Cancellations, Cathedrals and Cinemas

Saturday Remi and I attempted to go to a show. I had been wanting to see The Wild Party since I first saw the advert some months ago. I booked tickets for the second to last performance, the Saturday matinee, this past April Fool's Day. Turns out, the joke was on us. Remi and I met, grabbed lunch and headed to the theatre only to see a slew of patrons in the lobby filling out forms. I figured it was some kind of survey and proceeded to the box office. Alas, I was also handed a form. Turns out one to the performers was ill and they had to cancel. There was an evening performance but didn't have any seats left. The form was so I could receive a refund for the tickets. It was a disappointment but that's how it goes with live theatre. I hope the performer recovers soon.

Remi and I decided to see a film. However, we had some time to kill between the ticket refund form and the film we wanted to see. We decided to have a look inside Westminister Cathedral, which was on the way to the cinema. Westminister Cathedral should not be confused with Westminister Abby. The Abby is near the Houses of Parliment/Big Ben and is where the monarchs of the UK have their coronation ceremonies. The Abby is part of the Chuch of England. Westminister Cathedral is a Catholic church. It was built between 1895 and 1903 and is absolutely breathtaking to behold. The exterior is unique in that it is striped with grey stone and red brick. The interior does not have any stained glass windows but the gilded mosaic tile work in each of the side chapels is truly stunning. The architect, John Francis Bentley, designed the building in the Neo-Byzantine style. In all my touring around Europe, I have never seen a Cathedral like this one. If you are ever in London, do visit and see the wonder for yourself.

Next, we to headed to the cinema. Remi had heard wonderful things about a film out of Romania called Graduation. The beauty of living in large metropolitan cities is that seeing a foreign film in the cinema is really no problem at all. Off we went to see the film. It was very good. It was a crime drama wrapped in a domestic drama about a girl on the brink of high school graduation who gets attacked just outside of her school on the first day of a very important series of final exams. If she does well on the exams, she is guaranteed a place, on scholarship, at Cambridge University in England. This opportunity would allow her to get away from her small Romanian town and make a better life for herself abroad. Her father, a local doctor, wants this for her more than anything but sees his daughter struggling to regain her equilibrium after the attack. He sets out to make sure his daughter gets the chance he never had. The film was well done and I won't be surprised if we see it nominated for a foreign language film Oscar at next year's Academy Awards.

After the film, Remi and I walked around town, discussed the film and slowly made our way to some dinner. During our stroll, we found ourselves just outside of Houses of Parliment/Big Ben. There, at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change, Remi struck up a conversation with a group of three Americans. As it turns out, one of the ladies is from Spartanburg, SC (as am I, if you don't know)! What a small world!

We didn't get to see the show, but all and all, it turned out to be an interesting and wonderful day in London!
Coming up this week: more research and academic writing. I'll let you know if I make it to a show this week. Or, if I meet anyone from my hometown!
Take care!
-m

Westminister Cathedral - photo credit Panoramio.com