"To be, or not to be: that is the question"

Good morrow dear friends!

I hope thou art merry!

Yeah right ok, I thought I'd write the whole article in Shakespeare English, but that's not gonna work is it... All this to say that yesterday, Tatjana and myself went to London to see Hamlet at the Globe Theatre!

But before the play, we had lunch at OSatsuma, a Japanese restaurant in Soho. I had been there before, with my two friends, in February. The food is SO nice and not too expensive!

Then it was time to go to the Globe. We didn't have to queue, nothing, and we found a good spot, in the shade!

The play started at two o'clock and lasted for about 2h30, with a short break. I really enjoyed it, even though I didn't understand quite everything. Good thing I knew the story beforehand really, otherwise, I'd have been completely lost! It was really funny at times and very entertaining. Standing for almost three hours was not that comfortable, but I really wanted to have a standing spot. First of all, it was really, really cheap, and second of all, I think it's much more fun! And it was! Especially since the weather and temperature were PERFECT!!!

To finish with, here is a picture of the actor who played Hamlet:

Farewell now!

=)

STOMP in London

Yesterday, I went to London to see the show STOMP. That was my birthday present from myself to myself mwa ha ha! And that was a really good present!

It's a percussion show and it has no words! So I didn't even have to concentrate to understand the songs' lyrics, as they were no songs hehe! The troupe use brooms, bins, big tyres, match boxes, even sinks (!!!) to create rhythm. I like percussion and I love it when people just bang on what they can find around them. It's really cool!

And it was really funny too! There was the popular guy and the not so popular guy and they were so funny!! Everyone was playing around and with each other: the show was not just about the banging!

Also, they made the audience participate a lot, and I liked that. We had to clap our hands and snap our fingers to join in the fun!

Here are some pictures! (I didn't take those, as it was forbidden, but I found them on google image)

My Friends Visit Me!

Good evening people!

Last Friday, two of my friends came here in England. I met them on Saturday though, in Cambridge. We spent a really nice couple of days! It was their first time ever in England, so I think they were very excited! =D I was too of course. It's nice to share things and places you like with your friends! So here is an article about a crazy visit!!

On Saturday morning, I took the bus to Cambridge and oh miracle! it was on time. I even had to wait for my friends, who themselves were late. Well at least that gave me time to have a quick wee mwa ha ha. We went all crazy and hysterical for a while and then started what was planned: visiting the lovely town of Cambridge!

We had a look at a couple of Colleges and churches. We went inside the St. John's College, which is my personal favourite and visited the King's College Chapel which is rather impressive. We even went punting! That's always fun. The weather was not so good though, and the guide was er... peculiar. He lisped and had a strange accent, which made him really hard to understand.

For lunch, we had a Cornish pasty. Yum. I love those. Gwendoline and I had a traditional pasty and Aline ordered a salmon pasty (yum as well). And at tea time, we went to Auntie's Tea Room to savour a luscious cream tea. I hadn't had one in a while (crocodile) and I really enjoyed it!

We also did a little shopping, as Cambridge has many nice shops! I believe my friends liked Cambridge! I at least enjoyed showing them around!


Gwendoline and me messing around in telephone boxes


Aline and Gwendoline, posing before the Bridge of Sighs


In front of the famous King's College Chapel


It was, as you can maybe see, *quite* windy this weekend!!


Delicious Cornish pasty!


Mmmmh cream tea =P

On Saturday night, we went to this night club, called De Niro's. It's in Newmarket and it's the biggest night club in Norfolk. Well, it was not bad but I have to say I was a bit disappointed... First of all, it was big all right, but I expected much, much bigger. The website is misleading.

When we got there, it was about 22:00-22:30 and it was almost empty. People had only started arriving. We had a drink and enjoyed the show: girls dressed (or not) like prostitutes. Killer heels, super short dresses and shorts and plunging necklines. Some of them were quite disgusting. Some of them were ridiculous, as they could barely walk. We had a good laugh! And we also felt like nuns, with our jeans and trainers! We must have been the only girls wearing trousers and flat shoes....

