West End Live

West End Live is an opportunity for people who can't afford to buy Musical tickets or maybe just don't have the time to see one to still get a taste of it. Or maybe you are just not sure what you want to see.

At WEL several Musicals perform up to three acts from their show on a stage at Trafalgar Square. This year it included old plays like Les Miserable, The Phandom of the Opera and Lion King as well as rather new ones like Aladdin.

Funnily enough I saw two songs from Wicked before going to see Wicked that afternoon. So even though I was in the very top circle at the far back I had a closer look at the actors earlier that day.

There isn't much to say except that you should really go and see it. Everyone is very talented and the atmosphere is awesome. I'm really happy to know about it.

A Day in.... Oxford

What do you do when it gets hotter than 15 degrees in the UK?
You pull out your hotpants and don't go inside before sunset, cause who knows how long it will last!

Our original plan was to go to Brighton, but we changed that to Oxford a few days beforehand. To get the most out of our day, we met at Paddington Station to catch our 9:35am train that would take us to the famous university city. All of us have been to Oxford before as far as I know, so we were more or less relaxed without the pressure to see everything there is.

Our first stop was Sainsbury's. Yes, we are all human and need food.

The first real destination is one Harry Potter fans might be interested in. The Bodleian Library is one of the oldest lecture halls in Oxford and the place where the hospital wing scenes as well as the hilarious dance lesson in the fourth movie were filmed. It's only 1 pound and is empty except for a few benches and spider webs. You could also book a tour through the library where, you guessed it, the library scenes were filmed, it's a bit more expensive (8 pounds) and you need a guide to access it.

When you step out of the building you see the Radcliffe Camera which is only accessible to students. You may know it from TV, it's a popular screenshot of Oxford. Next to it is a cute little cafe that I've never been in but is supposed to be good.

Since we already had our lunch we went straight to the Botanic Garden that's basically just around the corner. It's 3,5 for students if you are interested, just look out for aggressive ducks that will steal your cookies! Unbelievable...

On a serious note though, just like most Botanic Gardens this one is really nice to look at. It's a good thing it was sunny and we were able to sit down for a while, nobody likes soggy mud. You can even sit down next to Cherwell, a river that leads to the Thames. There is nothing like laughing at tourists who make fools out of themselves while trying to not crash against one another. And once you are sick of looking at flowers, you can leave and cross the street and rent a boat yourself.

First we went to Christ Church College though. This place is yet another place where scenes from Harry Potter were filmed, like the arrival of Harry in his first year, when he meets Draco for the second time. The dining hall was a direct inspiration for the Great Hall. And a few scenes were filmed outside in the garden. 

The place has other things to offer, too. A Cathedral with impressive windows and history. The architecture seems typical for Oxford and is definitely worth a second glance. A lot of famous people went to school here, including several British Ministers, philosophers like John Locke, Albert Einstein for a Research Studentship and the author of 'Alice in Wonderland' Lewis Carroll.

And like I already mentioned, a great idea for Oxford as well as Cambridge is a boat tour. Now, if you want to save some money, you can decide to try and operate it yourself. The original plan was for the four of us to change through, but in the end I was basically the only one really doing anything. Guess I'm a bit of a control freak, but it's not like the others were too eager to do it. The only downside is that my back hurt like a bitch the next two days, even worse than my arms for some reason. Worth it though!

The day pretty much ended with ice cream for me and my efforts and a quick snack dinner on the train back home. We were all exhausted, me more so than the others obviously, because of the heat and the walking around, so we went straight home once we got to Paddington. Thanks for the great day!

A Day in... Leeds

Day 1

One thing you get used to as an au pair in England, especially with kids that go to a private school, is that they have a lot of school breaks. Since the kids have two to three weeks of holiday again, two friends and I decided to go on a little trip around the North of England. Well, they pretty much planned it and I was too chicken to admit I had the week off, too, until almost a month later. Ups...

