Tragically Hip

On Friday the 21st a group of us went to see the Tragically Hip play at the historic Astoria theatre. Its a small venue (capacity of 2000) at Tottenham Court Road. The show was a blast! When we first arrived we were expecting to see loads of Canadians standing in line -- but for some reason all of these Germans were asking us if we had extra tickets -- this seemed a bit strange. After being asked several times I said to one of them if they were here for the opening act, or actually knew/liked the Hip. Communication was an issue, to the point where I showed them my ticket and pointed at the text "The Tragically Hip" to which they looked dumbfounded. Turns out we were standing in a huge line as the "Astoria 2" -- about 20 feet down from where we should have been "queueing" up.
Anyhow, the whole show was general admission and we ended up about 20 feet from the stage for the whole show with access to the bar (through the crowd). Most English don't even know who they are, so we were right pumped to pay £25 to see them up close! He played a bunch of hits including poets, ahead by a century, bobcaygeon, and the infamous new orleans is sinking - to which the crowd went absolutely wild!!! They didn't play nautical disaster, which is a shame, but they rocked the night nonetheless. The theatre was completely full of proud Canadians and a few English that were dragged there by their canuck mates. Gordon Downey danced erratically but had so much energy at his age that it was amazing to watch. Gord is definately a weird dude :)

A Look Backstage

I went to the London's National Theatre on Southbank to check out their unique backstage tour this week. An NT tour took me behind-the scenes to see three auditoriums, front-of-house, scenic workshops and backstage areas, with a really enthusiastic guide. I loved the tour! It was so educational and eye-opening because I have never been on a tour like that before. And at 5 pounds it was a bargain! There are three diffent theatres within the complex and each was very unique.

The first one I went in was called the Olivier (as in Laurence Olivier, the first director of the NT), and it was a large circular stage meant to have epic plays due to its 3D nature. It deceivingly fits 1100 viewers in amphitheatre style seating so that everyone has a great view. It is one of only 2 theatres in the world to have a permanent Drum Revolve stage, the other theatre being in Vienna. What that means is that it is a giant rotating stage that has 2 elevators underneath it that coordinates entire block set changes and effects in seconds and also easily provide flexibility for multiple plays to be run in the theatre in any given day/week. More explanation of how the stage works can be found here. Another theatre currently running the "Lord of the Rings" in London also has a drum revolve stage, but it is only temporary so it doesn't count. The sets come up through these tall elevators that are 4 stories high and are loaded in the backstage area deep beneath the Olivier stage. These elevators can also take actors down so that they 'disappear' and the elevators also pushes up the floor for dramatic effects. Sets were also dropped down with cables and hooks from the 7 story high ceiling. They keep all of the props up there and mechanically lower them onto the stage when needed. They say that they can even keep a double decker bus hidden up there - if a play ever has need for one of course! When you look at the national theatre and see a big cube on the right side of the building, the entirety of the cube is this hidden section above the stage!

Our tour was lucky to watch actors perform a loud battle scene for 'Saint Joan' - a current epic play on this week - the plays alternate one week on/off for the actors sakes. The battle scene was actually pretty awesome, the actors basically danced around with chairs and stamped them on the ground to provide a harsh stomping sound instead of physically fighting with swords. They also hit steel bars against some copper piping at the sides of the stage to create a cacophony of battle sounds. It sounds really strange but it was brilliant to watch! I really want to see that play now!

I also saw the Littleton theatre which is a proscenium stage much like what we are used to seeing most plays (i.e. phantom, les mis, etc). It can accommodate up to 900 viewers. They can switch 3 sets at any given time to accommodate the different plays in the theatre through a system of tracks in the floor and pre-made sets. They cycle 3 shows through the Littelton in a given week. The stage was set up with one play's set, but then behind it was an entirely different play's set and they just move them around like puzzle pieces! Quite fascinating really.

Lastly we visited the studio theatre called the Cottsloe and it is designed for smaller plays (up to 300 viewers). It is best for intimate shakespeare plays. The interesting thing about this small theatre is that the entire play space and flexible seating can be modified to suit the mood of the piece, and this can be accommodated with only 6-8 hours to change the design of the studio. For instance, if the play requires a catwalk style with the audience on both sides, or a centre square stage with the audience all around, they can do that easily. In a current play that is based in a garden setting they grew real grass sod and then set it up on a catwalk stage so that it instantly smells like a garden! The flexibility of this theatre allows the audience to really feel like they are part of the play. They had done a play in set in an English pub, and covered the entire floor with old carpet and sprayed beer everywhere so it smelled like a pub and the audience sat on bar stools! Very neat.

The backstage tour also included seeing how props were designed and the intricate work that goes into designing and painting sets. I would highly recommend this unique tour if anyone comes to London. It was an hour well spent! I can't wait to buy same day seats to some of the great plays that the NT has to offer too!

Observations of a City

Amsterdam is an amazing city. It's funny that the reasons I loved the city so much were all the things that I never knew about before visiting there. Where to start

Bikes

I read in our "Lets Go Europe" book (Thanks Beck!) a few days before we left that you must "hire" a bike in Amsterdam. I didn't realize to what extent biking differed in this place until we got there. Oxford is a pretty bike-friendly city and I rode all the time when I was there, but its nothing compared to Amsterdam (and probably the rest of the Netherlands, though I've never been).

