Cool Britannia

Have no fear my adoring public! I am back!

Ok, I know your not really my adoring public.  I've just been getting lots of complaints lately about how I need to update my blog and I felt like a minor celebrity. I'm sure all the attention will stop once I get to Provo and become boring again. In the meantime what sort of mischief have I been up to in England? Well. Where do I start?

Last Friday was the end of exams for everyone who had module one classes. I didn't actually have any module one classes (ie the entire class plus finals is in the first four weeks off the program) but I still went to the end of exams party. Here was the invite they sent out for it:
~~ COOL BRITANNIA ~~
Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves...
           


~~ End of Exams Party!!! ~~
        Friday 29th July
        9pm - 12:30am
        Doors close 10:30 - get there on time or miss out!

The end of exams is almost in sight, and to get you through the final days of revision and writing papers, your loving PKP team have got an EXCLUSIVE PARTY (Cambridge style) lined up for PKP students at one of the best clubbing venues Cambridge has to offer, Hidden Rooms.
Check it out at: http://www.hiddenthing.com/

FREE entry with a wristband - collect from the PKP office. No wristband, no entry, NO exceptions.

Traditionally, Cambridge parties are called BOPs - and this implies FANCY DRESS (i.e. - a costume party). So get your best outfits out. The theme is COOL BRITANNIA - anything and everything BRITISH goes! Think Austin Powers, the Royal Family, James Bond, Union Jack dresses (or any of the Spice Girls for that matter)...

There'll be a dancefloor where you can let off some steam and get out your best moves with your friends to some hip-hop, pop, RnB and top-40 chart tunes. If you are feeling in the mood for a more chilled evening, there is a bar-area with comfy sofas and funk and soul beats. 
****


Do you still have no idea what it was? Yeah well neither did we. BUT have I ever been one to skip out on a costume party? My friend had the idea that I be Kate Middleton with this new white dress I just bought at a vintage store and so I went to the party as, very appropriately, The Duchess of Cambridgeshire. 

Can you see my tiara? It wasn't the most convincing costume...

Aaron didn't have any costume to wear so I let him borrow my hat to look more generally English. 

Hidden Rooms was a cool club but it got so. freaking. hot down there. Seriously, it was disgusting. There were just way too many people and people kept spilling their drinks on the floor and the music was suspiciously 80's influenced. BUT. Despite all this, I had a really fun night. I will go back to before that. While we were waiting for the party to start (which wasn't until late) we decided to go punting. I was a little hesitant because you all know what happened the last time I went punting but it was very fun and I did not drop anyone's camera in the water. Though I did give Jacqueline the option of dropping mine.  


Here are some pictures of punting: 

Setting out from Kings

Does it look like I'm concentrating really hard? yeah, that's because I really suck at punting.

Jack, the one punting in this picture always says 'word' after everything. And every time it makes me giggle. 

we ran into our friends in another boat. Rob looks a bit too excited

yup. these are my friends

totally natural looking, right? Emily and I are in separate boats.

The Bridge of Sighs. I made everyone sigh when we passed under it. 

The other cool thing about Friday afternoon is that there was a wedding going on in King's. And it was posh. I'm talking buttlers in red suits with coattails and women in hats and fascinators.

the wedding party was taking pictures on the lawn

yeah...I'm not really that subtle with my stalker pics

Alright so that was Friday night. To summarize: awesome wedding, punting and Hidden Rooms 'Cool Britannia' Party.


Saturday I took another trip down to London (!!)
This trip was provided for by my programme (there are lots of different dates that you choose from so it wasn't everyone) and we took the bus down in the morning. I spent the day with a few friendss. First we got to go on a tour of parliament. PARLIAMENT! 


We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside so just imagine for a moment how awesome it was.

I love  Big Ben

Me, Rob and Jacqueline

Hello World! I am not a tourist....

"Dulce est decorum est" anti-war sign. I took a picture because I had to write an essay last year analyzing a poem with the same name

outside parliament

park next to parliament where we had sandwiches for lunch

oldest part of parliament and the only place we were allowed to take pictures

Me Emily and Jacqueline

everything is so gloriously impractical. Why use two words when "exit" would do?

I'm in love with this country

After this we walked to the British Museum, stopping to take some pictures in Trafalgar Square.

some 12 year old soldiers posted outside the cavalry museum

Trafalgar!

awesome name for a store

we started having some girl talk so Rob went and found a music store.
This might be my favorite picture of the day.
 It really captures him.

We were a bit ambivalent about what to do next but we ended up going to ...now wait a minute where did we go? I think it was Covent Garden. Anyway we got some great cookies there. 

Shout out to Aaron who remembered this cookie place from the last time he was in London.

Outside the tiny little shop

That night we went to see "All's Well that End's Well" at the Globe. And let me say, finally a good Shakespeare experience! The actors were SO good. Before the play starts all the actors come out and talk to the audience. At the begining I was standidng at the side of the stage right up next to it and so a couple different actors came to talk to me. I was complimented on my headband and told that they were excited to have the next week off.

The Globe! It was really tiring to stand the whole time

a bit blurry but its the only picture here that actually has me in it

where we were originally standing. we wanted to lean on the stage but we ended up moving so we could see behind the pillars.

Yuppers. So it was a really great show although I question the santiy of the characters. But I guess that's all of Shakespeare. Sunday I played some croquet in the garden and felt quite British. Monday and Tuesday I had some stressful classes and overwhelming homework for those classes. On Wednesday I took a break and walked to Granchester again for tea. Yesterday was just business as usual, ie homework work sleep homework. So yeah! Now you are all caught up. What a relief right?