Anyway, the first stop on our tour was Leeds. The bus trip was almost 4,5h long that I spent reading Game of Thrones, maybe one day I'll even finish it. Once we arrived we still had a few hours until the check-in which we spent sitting in a park eating lunch. The weather was nice for a change and we knew it wouldn't last for long - another thing you learn quickly here. When we gathered our luggage to find our hostel we didn't know we were on our way to hell.

The place we were supposed to stay at is called Russell Scott Backpackers, is outside the city centre and privately owned. We joked around that the picture on the internet looks like a small, old lady will open the door and fuss around. Instead we had to call the reception to even get into the building in the first place. While waiting there we also figured out that I booked the next bus at the wrong time which means I had to cancel and rebook. The woman that came to open the door for us let me use her PC and then we were off on our way our rooms.
We lived in another building down the street. Not only were we not able to lok the front door or the door to the first room we were let into but the whole place was dirty and unsave - the fire alarms were not activated, anybody could have walked into the house and our room, the floor was loose in some places and the whole thing smelled like nobody opened the windows in ten years.
We were brought to a new room which had a double bed on the first floor. My room didn't have a key, so I decided to go into a 4-bed room were another girl was in apparently. We wanted to meet up with an ex-au pair so we left our things behind and left.

Since we still had an hour we went into the Leeds City Museum at the Millenium Square which has a nice exhibition about the LGBT+ community and past in the city as well as a short overview of the history. When we meet our friend in front of the building we decided to get a drink since the three of us really needed it at this point. SHe showed us a little pub in a side street with cheap drink and nice looking locals and we catched up on how we were and what we did. After that we went to another bar that was more 'public' and then went for a burger at Five Guys. It's weird to see how laid back the city is after living in the rather hectic London and looking after kids most of the time. All of us were exhausted and it was obvious we just wanted to sleep, so we said goodbye and left rather quickly.

However, going back to our hostel wasn't exactly relaxing. A guy that lived in our house as well was turning weirder and made us more uncomfortable with every minute we talked to him to the point were I actually took a knife with me upstairs cause I wasn't sure he wouldn't be dangerous - he made enough jokes about it anyway.
Needless to say I didn't get a good night's sleep.

Day 2

After an aweful night and a unsatisfying breakfast my friends and I packed our bags and left for the reception to give back the key.... and complain about the state of the building. We had to wait a few minutes for the owner to come to the house, but once she did and we told her evrything that was wrong, including the meeting with the gay and how unsafe we felt, we managed to get a refund. In better spirits, we took our luggage into the city only to find out we had to carry them with us because the lockers were way too expensive.

We spent most of the day strolling through shops (where I actually found two jackets I could use for my Harley Quinn cosplay for comic con next month - yeah!), avery cool modern shopping centre and getting something to eat. We walked through the Corn Exchange and Kirkgate Market but we weren't able to find something we all wanted.

In the end we went to a place called "Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen" that was recommanded to us by our friend and where they sell cheap but amazing pizza (first two pieces half-price!) and that had a hipster vibe going on. Apparently they do music and movie events, too, you should really check it out! I think I could spent our there.

Anyway, the only museum we were really interested in was across the river so we headed that way. The Royal Armouries Museum is big and more interesting than you would think when you hear the name. They even had lockers were we could leave our bags for a little while. We came just in time

for a little tour by a guy in costume who explained different weapons and how they were used at the time. Great thing, the only problem is that is closes at 5pm already. Later we went straight to the coach station to wait for our bus to Manchester without having to carry all of our bags around again. It hurts your back after a while.

All in all, the hostel and the bus dilemma put a strain on the whole Leeds-experience, but thanks to our friend Megan (it was nice seeming you again!) it wasn' totally aweful. I think the laid-back mentality and the little bars and secrets in every corner actually put it pretty high on my list of 'possible semester abroad places'. If you are more of a tide-up person you won't find it very endearing, but for me it sends a don't-give-a-fuck vibe that's very appealing when you are used to stress about everything.

Windsor Castle

Most people know Windsor Castle because it's the resistance of the Queen for, according to the audio guide, most weekends. It's actually rather easy to get to Windsor. There is a train from Waterloo passing Clapham Junction as well that goes straight to a lovely little train station from where you can see the castle when you look left.

