Nearly six weeks down… And it’s been a busy past couple of days. So what have I been up to since the last time I wrote? On Monday evening, I went to the Prince Charles Cinema, one of the independent theaters in London, located in Leicester Square. I went to the showing of the film “The Room” which included a Q&A session with the director/star as well as one of the actor’s from the film. As I mentioned earlier, “The Room” is one of those movies that’s so bad, it’s good. I had never been to an independent theater such as the Prince Charles Cinema before. The cinema frequently plays older, cult movies such as “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and fan favorites such as “Fargo” and “Grease”.
With Greg Sestero (left) and Tommy Wiseau (right).
On Tuesday evening, the group attended the Southampton VS West Ham United football match, which was a blast. After watching a few soccer games on television back in the United States, I thought I had seen it all. However, being in the stadium (West Ham’s in Upton Park) surrounded by fans who feel that their territory is being encroached on by the visiting Southampton is a whole new beast. The game itself was very fast paced and only kept picking up momentum as the fans as they launch into chants so vulgar I can’t even begin to reproduce them here. Definitely an experience in British Life & Culture.
On Wednesday, the group took the train out to Rochester where we spent half a day. Located in Kent, Rochester was the setting of many Charles Dickens books. We visited Rochester Castle, Rochester Cathedral, as well as The Six Poor Travelers House – The inspiration for Dickens’ “The Seven Poor Travelers”. Rochester was very beautiful and we very fortunate to have much better weather than our previous Wednesday trips.
Inside The Six Poor Travelers House
Inside Rochester Cathedral
Inside Rochester Cathedral
On Thursday, I went up to Belsize Park where I joined Archie and Pat for dinner at their beautiful flat. All of my flatmates left for their respective spring break trips on Friday morning, so I’ve got the flat to myself until I leave for Scotland on Monday evening. On Friday night, I was at the Electric Brixton for the Alvin Risk/Skrillex/Zane Lowe after party, which was a lot of fun. I’ve never been to a show where the crowd is unresponsive and generally uninterested in the show happening right in front of them until last night’s show. I’m heading to the O2 Academy in Brixton tonight for the actual show, so I hope it will be a better atmosphere. I’m leaving for Inverness on Monday night, and I’ll be there until Thursday morning, when I’ll head down to Edinburgh until Saturday. I’ll be sure to take some photos and have plenty to write about.
We listen to the radio. It's better than the stereo. 