I didn't go down to Ramsay Hall for breakfast this morning. Instead, I slept a little bit later than usual (not by much) and ate some Pop Tarts. They were magnificent. I just hung around the dorms until around 9:30 this morning then I made my way to the Odeon cinema at Leicester Square. I had to see a movie or go to a play today for class and since I was going to attend the Jack the Ripper Walk this evening, I was left with no choice but to go and watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix first thing this morning.
Let me say, I'm not sure if it was watching it with so few people in such an amazing theater, or the idea that just a week or so ago the cast of the movie itself was in the theater watching it, or just the fact the movie was awesome, but I loved my movie-going experience here. Granted, tickets were 9 pounds which converts roughly to $18 for one movie ticket early in the morning (they can get up to 14 pounds, which is $28). The movie was truly amazing. I'm not going to go into all of the details about the story or anything like that, but I personally believe it was the best Harry Potter movie to-date. The acting was awesome, the scenery and feeling of the movie itself was well done, and the story was superb. It makes me excited to think the final book will be coming out in just a few days.
After the movie I went back to the dorms to pick up some cash and eat a bit of lunch before my afternoon field trip. I had intended on eating at Gregg's, but all of their meat pastries were still baking and I didn't want, nor did I have time, to wait. So, I made my way down the street to a Japanese place called Samurai that two people happened to be eating on the steps of the dorms when I left. They said it was really good and inexpensive, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Wow, am I glad I did. For less than five pounds I got a chicken dish that was amazing and a little spicy (not very hot, but flavorful) as well as some "sticky rice" (steamed rice) and three little plastic fishes that hold soy sauce. The food was fantastic. It was also cheap enough that I had enough money to stop by Gregg's on the way back and pick up a Belgium Bun. It reminded me of a cinnamon roll (except with raisins) with a thick frosting and a cherry on top. It was good, though I've had better sweets here.
Virlinda stopped by and showed me some photographs of her trips to Barcelona, Spain and Paris. The folks that went to Paris last weekend had a great time and it sounds like they couldn't have gone a better weekend. It was Bastille Day, so they got to watch the spectacular fireworks show at the Eiffel Tower. Anyhow, once 3:00 p.m. came by it was time to go to CNN London for our tour.
Our tour guide, an American named Wayne (who was from Columbus, Ohio) was excellent. He's a producer at CNN London and quite a funny and entertaining guy. He provided us a lot of good information about their operation and made it all very interesting. He then showed us around and we got to see a bit of the inner-workings. London is the largest CNN hub outside of Atlanta. So I suppose now I have seen both of CNN's major operating centers. It was a fun field trip and we learned a lot.
After the field trip, I went back to the dorms and had a light supper. I was still full from lunch; it was that good of a meal. Once supper was over with I took the train down to Tower Hill to wait on the start of the Jack the Ripper Walk. I was confused a little bit on the train situation, so I ended up walking a fair bit, but it wasn't too bad. There was a large amount of people on our tour, which luckily broke up into two groups. The guide, a man named Adam, was very informative and very entertaining. He did a great job of explaining the conditions of the East End of London at the time as well as the social and economic factors that would have led to the rampant prostitution and given way to a criminal like Jack the Ripper. Going to the sights of the murders, although few, if any, actually remain how they once looked, I felt was quite macabre. It just seems to me quite disgusting, I suppose that is a good word, to be touring the locations of such brutal murders. We paid 5 pounds to go and see where 5 women were horrendously killed. It doesn't seem right in my mind.
Yet at the same time I suppose that's a part of our culture, isn't it? People love to study Gettysburg, where over 100,000 men (I believe it was) lost their lives. True-crime books and movies are always big sellers. Of course, shows like CSI get huge ratings. It just seems like an odd thing to endorse or glorify with our patronage. I write all of this, of course, having enjoyed learning about the murders and learning why and how someone like Jack the Ripper was able to get away with the things he did. It gave me an entirely different perspective on the whole situation of London's East End during the time.
I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do tomorrow. I know I'll have to pack for my trip to Taunton and get some laundry done. I may go to the Victoria and Albert Museum tomorrow afternoon, but I'm not quite sure. Someone said today that we have nine days left here in London. It's amazing how fast time goes by.
Photos of today's trips around London can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8494714@N03/