Just a walk up the hill brings you to the entrance. It's 18 pounds for students – my run-out student card from school still works since no one really takes a closer look once they see it's German. If you get a signature in the end you can come back for free for a whole year though, so it's definitely worth it if you don't have enough time or want to see a section that not open all year long. And the prize includes audio guides!

The castle is hugh, just to warn you. At the end it's actually hard to pay attention or care about whose portrait it is or how old the china is. You can see the guard change if you arrive on time (and only on Sundays I think), visit the state appartments, Queen Mary's Dolls' House which is probably worth more than my future university education as well as the St. George's Chapel unless it's a Sunday. There is also a little part where you can learn more about Shakespeare and why Windsor is an important place for the historic play writer.

It's really nice, especially the garden you can see around the Round Tower, including a little waterfall, don't cease to amaze. Just watch out for Guards shouting when you get in there way as we had to find out ourselves.

Luckily the grounds are so big that you don't feel cornered. And if you are lucky and the sun is out, you can get some really good looking photos.

After a few hours we left and went to get lunch at the Nando's across the street. The Guy taking my order was red-haired and called Harry, I don't even wanna know how many jokes he has to endure. Also, who the hell manages to eat an entire chicken, I only had 1/4 with hot sauce, spicy rice and sweetcorn and I was full.

The rest of the afternoon we spent making our way through the shopping street and having a little walk along the Thames. We would have probably spent more time there, but it was getting cloudy and we could feel the first raindrops falling. I'm sure it would have been lovely if the sun had shone though, it all looked very peaceful.

The train ride back was rather uneventful apart from my very first ticket inspection in the UK so far. So there are actually keeping track of illegal passengers.

Musicals: Kinky Boots

(pic: thetimes.co.uk)

Kinky Boots. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Kinky Boots is a fairly new musical in London that three friends of mine and I decided to see last Saturday. With daytickets at only 25 pound it wasn't even too expensive (like some others).
Basically, the story is all about Charlie Price inheriting a bankrott shoe factory from his dad that he will probably have to close down. His plans to go to London with his fiance are destroyed as he has to try to save his fathers work. Then he meets Lola, a drag queen who complains about her shoes and how badly made they are. Charlie decides to start making 'kinky boots' for drag queens and manages to convince Lola to be the designer. They work together to overcome different obstacles like money shortage, prejudices and even a bit of love drama.

It's a wonderful show, I especially loved the singing and the costumes. The sassy and funny conversations made everyone laugh multiple times. I can really recommand it to anyone who wants to see something extraordinary.

A Day in.... Dublin

Dublin. The capital of the Republic of Ireland.

A beautiful city, even when you are ill and don't feel like doing much more than lie down and sleep for about 50 years.

Sadly, it takes a 12 hours bus drive to get there from London. It only gets worse when there are four guys right next to you who can't seem to shut the fuck up. The whole trip also includes an about 3 hours long trip on the ferry, which is nice cause you are able to sleep. And if you are bored, there is a mini cinema waiting for you.

Day 1

Anyway, after arriving at 6am on Tuesday during the half-term holidays at the coach station right around the corner of our hostel Jacob's Inn, we made our way there to check-in or at least lock away our bags. By the way, in my case that meant a rucksack and a bag. That was all I needed. Minimal package is the best.

They actually allowed us to shower in the 'public' showers (meaning they are for a whole floor and not just a single room) and have breakfast for free. The lockers, which are really big, were free, too. That was already a huge bonus since we were really tired. I only got about 2,5h of sleep on the ferry! After spending maybe three hours in the louge we decided to explore the city north of the river. To be more specific, the botanic garden. We had to walk quiet a bit, but it was totally worth it. Th garden is beautiful, even in the winter, and really warm which was one of the reasons we spent so much time there. We just didn't want to go outside again.

The garden is devided in several houses which are dedicated to different continents. Little signs explain everything you need to know. Very lovely, I wish I could see it when everything is blooming.When we came back we pretty much just walked through the shopping streets for a bit to get a sense of what we wanted to do the next few days.

