `wer hat den Sinn des Herrn erkannt, daß er ihn unterweisen könnte? Wir aber haben Christi Sinn.

Can you follow this?
Then we took a picnic to the roof where we could overlook the city and mountains. We also saw a castle which we decided to visit when Mario arrived.
After a very windy drive, we finally made it to the castle. The walk uphill was muddy and steep but the view on top was well worth it! Tara and I got a brief history of the German kingdoms and unification.
Later that evening we met with Kathy, another exchange student from Coe, and went to a local pub. In Germany it is very popular to mix everything with your beer and wine. I ordered Kirsch Bier and Tara got the banana variety. It was slightly strange.
The following day, after Andi and Mario left for their trip, we went to Kathys for dinner. We also met a California student, Angel and watched the Itailian Job. Finally, Kathy accompanied us to the train station and gave us specific directions for our stops and transfers.
Our time in Germany had NEARLY come to an end.

Happy Father's Day

Dad,
Remember when you used to tell me that punishing me hurt you more than it hurt me?
Remember when you told me one day I would thank you for raising me right, and teaching me the value of hard work?

Now’s the time. Thanks Dad.

• Thank you for sacrificing your beloved TransAm and business to keep me healthy.
  
• Thank you for fetching me from the willow tree house when I was too scared to come down on my own.
  
• You took the gruelling job of cleaning out my junky ears when they were infected and painful without complaining.
  
• Thank you for paying for piano lessons even when I rebelliously refused to practice.
  
• For telling Sam and Joe stories and giving me loads of books to devour on my own.
  
• Thanks for enduring my temper tantrum phase with patience (age 6 & 16)
  
• For letting me help you around the house, so I don’t feel inept in my own.
  
• Thanks for keeping me equipped with the latest computer and a electronic vocabulary so that I can hold my own in a conversation with geeks.
  
• For teaching me the value of hard earned money.
  
• For raising me in an environment free from the influence of Hollywood.
  
• Buying me my first paint set and encouraging my silly scrawls.
  
• Coming and changing my first flat tire while I was at work.
  
• Helping me with my entrance essays during that scary college admission year.
  
• Keeping me IN college when my student bills were bigger than my savings.
  
• Thanks for eating all the strange foods I attempted to cook.
  
• For teaching me Christian values and bringing me to church.
  
• Thanks for managing my financial mess while I am overseas.
  
• I always noticed when you were sometimes the only one at my concerts and galleries.
  
• And most of all, thanks for loving me unconditionally, even at my worst.
  

Can’t wait to see you soon!
love,
Angela

Weinfeste in Deutschland!

After a satisfying meal on the veranda, Felix, Connie, Tara and I drove to Bodenheim for the annual Wine Festival, St Albansfest. After parking in a remote vineyard we located Karl-Heinz and his girlfriend in the sea of people. Karl-Heinz is one of Felixs closest childhood friends.
(the picture is a bit fuzzy, you can't complain when someone else is taking it though)

Upon entering the Fest, you purchase your first taste of wine (extra for the glass) and from there move you way down the streets to countless booths offering a variety of wines.

The format of the Weinfeste is very similar to agricultural fairs in the Midwest. There is usually some form of music and entertainment. In our case, a German rock band playing classic English hits.

To accompany the serious matter of wine tasting, the festivals also offer the chance to enjoy classic German fare such as sausages, pretzels, cheeses and meats and local specialities such as Kässpätzle (cheese noodles). I'm told that at some festivals held in late June, the delicacy is fresh asparagus – all the tastier when sampled with local white wines!

I've found my first love

Kinder
bueno









I've fallen in love with the most amazing chocolate bar my lips have ever tasted, Kinder Bueno. It has a crunchy, milk chocolate coated shell with a delightful creamy hazelnut filling. The package comes with two seperatly wrapped bars (like twixt) so I tell myself I will only have one. Next thing, I am greedily unwrapping the second before I know the first one is gone.
I bought a four twin bars pack to send home. Found myself a bit hungry from walking and endulged. Now I'm afraid I will probably have none for my family.

As you can very well see, Kinder brings two beuno lovers together so they can live a life of chocolate passion together. I'm pretty sure I'll meet a guy like him somewhere in Belfast. It's bound to happen....

...because I love Bueno!