We danced for a while, then had another drink. The same songs were played over and over so it was a bit boring. At around 1-1:30am, they changed the DJ and the music got so loud that we sheltered in the toilets for a while and then decided it was time to leave! It was horrible. I had ringing in my ears and that was not pleasant!

But we still had a good time. We were together, so that was what mattered!!



On Sunday, we brunched at Chatterbox, a nice and new café in Soham. We had a full English Breakfast, consisting of: two slices of bacon, a sausage (which none of us liked, yuk), one scrambled egg, beans with tomato sauce, two slices of fresh tomato, some mushrooms, some crunchy hash browns and toasts. I got orange juice with mine but Gwendoline and Aline had some English breakfast tea with theirs. It was really nice. I enjoyed every bite of it. Apart from the sausage which was really.... weird.


After that filling breakfast, we took a cab to Ely! Yeah, no buses on Sundays! How inconvenient, to say the least... We first walked along the river. The weather was ok! Then we went to town and had a quick look around, before going inside the cathedral. It's free on Sunday. Aline took some pictures too, which is good, because I didn't have any!!






In the evening, we went to the Indian restaurant in Soham. It's a buffet on Sundays and you can eat how much you want for only £6.95. I really liked it and ate faaaar too much. The nan bread was not so nice though and the food was not hot enough. But totally worth the price in my opinion!! Yummm =P


On Monday, Aline and Gwendoline went to Norwich. I couldn't go with them cause I had to go to school! So I won't talk about Monday. I think they enjoyed Norwich and they bought some mustard there!

Tuesday was a crazy day. We headed off to London. We took the train at about 9am and arrived in Piccadilly Circus at about 11am. That's where our bus tour started. We had booked tickets for London's Original Bus Tour two days before, as we thought it would be the best way to make the most of our only day in London.

And it was indeed! We saw almost everything: Trafalgar Square, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament (which my friends loved hehehe how could they not have?), Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Tate Gallery, Shakespeare's Globe, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge and Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, Covent Garden, Harrods, Soho... And on Wednesday, before going to the airport, my friends visited the British Museum, the Natural History museum and they walked around Camden Town. So in only two days, they pretty much did what normal and sane people do in one WEEK. The weather was the icing on the cake. Glorious, glorious weather. The sky was blue and it was not too cold. Besides, seeing Big Ben glittering in the sun is some sight! <3 I think they loved London. I was hoping they would. London is dear to my heart and I was eager to share my love for the city with my friends =D





Before dinner, we had a pint in a pub in Covent Garden. Gwendoline and Aline had half a pint of beer and I had half a pint of cider, as I utterly hate beer. I wish I didn't, but the fact is, I do.


And for dinner, my friends invited me to a Japanese restaurant in Soho, called Satsuma. We wanted sushi. And we had sushi and other things as well. It was truly delicious! I had two maki, two California rolls and two other kinds of sushi (can't remember their name), fried veg and prawns, breaded sweet potatoes (that was lovely), tasty noodles, some salad and a nice and salted soup. I hope to eat there again. I really enjoyed it, and my friends did too!


We were shattered when we came back. We went to bed at around midnight. It was a wonderful yet exhausting day!! But totally worth it!

And that was the last day! My friends left on Wednesday morning. I had a lovely time with them, and did my best in order to make their stay a pleasant one. I hope I succeeded!

=D

A Night at the Airport

Dear readers,

I wish I was writing this article sitting on my bed, surrounded by my cats and hearing my parents and brother going about their business in my home.

But no. I'm sitting on the couch watching TV, alone in my English home. I was supposed to fly back to Basel yesterday evening, but my flight got cancelled because of the freakin' snow... Let me tell you all about my nightmarish couple of days.

I left Soham at about 8 o'clock on Monday morning. Took the bus to Ely's train station. I had to take the train to London Kings Cross. The train was half an hour late, but that was to be expected. Then I arrived at Kings Cross and looked for the train to Gatwick but couldn't find it. So I asked one of the security guys and he told me that all the trains to Gatwick were cancelled and that I had to go to Victoria Station. So I had to take the tube to Victoria. I was carrying two suitcases so it was not a walkover, trust me!