The only two things we did after that was go back to the hostel to unpack our stuff in our room (10 bed room mixed) and then go for a Guinness at the famous Temple Bar. It was great, a lot of people and a very good singer. And to be honest, Guinness isn't half bad. I'm not a beer fan (even though I'm from Bavaria...) but the dark beverage didn't want to make me throw up as much as others.

The great thing about the hostel: there were two other Germans, medicine students who came here for holiday. A nice couple, sadly we didn't exchange numbers or social media names.

Day 2

Our first full day started with a nice breakfast (toast and cereals) and a trip to Trinity College. A nice place to walk around as long as it's not too cold – which it was. So we flet into the old library which includes an exhibition about the Book of Kells. It was 10€ and for the both of us the exhibition was a bit too boring, but that always depends on what you like. After that, the trip to the science museum on campus took longer than expected. The exhibits are partly interactive and play with your mind. Three installments, which were made by an artist who is afraid to lose his hands in an accident or because of illness due to age, made it clear to us just how difficult it can be to do easy everyday tasks like opening a jar when you can't properly use your hands. Another experiment shows why waterboarding as an interogation technique doesn't work since your memory suffers due to stress caused by imitating drowning. And that was in a safe environment with our previous consent!

A hugh part of the day was over already at this point, so we went to the Nation History Museum for an hour, only after walking around the university again by accident, and then back to the hostel. The last place we went to was the cinema to see Deadpool, which is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Seriously, I normally never go into a movie twice, but Deadpool would be an exception. If someone asked me, I would say yes in an instance. It's sassy and witty, fast-paced and breaks the fourth wall several times – just like in th comics. And it's th only superhero movie I can think of that has a lot of swearing in it and therefore doesn't pass a PG13 rating – sorry kids.

Day 3

Our last day. Sadly.

We were allowed to keep our bags in the locker and went out for our last tour. First we visited the Dublin Castle and booked a tour as well. That way you can see more areas and get some background knowleadge along the way. I was really ill by that time which makes it a bit of a problem to walk around in the cold as well as the rather wet underground areas, but there is nothing you can do about that. The tour guide was nice and it didn't take more than 45 minutes as far as I remember to finish.

Slowly, we made our way to the prison Kilmainham Gaol only to find out that there was a hugh queue and that the next tour wouldn't be for another two hours so we ditched that plan and went to the nearby Phoenix Park and the Wellington Monument instead. The weather was still crisp so we sat down and enjoyed the silence and the view before heading back, which seemed to take ages. On our way back we went to the main shopping street for a bit to buy postcards and because I had to return something to Penny's, which is the exactly the same as Primark but named differently. Sadly, there it happened.

I got robbed.

Not my wallet, and I have to say it is partly my fault. I went from the cashier to the cash & wrapping department to customer service only to have to change till because the first one was broken. At that point I was just exhausted, irritated and hungry so when I finally got my money back, I left my shopping back behind.

In there was my dark green Dublin sweater, presents and an already filled our and stamped postcard. I noticed an hour later and went back only to find out that the woman behind me picked it up and left with it. Great.

Because why give it to the nice lady at the customer service you are already standing at anyway, am I right? Why be a decent human being when you can steal tourist stuff from an ill teenage girl? At first I was angry and sad, but by now I'm mostly disappointed.

When our coach came two hours later, I had mostly come to terms with the fact that I'll never see my stuff again. I hope the woman that took it sees my postcard and feels guilty and ashamed. I don't care what your reason was, I just hope you will remember it every time you wear my sweater and feel bad about it.

That night, I didn't sleep at all – not even because of my stolen stuff, but because it was too early on the ferry to sleep there and I can't sleep on buses. So instead, I saw Star Wars in a miniature private cinema on the ship and listened to music on the bus. Just like Deadpool, this is a movie that's just as great as everyone says. The effects were great (and the rocking of the ship during the flight scenes was an unexpected bonus), the story is close to the original movies but with not too many parallels in much else and the characters are interesting. And don't even get me started on the fact that the three main characters are a girl, a black ex-Stormtrooper and a Hispanic pilot.

