Of course, then I have to go back and check in at ten. Silly hostel. I think I'm going to stick around here a little longer. I enjoy London, providing I avoid the really touristy areas.
So yesterday I woke up hellish early, though not quite as hellish early as the first night. Breakfast, email. Gideon Defoe emailed me back! How about that. Positively tickled pink. Didn't think my email actually went through.
Got a late start (like, 9am, but still), and hopped a tube towards Madame Tussaud's. I have no particular interest in the museum, beyond an artistic standpoint, but I figured it was one of those things that You Should Do In London.
HOLY CRAP. The crush of people was intense, and that was just outside the door. I'm not claustrophobic, but being thoughtlessly jostled and nudged and pushed and brushed and bumped gets me unhappy and angry, and I don't like being unhappy and angry, so I decided to skip Madame Tussaud's. Maybe if I wasn't by myself, and had someone to distract me from my frustration, I'd give it a go, but the allure of wax celebrities was not enough to entice me in.
That, and the British Museum was so close by!
I could have hopped the tube, but the walk wasn't far. I did manage to stub my little toe really badly the other day, and walking kind of hurts, but it was better than trying to elbow my way back to the tube station I'd come out of.
The walk was nice. Brief. I only got a little bit lost, and then I pulled out my map and realized I wasn't lost at all.
The British Museum was very nice. Not as in depth as the Victoria Albert, and definitely geared towards a teenage crowd. I found the plaques by the exhibits did not supply as much information as I wanted. The V&A museum tended to supply as much as they could. Country, region, time period, creator, patron, materials, technique, etc. The British Museum tended only to supply a country of origin, maybe creator, and rough year. The V&A was also better organized with their labelling system. In the British Museum, I was often confusing which plaque went with which item.
It was still a good museum, though. No illuminated manuscripts at all, for which I was disappointed, but a lot of viking and early British artifacts. Them chessmen are there, and I got to see them. It made me want to try to make them. Also, the helmet from Sutton Hoo, and the most recent hoard that was dug up (two years ago? The one with all the amazing gold jewelry).
I decided to skip most of the Chinese exhibit. I wasn't feeling up to the jostling, and a bunch of school groups had arrived. Plus, one of the little streets I'd passed was filled with little shops, so I decided to go shopping!
By shopping, I mean I walked around and window shopped for a while, before deciding the neighbourhood I was in was too rich for my budget. I kept walking and walking and walking. Walked around in a circle a couple of times before I realized what the hell I was doing.
Ended up getting lost in Soho. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T GET LOST IN SOHO.
Found an alley filled with peep-shows and prostitutes. It was...an experience.
When I came out the other side I discovered I was in the theatre district! How appropriate!
I had twenty pounds left in my pocket, and nothing to do. And look, all sorts of lovely theatre things! I passed a window selling discount tickets, so I popped in.
“What do you want to see?” she says.
“Oh, I dunno,” says I. “Anything. What's cheap?”
“Well,” she says. “The only thing you'll get at this time tonight--” It was about 7pm. “--is Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; The Musical. You can get a ticket for twenty pounds.”
“Done!” says I.
“Er,” says she. “You have to go to the theatre to buy your ticket. I only sell tickets until six.”
“Oh,” says I.
So off I traipse down the street, and bought a ticket to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, for twenty pounds.
Sitting down to the show, it was a three balconied theatre, a bit shabby around the curtains but still very beautiful. They had little thingies on the backs of the chairs in front of you, that if you inserted 50p, you could use a pair of binoculars for the show. And considering my ticket was only twenty pounds, I needed binoculars.
“Do you have a 50p piece?” I asked the usher.
“No,” says he. “Go out and ask the bartender. He'll have change.”
So I go out to the bar, opened my mouth, and instead said: “Don't I know you from somewhere?”
The bartender nods and says, “Yep. My group was not cool enough to hang out with your group.”
I blink. “Huh?”
He grins. “Red Deer College.”
I remember now! He was one of the first year technicians when I was a second year. I remembered him now. I don't remember excluding him. In fact, I remember little beyond hanging out with Tyne. Two people don't make much of a group. Anyway, we chatted a bit, and I promised to come back at the intermission. (I also got my 50p piece.)
The show was great! The binoculars were a big help for the intimate scenes. There weren't many, because most of the show is just one giant, wonderful drag number. I spent half the time studying their technical elements, though.
Like for times when they had to change really fast between men and women. You can't to the necessary eye make-up fast enough, so they had fitted, naturally coloured half-masks that had the giant eyelashes and glittery eye shadow already done. It was simply a matter of turning away from the audience, slipping the mask over your eyes, popping on a wig, and voila! It was really slick.
The most amazing part of the show (technically speaking, of course) was the bus.
Full sized bus (or close enough), that could spin on a centre point, move front to back AND side to side, all while spinning it's 'wheels' in tandem. One entire side wall of the bus lifted up so we could watch the action inside. The interior was entirely decorated and lit (I'm still not sure if it was battery packs or a cable running down underneath the stage).
And even more amazingly, the entire bus was panelled with video screens!
Yes. I'm not kidding. There's one point in the show they decide to paint their silver bus pink, and I was thinking to myself: How could they do this? Lights? Tear-away fabric? Clip on panels?
Nope! It was all covered in video screens, which you couldn't see until it lit up! Blow my little technician mind. No wonder there was virtually no other scenery. All their budget went towards the bus, and the amazing costumes.
Anyway, my verdict is, if you come to London, go see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It's a really sweet show, with amazing dance numbers.
After the show I met up with Scott and he took me to the theatre bar. You have to be a member, or a guest of the member, in order to get in. I know I'd drink there forever if I lived here. It was great. The walls all covered in head shots of former patrons, design sketches, and old props.
“Do you want to split a jug of pimm's?” asks Scott.
“What's pimm's?” I ask.
“Pimm's!” says the old man near us who fixes me with the kind of cheeky eye that only old men are allowed to get away with. “Make sure you eat all the fruit!” And then he got up and wandered behind the bar, where the bartenders ignored him entirely.
Scott murmurs the old man's name to me, and mentions, “He runs this place.” That would explain why he's cheerfully pouring himself drinks and the bartenders aren't even paying attention.
We get our jug of pimm's and sit at a booth, neatly upholstered with shabby red velvet. These seats have seen a lot of bums.
“So what IS pimm's?” I ask, eyeing the jug. It resembles iced tea, but has lots of chopped fruit floating in it.
“It's a gin drink,” Scott tells me, pouring two glasses. “If you don't like it, you can order a beer or something.”
“You had me at gin,” says I. And truly, it's delicious. We made pretty short work of it.
By then it was about midnight, and I had to head back to the hostel. The tube stops running at about midnight, and sure enough, I caught the last train (thank goodness!).
Today, today I think I will take it a little easier. I keep saying that, and then I don't. But today I will. I'll check back into the hostel, play on the internet a little bit, maybe catch a cheap matinee movie here (though the movie prices are astronomical, so perhaps I won't). Or maybe I'll swing back to the area I was in yesterday, for we passed any number of vintage book stores.
That reminds me! I ended up picking up a book at the British Museum. It was a comprehensive book on runes. It's going to be really helpful, considering I'm sure I'll have to do more viking scrolls. And it'll sure be nice to specialize my runes by time period AND location.
And that is all.
You found scott!!!!
ReplyDeleteI forgot he was over there, as soon as you said you had talked to the bartender a light bulb went off!
Oooo exciting :D