Then I arrived at the airport and waited to check-in. I checked in, passed the hand luggage checking and waited for my gate to open. It was supposed to open at 17:05. At 17:05, it said it was delayed to 18:50. I wasn't surprised though. A one-hour delay is nothing, right? Then the gate opened, so I walked to gate 109, feeling really happy that my flight hadn't been cancelled after all. There was a big queue at the gate, so I joined it. After a while, the loudspeaker announced the boarding would begin "shortly". Never trust someone who says something will happen "shortly". I should have known. A couple of minutes later, they announced that a person needed special attendance and that they were waiting for an ambulance or some vehicle. But of course, it was stuck in a traffic jam and was late.

That's when it started snowing. And that's when I thought "fuck, fuck, fuck". At around 8pm, it came: "we have just been informed that the runway has now been closed due to the snow". God. They said we'd have some other information at 10pm. Great. But only a couple of minutes later did we learn that our flight was cancelled. And all the other flights.

We were told we had to go back to the departure lounge and get our luggage back. It was chaos. Like, the whole airport needed their luggage back. And of course, we couldn't get through to the baggage claim area alone. We needed to be escorted. But before we could go, the people who hadn't checked in any luggage and had bought duty free stuff had to return those items to the shops. I still don't understand why only those who hadn't checked in a luggage had to return their stuff... Anyway. It was funny because when they made that announcement, everybody laughed. It was quite comical! I had to laugh too. Better laugh than cry, right?


After what seemed like ages, we were eventually escorted to the baggage claim area. We had to wait for a little while and then we got our luggage back. Phew. That was out of the way.

In fact, I didn't tell you about the girl I met at the airport. I started talking with her back when we were queueing to board the plane. And we discovered we only live 10 minutes away from each other in Switzerland. That was a really really really lucky encounter. If I hadn't been with her, I would have panicked like hell!

So. Where was I. Yeah. Then we started looking for some computers so we could try and book another flight. I got there, logged in my mum's account (she had booked my flight, see?) and was "lucky" enough to transfer my flight to the 24th of December, from London Luton to Geneva. My new friend wasn't as lucky, since she couldn't access her dad's account as the latter was fast asleep and wouldn't answer her calls. She could only access the account today and, unfortunately, only got another flight on the 26th of December.

Then what did we do? Well, it was obviously too late to take the train back to Soham! All the hotels were full. So we spent the night at the airport. Not the best night of my life... I barely slept. Maybe for ten or fifteen minutes at the most... We left the airport at around 7am. I went to Victoria, then took the tube again (gosh, I hate that tube) to Kings Cross. Where we were told to go to Liverpool Street station if we had to go to Cambridge. Bummer. I took the tube once again and was finally able to take a train to Cambridge. Took one hour and a half to get there, then 30 minutes to get to Ely. But that was not the end of my woes. As the bus to Soham was 45 minutes late. I was literally freezing. When I eventually stepped through the door, at a quarter past twelve (do the maths), I just cried my eyes out for at least 15 minutes. It was a mixture of relief, pain, frustration and sadness. Release of pressure.



I had lunch and then went straight to bed and had some sleep. Now I'm still really tired and my whole body aches like hell. I'm still sad of course and I really hope my plane will take off on Friday. If not, I might have a nervous breakdown... But at least I have somewhere to stay until Friday, unlike some people who've been sleeping at the airport for days now, waiting and hoping to hop on a plane!

"Chicago" and London Lights

Hello people!!

Last week end, I went to London. Yeah. Again. Before leaving for England, I told my mum I'd probably go to London once a month and it's exactly what I've been doing! And as my brother is coming in January (yay!), we'll probably go to London together, so I might go on with my "Londony" routine!

Anyway. I had a really good reason to take the train to the capital city this month; I went to the theatre to see Chicago, the musical! I've always loved musicals and really wanted to see one before Christmas. So I booked a ticket on the Internet. Easy peasy!

