Les Miserables and London

This will be my last post of the Europe trip.

It's my last day before traveling home tomorrow. This trip has shaped and changed me far more than I ever expected of 8 weeks in New York and Europe. London has not been a climax of everything that's passed before, but a gentle transition leading back to home, and for that I've been grateful.

I started my time here meeting up with Tristan, my host, at Victoria Train station. He pointed me in the right direction on the tube and we met up in Whitechapel, the East End of London, right around the corner from his flat. Tristan is a very down-to-earth, easy-to-talk-to kind of guy. I think we'd hang out on a regular basis if we lived anywhere near each other instead of on separate continents. That night was just relaxing, chatting, playing guitar, and going out into the East End to find Indian food, which was really good as you could expect in an immigrant neighborhood. I thought the Bay Area had a lot of people from the Middle East, Pakistan, and India, but it is nothing compared to here. Also, at least at the places I've eaten, food has not been that expensive, especially not compared to the estimates I was given before coming. Kind of nice to save some cash.

The next morning, I awoke, coordinated plans with Tristan, and set out to walk along the Thames and past a plethora of famous sights. I basically stumbled onto the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, which were more impressive than I'd imagined, and seemed straight out of Disneyland, especially Tower Bridge. The Thames, though it holds quite a few impressive landmarks, is quite dirty, as is expected of a major river running through a major city. Along its banks, among a lot of surprising out of place tourist traps, I saw St. Paul's Cathedral, the London Eye, a variety of unidentified but surely important buildings, and then I came around the turn to see Big Ben, Westminster, and the rest of that famous square. I couldn't help but think about Peter Pan where Peter, Wendy, and the rest of the gang fly over all of those buildings.

I eventually made my way past these, St. James Park, and Buckingham Palace to reach Hyde Park Corner where I took a short nap while waiting for my free tour, which was basically walking past everything I'd just seen, but with a guide telling us stories about all of them. There were some fascinating stories, especially about the Germans who got into the Queen's gardens thinking it was Hyde Park (I don't know why they thought Hyde park would have barbed wire and spikes around it) and camped there for three days, the Irishman who snuck into Buckingham Palace to tell the Queen about his ails and the series of events that led to him actually getting into her room and talking to her without security picking up on it, and a much fuller version of the Guy Fox story. Plus we got some great Churchill stories.

The most important part of London, at least for me, hasn't been seeing all the cool stuff inside these buildings, but just being able to associate them now with stories and history. It reminds me of Nephi speaking of how understanding Isaiah meant you needed to understand the geography and culture of the region. We need context.

From the tour, I met up with Tristan and his friend, Rowan, a delightful girl who graduated from the London School of Economics and showed me around the place to appease my curiosity about the institution and potential future studies there. Small campus right in the heart of London. The mentality of the University is to prepare you to contribute to the welfare of the world, which is clearly right up my alley.

Our trio then made its way to a local pub where I engaged in what is apparently a common occurence in London: the pub quiz. This is not a mixed drinks quiz, but a general trivia game which people use as a sort of singles mixer. Tristan and some friends run Single in London, a group which isn't meant to help people date, but just get out and get to know people, and the pub quiz is one of the events they use. Our team came in a respectable second, just a point behind the winner. I contributed quite well to the history and sports questions, which was fortunate because I blanked on the London and Music questions (almost all British music). Lots of fun and great company.

That was the night. The next day I took it easy in the morning and then made the long walk through the financial district to Queens Theatre where Les Miserables plays. I grew up on the music, and knew at least the first half of the story fairly well, but seeing it all linked live on stage, especially hearing the music live, was an impressive and moving experience, and I'll be honest, I cried some. I had to moderate the tears as my allergies have been waging an internal war and I would've looked wretched had I just let go; but watching Jean Val Jean's last moments and the song he sings with Marius, Fontine, and Cosette, who could help but get a little emotional. I don't think there were many dry eyes. It was fantastic, and the themes of the musical are so important and tied together so many of the ideas I've been thinking about during this entire trip: revolution, forgiveness, poverty, and many others. It was beautiful, and easily the best musical I've seen. Wicked fans have nothing on it. Nothing.

I again met up with Tristan and we got cheap but satisfying Chinese food and headed over to Camden, the heart of London's rock scene, and went to the Dublin Castle where we listened to some emerging artists. They were all solid, but didn't blow me away, though the volume of artists going through that place is impressive as they have shows like 5 nights a week and 3-4 artists per show.

I suppose I should do a list of favorites to finish up. I'll save that for when I get back and get clever. For now, adieu and I hope to see you all very soon.