A wonderful holiday in a beautiful city. I am really happy I went there and would recommand it to anyone who has a few days off.

Hindu Temple

Did you know that the biggest Hindu Temple outside Asia is located in London?

Yeah, me neither.

So when a friend of mine asked if we wanted to go there I was actually really surprised. Good thing I didn't have anything planned. With only three busses and a bit of waiting we made our way to Shri Swaminarayan Mandir.

First thing you had to do was leave your bag outside the whole area and once you enter the building, you also had to get rid of your shoes. The entrance hall is very high, with beautiful wooden walls and carpets. Once you go to to through the left door you have the choice between a Hindu museum, which explains the origins and most important aspects of the religion as well as the temple itself, and the small praying hall. 

(pic from londonpass.com)

We went to the praying hall first, which is made of a very bright stone (marble as far as I remember) that is carved into small lovely details. Panels all around the room explain the importance of several deity and their relationship with one another. 

Don't forget to look up at the ceiling and the inside of the dome!

(pic from lbc.co.uk)

The museum (the only part of the temple you have to pay a small fee of 2 pound for) is a mix of explanations of how the religion was founded, which people and deity are the 'most important' or most commonly known and facts about when and how this specific temple was built. It's weird to know that it was built in just about three years. And lets not forget how advanced the people hundreds and even thousands of years ago were in maths, medicine, language and many more in comparision to Europe. Somehow it's easy to forget about all of that when you never really think or even learn about it.

So even if you are not the most religious person, you should definitely pay it a visit. It will be worth it. We can only truely understand and therefore accept other people when we open our minds to their believes and way of living and thinking. Ignorance is not acceptance after all.

Theatre

Jim Broadbent is a well known actor. To most young people he is Professor Kirke in Narnia or Horace Slughorn in Harry Potter. But he also playes in theatres!
His latest role is (was) that of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol in Central London.

It's a bit late now for a recommandation since me and my friends were there on Saturday for the second last performance. We got day tickets for the first row for only 10 pound; they are not exactly the best seats, but better than nothing. And who knows how much the actual good seats would cost.

Seeing the play was actually a huge coincidence! Our original plan was to go see a musical, our favorites being Mamma Mia! or Wicked. I arrived a bit early and started walking around when I saw the theatre A Christmas Carol was playing in. I already knew the theatre, it was the same I saw Daniel Radcliffe almost three years earlier in. I met the others and we decided to at least ask for ticket prices for the muscials. We could have gotten seats for Mamma Mia! for only 18 pounds (restricted view obviously). But we went with the theatre instead since, like I said, it was the last day. So four tickets for the afternoon show it was.

After getting lunch and walking around, we came back. And wow, it was truely amazing. Really funny, a bit ridiculous at times and the costumes were amazing. Props to the staff behind the scenes for that.
One of the funniest moments was when the entire cast broke the fourth wall and started packing away the equipment and later even threw chocolate coins into the crowd. Or was it the scene where Jim Broadbent confessed his love for a lady in the audience?

Great performance by everyone. Afterwards we went outside and to the stage door at the back of the building in the hope to catch some of the performers. We actually got three autographes! But we wouldn't get Jim Broadbent's until after the evening performance.

We actually didn't plan on staying so long after he didn't come outside in the afternoon, but we staying in CL for so long that we decided to try it. We spent the time eating Italian at Leichester Square, I had pasta and the others very well done pizza for a surprisingly low price considering the location. Then we went looking for a Shisha bar and eventually found one in a side street near Leichester Square station while looking for a different one. By the way, did you know there is a Starbucks that actually has people bringing you to your seat and taking your order? Fancy!
On our way to the tub station we figured out the evening performance of Christmas Carol was over and we decided to try it again. This time he had to come outside after all.
And yes, we got his autograph as well. I told him it was great, especially the breaking of the 4th wall, and then we left for good. Nothing exciting, but still a great memory (and yet another thing to show off with, lets be honest). If there is one place to meet famous people in Europe, it is definitely London.

fancy tea house

Planning an event before the day it actually happens would be a good thing for once.
So we decided to throw our plans overboard and go do something completely different!

