Victory, Proms, Walks, and Markets

So, as expected, I am no great cricket player. However, I was made team captain because Friday was my birthday and my team won. After cricket, Erin and I went on an adventure to try and find a music store but apparently it was closed if the old mail in the mail slot and empty window display were anything to go by. Omar and I are going to try and find a different one tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll have better luck with that since I really need to get my new music so I can start practicing for my next lesson.

Friday night, a bunch of us went to see the NY Phil play Ravel Mother Goose Suite, Bartok Miraculous Mandarin, and Tchaikovsky 4. It was a phenomenal concert- again, a fabulous brass section. The clarinet section sounded great during the Bartok. I wasn't impressed with Stanley Drucker's solo playing though. I really like the recordings of him from his younger days, but I don't like it as much now. I don't know whether it was the hall or him trying to project or what, but during his solos, his tone would spread every time he played above a mf. It was a little frustrating to hear, but at least he's consistent about it, I guess. One thing I will say for him is that he plays wonderfully with the principal bassoonist.

New York Phil!

Yesterday we went on a walk around The City. The City is the square mile original (i.e. Roman) part of London. We saw St. Paul's Cathedral, which is the symbol of London. During WWII, people would wake up in the morning after German air raids to see if St. Paul's cathedral was still standing. We also went to St. Bart's church which was first partially destroyed during the Protestant Reformation (remember? Henry VIII wanted a divorce, the pope said no, so Henry founded the Church of England and turned the whole country Protestant and all that goodness?). St. Bart's is easily one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been to.


Bill cut a deal with the guy at the entrance (in England, museums are free but churches are not) and we all got in for free and choir was rehearsing for a wedding that was to take place later that afternoon. The choir was wonderful and it just made the whole experience of wandering around this old church even more wonderful.

Today we went exploring some of the East End markets with Bill. I definitely have to go back to some of them, along with exploring the Portobello Rd. market next Saturday. Portobello Rd. is very near where I live and I keep passing it on the weekends and I never quite get there in time. It is one of the most famous markets in London and I'm hoping I can get some fresh vegetables there along with seeing all the little stalls.

I've just been kind of wandering around London in my free time here, but I think I need to make a list of the things I really want to do in London/England and a list of places I want to go in Europe. A trip to Paris is a given, since Erik and Andrea are there and I'd also really love to get back to Italy. Spain, specifically Barcelona, and Vienna are also possibilities. There are tons of guidebooks in the London Center, so I think I'm going to do some research for fall break travels later tonight.

Cheers!