I took the train in the morning, because I had a couple of things to buy. Obviously, I spent far too much money, like always. But God it feels good to empty one's wallet! I went to Oxford Street and it was surprisingly quiet. After that, I walked to Covent Garden and had lunch there. Covent Garden is an amazing place if you have some money to spend, really. And I really love the covered market too, it's really nice! There was a huge reindeer made of bushes at the entrance of the market (it was Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer actually!) . That was pretty impressive! Here is a picture:


After a bit of wandering around, it was eventually time to head to the theatre. I collected my pre-booked ticket at the box office and bought the soundtrack CD (I always buy the CD!). Then I just had to wait. I had quite a good spot in fact. That surprised me, because I had bought the cheapest ticket, and there weren't many left!

Then it started. The set was really simple; the band was on stage (they're not usually), on a platform, and stayed there for the whole show. And apart from two moveable ladders, there was nothing else. The actors wore the same costume throughout the whole thing. But it was still really good! Everything was in black and white and I felt like I was in a black and white film from the 30s or something! It was really funny at times and I'm happy to say that I understood almost everything! The dancing was fabulous. All the moves were sexy, sensual and very subtle. I have to admit that the boys' bodies added to the fabulousness mwa ha ha. No but seriously, the whole cast is H-O-T. It's part of the story I guess?

So to conclude, I really enjoyed Chicago. My favourite musical remains Billy Elliot though. I don't know if any other musical will ever top that. One of the teachers in Ely recommended Jersey Boys, another musical. So I might want to see that next year! And in the Spring, I'll maybe treat myself with Mamma Mia! A fresh and feel-good show!















When I came out after the show, it was dark and all the Christmas lights were lit up. It was beautiful! I saw a shiny bush reindeer and some presents and umbrellas in Oxford Street. I also heard the mini carol concert that was being held before the massive Christmas tree of Trafalgar Square. There were dozens of Santas there, drinking and dancing. My mum told me they had paraded to Trafalgar Square; it was a Santa flash mob! Mwa ha ha!

To finish this article, here are some pictures of the Christmas lights and decorations!

Poppy Day (Remembrance Day) and London

In November, the British celebrate Bonfire night, but November is also a time of remembrance. What do they remember? They remember all the British soldiers who died at war, specifically since the First World War. "Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918" (Wikipedia). But you can see people wearing a poppy on their jacket for weeks! The red poppy is the emblem of Remembrance Day because of the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae. Those poppies bloomed in battlefields in Flanders during World War I. The poppies also represent the blood that was and is still spilt at war.

Anyway, now you know a bit about Poppy Day. And now I can move on to the exciting part; I saw Princes Charles of Wales in London yesterday (13th of November). I just went to London to do a bit of Christmas shopping and to soak up the busy and swarming atmosphere of the City. At around 11am, while I was walking down Downing Street, heading towards my Parliament, I saw that something was going on. Some barriers were up and the police was there, arranging some flower wreaths and talking in their walkie-talkies. So I stopped and asked one of the policemen what was happening and he said that there would be a Service of Remembrance at around noon (it's actually called the War Widows annual Service of Remembrance). So I decided I would come back later to see that! I went to my Parliament and was awed by it, as always. I stared at it for a bit and then headed back to Downing Street.

And waited....

After a (long) while, a fanfare in kilt arrived, playing the bagpipe. That was funny haha. And then, Prince Charles arrived. Although, I wasn't sure it was him then. After that, a man talked for a while, and said some prayers. I moved so I could see better and suddenly, a woman next to me said "Look! Prince Charles is putting the wreath on the pillar!". That's when I knew it was him. And even though I was quite far away, I could recognise him: tall, big ears haha. Then, he just left in a private car and that was it! I left the crowd, with a stupid smile on my face, thinking "Jeez, I've just seen Prince Charles!!" and texting my mum and host mum about it haha!

Here are some pictures to prove that I DID see Prince Charles of Wales:



And as my pictures' quality is crap (sorry about that, I only had my iPod...), here is a decent pic I found on the Internet:


And to finish with, here is a video I took of the fanfare ^^ And I think (though am not sure) that you can see Prince Charles at the very end of the video!

Enjoy! =)