Last sunday we spent the entire morning discussing on whatsapp what we were going to do. Our original plan was going to an indoor swimming pool, but we didn't really feel up to it and had to figure out what else there was. In the end, we went to the Horniman museum which filled with anything animal-related the owner collected on his trips around the world. There was also a small exhibition about Africa and it's history. But not only the museum itself is very nice - though you can't spent a lot of time in there, it's too small; the garden outside and the little pavilion you can  book for private events are worth a look, too.

After that we went to a little traditional tea house called La Chandelier and got, well, tea and pastries. I got a green flowerish tea, which is one of those flowers that open in the hot water. Combine that with a chocolate tartlet with raspberry inside and you have the perfect treat.
The tea house is very cute, with mismatching interior, a lot of flowers and small details that you don't immediately  pick up on. The tarts, tartlets and studels all looked very delicious. I would definitely recommand it.

Fares and Markets

It's christmas time. And what comes with that? Markets!!

One of my au pair children had a christmas fare at her school last Thursday after school. She is in secondary school which means it goes beyond cute little sketches and cookies. They had popcorn, cupcake and fudge stands (a great christmas present I think) but also really interesting stuff for older people like cosmetics, clothes, shoes and one with fandom/book jewellery.

The Christmas markets in Kingston itself is rather small, just a few stands with mittens, christmas-y food and mulled wine, Surprisingly, there is always German beer somewhere. But lets be honest, German beer is just the best, even if I'm not much of a drinker.

There is at least one other market I want to check out when I have the time which is the one in Central London at the Southbank right next to the London Eye. It looks really lovely and even has a roller skates tent. Maybe next week I will visit.

Saturday

On Saturday we finally did a typical tourist activity again: visiting Westminster Abbey. As one of our four person group didn't buy an online ticket we had to stand in line but it didn't take long before we were in. I had a bit of a problem to be honest because I bought  student ticket but was only able to show my expired student card from secondary school. Mostly because I didn't think they would actually check it - they don't do it in cinemas! I got in anyways, even though I was warned to not use it again - oops...
WA is a lovely church that's even bigger than it looks from the outside. When you watch out, you see the graves of well-known personalities like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Sir Isaac Newton. The more prominent graves are the memorials for deceased Kings and Queens. It's where coronations and royal weedings take place and the famous Westminster Abbey Choir sings everyday apparently. It is definitely worth a visit.
Tip: buy the ticket online, it's cheaper and you can get in faster.

Sunday

On Sunday the British Street Food Festival took place in London right next to the O2 Arena. It was only 5 pound which is really cheap - even  though kinda ridiculous when you think about it; you pay just so you can buy food. At least a beer was included in the prize. And it was nice. There was a tent with live music and a gigantic deckchair. Outside there were food trucks for Italian pasta, pizza, meatballs, sushi, ribs, seafood...
They even had smaller portions just for trying which were cheaper and made it possible to try different things. Of course, the reason for that was that you got a chip in the beginning that you could use as a vote for your favorite dish. I have no idea who won it the end as we left early, but out of the two things I had (fried lasagna rolls vs ribs) I liked the lasagna better. It's just a new idea that not everyone had tried before.

The problem with the whole event is that no amongst of bonfires and heating mantles can fully warm you up. We wanted to sit down in a Costa before going back into Central London; however all the places were occupied which means we did manage to get warm on the inside thanks to coffe and hot chocolate but we were still colder than wanted because we had to sit outside on a bench. And it was getting darker and darker so we went back into the tub and drove into the city. There we limited our visit to a walk through the Oxford street before going home.
London during Christmas time is really magical. All the fairy lights and the fact that it gets dark rather quickly makes everything look so much more interesting than it is already. Of course it is entirely different from a small town or even village with snow and poeple running around with five layers of clothes, but it's a good kind of different. I really enjoy it and look forward to Christmas itself.