Ankünfte

I departed from London a day earlier than my friends. The plan was to meet Tara and go to the airport. I had such trouble communicated with her, I hoped I would run into her at the departures gate. Stansted Express took me directly from the Underground to the airport where I rushed to find the check-in desk and departure. My anxiety wouldn't calm until I saw Tara's wonderful blonde hair and smile. We climbed aboard our RyanAir plane and made our way to Germany.
Coming off the plane at Hahn I could feel that familiar travel anxiety rising up when I tried reading the signs. Seeing Felix standing and waving above the arrivals gate was a welcomed sight! In the busyness of travel, I had forgotten how much I was looking forward to seeing him.
He packed us into his little BMW and we were off to the Krämer home, via a few small cities.
We stopped in Oppenheim to see the cathedral and castle ruins. Tara and I chatted nonstop the entire journey and were frequently reminded to speak more slowly.
Along the way we stopped to pick his girlfriend up. I was looking forward to meeting Connie, as I have heard so many wonderful things about her. It's a bit like seeing the other inside of a greeting card. You can get the gist of things on the exterior, but you really need the personalized message inside for it to mean something.
When we arrived to Ludwigshohe (near Mainz) his mother greeted us with a warm German accent and smiles. We were finally here, in a real house! This was better than any five star hotel I could think of. It was packed with lives and love.
Our bedroom had lovely down duvet and our own private bath and balcony. On the table sparkling water had been set out beside German tourism brochures. Pictures on the wall followed the Krämers through their vacations over the years. Someone had also been thoughtful enough to post a large map of Germany.
Dinner consisted of Braten, Knoedel, salad, and bread ccompaniedied by a beautiful white wine from the Krämer Weingut. I had been so frugal in London, eating only what I could afford, this bounty was like manna from heaven! I'm afraid I took a bit more than I could handle, but nicely stuffed it away. It wasn't until the postdinner walk when I realized how much I overindulged in the meal!
Friday we toured the ancient German castles and wineyards via the Rhein. We visited Rudesheim and walked down the famous Drosselgasse street. The way the river flowed through vineyards and tiny town was very romantic!

It's pronounced "Eye-owe-wah"

People politely ask me where I am from in the states. My range of answers include;

• Iowa
• the Midwest
• the Center
• West of Chicago
• Near Chicago
• 5 hours West of Chicago
• The Middle
• Cedar Rapids

No one knows WHERE or WHAT Iowa is.. they pretend to know, but I can see the confusion in their eyes. They act annoyed and say.. "I'm not stupid, just tell me what STATE it's in!"

Why Iowa?

Just for fun. click on the images for a closer look:

Hiding in Hyde

Hyde Park


Embraced by nearly 4,000 trees and lounging beside the lake cafe, horses, roller blades and bikes pass by. It is easy to forget I'm in the middle of London.

Henry VIII acquired Hyde Park from the monks of Westminster Abbey in 1536; he and his court were often to be seen on thundering steeds in the hunt for deer. It remained a private hunting ground until James I came to the throne and permitted limited access.
In 1665, the year of the Great Plague, many citizens of London fled the City to camp on Hyde Park, in the hope of escaping the disease.

Hyde Park has found itself often the center of the film industry. The world's first moving pictures were filmed near Apsley Gate one morning in January 1889 by a British inventor, William Friese Greene.

The park had a starring role in 'Genevieve' (1953), the film about the annual London to Brighton classic car race, which still begins at Hyde Park. Rotten Row, at the southern edge of the park, was in the opening credits of 'Around the World in Eighty Days', the 1956 adaptation of the Jules Verne novel. Many Hollywood greats appeared in this film, including David Niven, Noel Coward, Frank Sinatra, Sir John Gielgud and Trevor Howard.
'The Ipcress File' (1965), the thriller starring Michael Caine as Harry Palmer, used a bench on Rotten Row as the location for clandestine meetings. It also filmed beneath the park to make what's said to be cinema's first ever scene in an underground car park. Rotten Row was also where Glenda Jackson was taught to play baseball by George Segal in 'A Touch of Class' (1973), a film for which she won the 2nd of her two Best Actress Oscars.
More recently, South Carriage Drive was used in 'Johnny English' (2003), starring Rowan Atkinson, Natalie Imbruglia and John Malkovich.

We wandered around watching the stiff Londoners being transformed into lively lovers and friends. Old men playing chess beside the lake. Women gossiping over coffe under the cover of silent trees. Children chaing squirrels and pigeions. Health enthusiasts sweating their way along the paths.
A kindly tree lifted its branches and invited Anna and I under her leaves. It was a dark tree-cathedral, quiet and solemn. The bark bore scars from uncaring vistors scratching their names into her flesh. We snapped a picture (below) and whispered our thanks.

Chinatown

Chinatown was amazing to be in one place and to feel you have stepped off the continent into another. As Cedar Rapids isn't an incredibly diverse place, having neighborhoods dominated by one specific ethnic group is a strange concept. The moment we stepped into Chinatown we felt alien with our light skin and hair. The lights and signs blinked characters we couldn't understand. Were we really still in London?
Chinatown was originally in the East End of London, but due to the prosperity of the Chinese postWW2, it later moved west to SoHo. The area is mainly commercial and very few people reside there. Also, it is known that the Triads are operating there, highlighted by a shooting in broad daylight in June 2003 in the "brb bar" on Gerrard Street (for link see Chinatown1). Naturally, these do not happen very often and Chinatown is a relatively safe area of London.


















