It never ceases to amaze me the opportunities I am getting by being in Cambridge and in this beautiful country. Today I got to live out my dream by traveling to Highclere Castle, the house where Downton Abbey was filmed. The house belongs to the Earl of Carnarvon, and the show is even loosely based around evens that have happened within the families history all the way beck from the 1600s when the family first inhabited the house. As a die-hard Downton Abbey fan myself, it is needless to say I was living my dream as I walked towards the towering house, quietly humming the theme song and trying not to freak out.
But the adventures of this weekend do not merely stop with Highclere. It was quite the busy weekend and I was also able to visit Kensington Palace, see two west end productions, go to Oxford (don't tell the people at Cambridge!), and visit the village of Bampton all on top of hanging around London and exploring the city more. So stay tuned for that!
Friday
Friday was the final day of our Module 1 courses, so I had a wrap up class for my Metaphysics course which I will miss greatly. This upcoming Monday marks the start of my new class Literary London. Anyways, after an early morning lecture, my friend Alex and I hopped a train to London and headed to Kensington Palace. We are both huge fans of Queen Victoria and the show Victoria (can you tell we are British period-piece junkies?) so we walked through the halls with eager excitement knowing of all the rich history and incredible stories housed within the walls of Kensington.
After Kensington, Alex and I saw a very interesting production of Romeo and Juliet where the company complicates the program a bit by having one of the players do the show extremely inebriated, causing the other performers to have to improv around the obvious and some times plot changing blunders of their belligerent cast mate. It was good fun and it was a new take on a production I have read and seen more times than I can count, which was quite refreshing. We headed home after walking around London for a fair bit. I had not seen the city all lit up in full glory at night yet so it was a gorgeous sight for me. The Parliament building was especially enchanting as the lights reflected in the rippling water below, creating almost a glowing effect.
Saturday
Saturday morning began with a wonderful brunch at Parlour with my friend from home, Nathaniel. I had not seen him in almost a year which was wonderful and I loved catching up with him (also highly recommend Parlour's avocado toast, it was incredible). I then headed in to Leicester Square to do every thrifty theatre kid's favorite thing- attempt to find the cheapest tickets possible to a musical I had been dying to see.
Every weekend I have had a free night I have been entering the lottery ticket raffle for Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein (linked is an amazing performance from the show) and, having no luck thus far, I thought I would try to find cheap tickets elsewhere. I found very inexpensive tickets at a half price booth in the square and headed towards the theatre to go see the show! Needless to say I was not disappointed. It was such an enjoyable show and it was the over the top, campy theatre style I love with all my heart. The picture above is me with the star of the show, the incredible Hadley Fraser. It was so cool to exchange words with him after the show and to talk to him about how I am pursuing a career in theatre myself. He was so encouraging and kind, urging me to pursue my dreams and work hard.
Side note: If you are looking for inexpensive West End tickets, the best method I have found is the Today Tix app and website. Not only do they run lotteries and rush ticket programs daily, they also have very relatively affordable tickets you can purchase weeks in advance or the day of the show. Also they send the tickets directly to the box office, so there is no printing or unnecessary stress about getting your tickets! Highly recommend to any theatre goers looking to see shows in London.
Sunday
Sunday my friend Alex and I went on a bus tour that began with a visit to Oxford. The school was beautiful, and it was incredible to see a school that was the propellant for so many great minds, very similar to Cambridge. Our tour guide was actually very excited to find out that Alex and I were studying at Cambridge, announcing it to the entire tour bus and admitting that he did prefer Cambridge to Oxford, but not too loudly as we were still roaming the rainy streets of Oxford.
We then were able to go to the Ashmolean museum for a very rushed, but great visit! I definitely want to go back some day and give the museum the full visit it merits, as well as to see Oxford on a more clear day (the weather was rather dismal, but it didn't put too much of a damper on our day.)
After Oxford we headed to Bampton, the village where Downton Abbey was filmed, and to the 'Abbey' itself, Highclere Castle as I wrote about at the beginning.
All together an incredible weekend before another exciting week of classes!