My Farewell #1-Last Day Seeing My Fav Sights

Leicester Square-This theater is where all of the big movie premiers happen (like Harry Potter last Thursday night).

Covent Garden has their Christmas decorations up!

More from Covent Garden

Trafalgar Square

Towards Green Park and The Horse Guards Parade

Not sure what this is, but I think it was a memorial done recently because I've never seen it before. Next to it was a building with a memorial dedicated to fallen Royal Ulster Constabulary.

A walk down Whitehall

The Cenotaph on Whitehall. Remembrance Day (or Armistice Day-Veteran's Day in the States) is Nov. 11, and the following Sunday is Remembrance Sunday. There is a march down Whitehall by war Veterans. The Queen lays the first poppy wreath dedicated to the fallen from the First and Second World Wars and all conflicts after. The Poppy represents remembrance of the fallen in the U.K.

Millions of Remembrance Crosses at Westminster Abbey

One of my favorite views of the London Eye and the Thames.

One of my favorite tube stations (and the most confusing!)

So I went to see Deathtrap-the comedy thriller starring Glee's Jonathan Groff (Jesse from Vocal Adrenaline-yes, this is the only reason I saw it). I was able to get cheap tickets in the Stalls only 7 rows back from the stage earlier in the morning. The seats were the best I'd had in the 5 West End shows I'd seen this trip. However, I was so close, that I could see Jonathan Groff spit everytime he yelled his lines! Like really spit. It reminded me of the Friend's episode where Joey has to play next to a star who spits and he tries to wear sunglasses during filming. The play itself was also very strange. Wouldn't recommend it, but I'm glad I saw it because I would have regretted it if I didn't.

So today I did my last day out in London. I started out at Leicester Square to see what kind of tickets I could get for Deathtrap that evening. Even though it wasn't a musical and sounded a bit weird, I still wanted to see it for the sole reason that a Glee actor was in it.haha. After getting tickets, as it finally wasn't raining, I walked to Covent Garden, then to Trafalgar Square, down Whitehall (where the Remembrance Parade had happened the day before), and ended up at Westminster Abbey to see the millions of Remembrance crosses. It was a very powerful experience. From there, I got a quick last glance at the Thames and the London Eye before taking the tube back to Bob's. I did some more packing (it will be a miracle if it all fits in my two suitcases), before heading out to meet Lauren to say our goodbyes over coffee in Leicester Square before Deathtrap.

I have a little review of the play above. I would have to say it was my least favorite of the 5, but I'm still glad I saw it. It only lasted a few hours, so I got home to Bob's a little after 10, and had more time to pack and realize that my time here is just about over :( I will miss living in London SO much!

My Last Photography Social :(

Yes, I want to see the Deathtrap play for the sole reason that Jonathan Groff (Glee's Jesse) is in it (and no, this photo and many of the others do not have any relevance to the challenge)!

Shoes! ok, getting sidetracked again...

"Use Reflections" was one of our ten challenges to get photos of

"Use Props" or on the way to "Shoot a portrait not showing someone's face" (but obviously didn't quite get there). Could also be "Capture Personality"...kind of (all depends on how you sell it to the judges!)

More non-relavant photos...

"Use Shadows" was another challenge

More shadows!

"Take a photo from an unusual viewpoint"

"Create Drama" (and as you might have noticed, we were supposed to bring props as well, as one challenge was "Use Props", hence the witches hat and the perfect opportunity to use it thanks to Wicked posters in Leicester Square!)

To get her in the right place where she would be the same size as Glinda in the poster (or as close as we could get) took quite a bit of moving, repositioning, and looking a bit silly!

"Self Portrait" was one of the challenges as well although this didn't turn out too great...

Theme of this social is: (drumroll please) PORTRAITURE! This immediately made me not want to sign up because if you've noticed, I don't really like people in my photos. Not only that, but our teamates and ourselevs are supposed to be the subjects in the photos which made it less appealing (that's why I take the photos, so I don't have to be in them!). And the third drawback? Bring props!haha... But I'm really glad I went because the next social isn't until Nov. 17th which is the day I go back to the states :( . So our night started at the Round Table pub in Leicester Square and we got our assignment with our ten different challenges pertaining to portraits "Shoot an abstract portrait, Use backlighting in a portrait, and the ones listed above (plus one more I can't remember). Our team, "Shooting Pumpkins" (a take on Smashing Pumpkins, Halloween, and Shooting in the photography sense), went around Leicester Square for an hour trying to get all the shots in. It proved to be as hard as the last social on the boat where instead of shooting randomly, you have to plan all of your shots and even create a few! As usual though, I had a great time, and I will really miss all my photography friends :( I only wish they had something like this in Houston!

Dinosaurs and things...

Horses outside the Horse Guards Parade on Whitehall. They were standing in a pile of their poo....

Currently the Fourth Plinth is occupied by the ship in a bottle. But I liked the writing on the ground better than what was actually on the plinth. I borrowed Dolan's shadow as well.

Natural History Museum

Reminded me of the 'Night at the Museum' movies! Dinosaurs!

Bones

The Great Court at the British Museum

Reflections in windows...

Dolan arrived yesterday morning, so after a quick lunch, we tried to use the good weather to our advantage and see a bit of London. We started out at Embankment and walked acorss to Southbank towards Westminster. We passed by the London Eye, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Since Dolan has been here once before (many many years ago), he wasn't too worried about seeing all of the sights. Even so, I made us walk to Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, and Covent Garden as I feel they are very "London" next to the Southbank tour. After all this walking and Dolan getting little sleep in the past few days, we headed back to Bob's so he could take a nap. That evening we went for what was supposed to be a short stroll around Clapham Common. Well, I got us lost (surprise), and two hours later, my legs aching, we finally made it back to Bob's.

Today was a miserable day weather-wise. It was pouring and had turned quite cold. If there's something I can't stand (and Dolan too), it's wet socks! We started out at the Natural History Museum thinking we could escape the rain by doing a day of Museums. Unfortunately, Dolan was under the impression that this museum would have paintings, but instead, we just saw dinosaurs and minerals (both at my request-I mean we were already there!). From there we decided maybe the British Museum would be more exciting, but after having it pour on us the whole way there, and running into cafes to find somewhere to eat only to find strange menus and expensive prices, we were exhausted. We ending up eating in the museum cafe, took a few pictures, then headed back towards Bob's, stopping for a bit to do a few errands for me. Not terribly exciting days for Dolan in London I'm afraid!