We stopped at a tea shop before our show and I had a drink, 'Bubble Tea' that was very unusual. It was the Mango Pearl Drink. It came with very thick mango juice with dark gummy tapioca balls floating at the bottom. The straw that accompanied it was huge so the balls wouldn't block the straw. It took some getting used to.. having black balls sliding up the straw. I choked down a few before I had the brilliant idea of chewing them while I drank.

Lesson #4 Learning to read nondigital clocks

After much debate Anna, Erin and I decided to buy 17GBP tickets to Les Miserables. These were the cheapest seats as they were Upper circle K10-12. The show was to start 90 minutes from when we purchased them. We decided to go back to the hostel to freshen up before the show. Eyeing my watch I knew that gave us approximately 45 minutes aside from transport. Upon returning to the Theatre District we walked through Chinatown and decided to stop for drinks.
Wow! How much time it seemed we had! Finally at quarter till 'seven' we meandered over to the Queen's Theatre. The place was empty. Was the show dying out? A very impatient usher demanded to see our tickets and exclaimed, "Why are you coming so late?" I looked at my watch and ... yes, it was nearly 19:49, almost an hour past the opening! With this new information we rushed up the stairs and into our seats. (as if this would make much of a difference!)
We missed Valjean in prison, redeemed by the priest Bishop of Digne, Fantine's death and all that great stuff. I felt so horrible! I had led the girls astray.. paying nearly $32 for a show we miss half of! My only consolation was that it was only a show and not a plane departure.

Suzi, Sewing & Scilian Soup

Anna uses live journal to meet new people and to record her thoughts. We met one of these friends, Suzi, at Oxford Circus. Suzi is a costumier based out of London. She does work for clients all over the world, often for reenactments, television and window displays. Her area of expertise is mostly 15-19 century.
She brought Anna, Erin and myself, the ignorant onlooker, to fabric shops around Berwick St. We browsed along side fashion designers, tailors and other costumiers. Each tiny shop had its own personality, with piles and stacks of fabric to the ceiling. One had mostly men's fabric, acrylic and corduroy for suits. Another shop was glittering with embroidery and silks. The last shop we visited was overwhelming with neon polyesters, suede and synthetic furs.
Delightful words were whispering in the air:
...........................
....taffata....chintz......
.boucle.foulard..velour....
............crinoline......
...plissé..........pongee..
alpaca.......angora........
......shantung..seersucker.
..poplin..selvedge..chiffon
...........................
.faille...barré.batiste....
...chambray..cashmere......
..........nainsook....ninon
...........................
garbardine..jacquard.......
...........................
..matelassé......moiré.....
...........Peau de Soie....

Next we stopped into a Mediterranean restaurant for a delightful meal of couscous, musakka, dolmas and fresh olives. Feeling as stuffed as the grape leaves of my dolma, we departed happily.

Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn

Coriolanus

We came across the Globe Theatre completely on accident! Tickets in the yard were only £5 and played in an hour! As you've guessed, we bought the tickets and grabbed a bite to eat.
I was very anxious to get there early because standing didn't seem to leave many options for view. With my sort of luck we'd be stuck behind a monstrously huge woman and pushy guy spilling beer down our backs! As it turned out, the only suprise we had was a smudged leather clad cast member pushed against us during the first act.
The play began rather unexpectedly with the Roman citizens pushing their way through the crowd in the yard and onto the stage. The entire show was three hours long including an intermission, a welcomed 15 minutes during which we happily rested our legs. I became acutely aware of my legs after about an hour into the show. During the second half I became such captive viewer that I hardly noticed they were there! The actor, Jonathan Cake who played Coriolanus gave a great performance. His tears looked quite sincere. Another actor most noticed was Joseph Marcell, who played the butler in "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". It was a stunning performance and I was glad to have stumbled upon Globe when we did.

VALERIA: O' my word, the father's son! I'll swear, 'tis a very pretty boy. O' my troth, I looked upon him a Wednesday half an hour together; has such a confirmed countenance! I saw him run after a gilded butterfly; and when he caught it, he let it go again, and after it again, and over and over he comes, and again, catched it again; or whether his fall enraged him, or how 'twas, he did so set his teeth and tear it. O, I warrant, how he mammocked it!
VOLUMNIA: One on 's father's moods.
VALERIA: Indeed, la, 'tis a noble child.

-Coriolanus, I, iii