Bikes are different there. You know when you go to Cuba or the Carribean and you see a bunch of vintage VW Bugs on the roads? Amsterdam is similar with Bikes -- they all look like they've been time warped outta the 40s or 50s. They've got super comfy seats and most only have 1 gear, but the point is not to be fast or light, it is to provide an efficient mode of transportation around the city. Even people who are well off and have cars will still ride bikes around the city simply cause its faster and easier. The bikes themselves are made outta heavy steel and would easily last a few decades -- there are bike repair shops around town just like you would see mechanics for our car culture. Bikes are pricy too -- averaging about 500€ new (which I was completely shocked by!). They come in weird shapes where you can put a kid on the front in a basket, the front in this big wooden box thingy, or on the back. In fact, I saw one bike which could seat a family of four -- 2 kiddies seats behind the mom, and 1 seat in front of the handle bars so the kid faces the mom. Most bikes have a rack thing on the back for carrying groceries or boxes... it is not uncommon to see someone riding with an adult sitting sideways on the back. The chains are completely covered and enclosed, so there is no chance of catching your pant legs -- people ride around on these things in suits and full formal attire.

Apparently there are 2 bikes in the Netherlands for every person. If people have to take a train to work, they will keep one bike for the trip from home to the station, and another for from the station to work. As such, there is a massive bike parkade at the station -- it must hold 50,000 bikes or more (its 4 floors high).

Riding is easy and not scary like other cities -- mostly due to the fact that you have your own bike lane. Typically this lane is one-way only (ie there are 2 bike lanes on a road, one on each side), and has parked cars on the left and the sidewalk on the right... so the only real danger is stupid tourists walking in the bike lane instead of on the sidewalk because they think its just a really wide sidewalk (like we did at first!). The bike lane is pavement and sunk a few inches lower, whereas the sidewalk is square cement slabs -- so it is fairly easy to tell where one ends and the other begins. Its funny to see a normal sized street that effectively has 8 lanes of transportation on it. First a sidewalk, then a bike lane, then a car lane, then a tram lane (this is dedicated, like the street car tracks on Spadina/Queens Quay in Toronto), then you have a 2nd tram lane, 2nd car lane, 2nd bike lane, and 2nd sidewalk. All the cars go fairly slow as do the bikers, so intersections are often just slow down, look both ways, and keep trucking. Oh, and the bike lanes have an informal rule where slower rides right on the ride so faster riders can pass in the left "lane"... when a biker behind you is coming up to overtake you, he rings his bell so you know (since bikes don't have mirrors). It got annoying for everyone when Mark & I would overuse our bells just cuz we were screwing around :)

Canals

Riding around the city is all that more interesting with the canals. In the center, there is basically a canal between every 2 streets or so. The canal "bridges" are low specifically for bikers to be able to easily ride over them... so on your bike you only have to climb 2-3 of vertical. The boats there are therefore very low profile... the average bridge is maybe 6 feet from the water surface. There is apparently 1000 bridges over the canals in Amsterdam, and the canals total more than 100km in length. They have a large lock at the mouth of the sea which protects the canals from the tides. Apparently they open the locks for a few weeks during the year to "clean them out". Oh, and since there is an overall housing shortage in Amsterdam, there are a tonne of house boats. Some of these don't even pretend -- they are basically brick houses build on a concrete pad that looks like it is tied to the water's wall, but in reality is probably just sitting on the mud bottom.

Architecture & Houses

Amsterdam is a little weird in that the entire city is essentially 5 stories tall. Most buildings are row-houses that are all connected. Apparently the city has a law which says you need an elevator in anything over 5 stories... and for some reason the dutch decided this law would dictate the development of their city:) In reality, I think it also relates to the fact the ground is soft and can't really handle large buildings. There are a few, but they are certainly rare. London is an overall "short" city... but Amsterdam is definitely shorter.

This is pretty lengthy so I will sign off now. This is the first post written on my new computer -- more on that in another post.

Syd.

Amsterdam fun and granny bikes too!

Amsterdam, the capital city of Holland, through the eyes of a local is so much more rewarding than just hitting the main tourist spots with no other knowledge or education. I LOVE this city. It is so different than any other city I have visited. The funny thing is, I came here once before on my European Contiki tour, but I didn't see it the same way and thus was expecting a similar experience. When I came last time I went to all of the token tourist spots - the Van Gogh museum, the Anne Frank museum, the Heineken Experience (brewery) and the Red Light District. While these were all very key points of the city, the hours went so quickly when they were spent in museums instead of exploring. On this trip we threw convention to the wind and let ourselves see the city from the seat of a bike and from the eyes of a local. We stayed with Syd's friend Joe from Infusion's Boston project at his apartment in the south end of Amsterdam. It was especially great that Joe could speak the language because when we were out of the tourist district, everything was written in Dutch!

We were instantly fascinated with the bike culture of the city and we were excited to take Joe up on his suggestion to rent pedal bikes. It was by far the the best way to see the city! It cost 13E to rent a bike for 24 hours so we made great use of them to see parts of the city that we never would have seen on foot, or thought to explore. The famous Rijks museum (below) was near the start of our journey. The bike shop was around the corner.

This is the bike shop. The bikes were fantastic, so look this place up if you go.
Syd's buddy Mark, from university who now lives in Oxford, came with us that weekend.
There were even bike-specific traffic lights telling us when to go!
We explored beautiful Vondel park on the many bike trails.And we stopped by some canals to enjoy fresh dutch cheese and baguettes! Joe also took us to some great pubs and restaurants with outdoor seating and great menus for each meal. This is a mosaic column behind the heineken brewery in a great square.
We even got to take our bikes on a ferry across the harbour and saw this Russian submarine!

On Saturday evening Syd, Mark and I headed into the Red Light District - the main tourist attraction that has to be experienced. Syd found it very surreal, but also expected it to be a lot dirtier. Prostitution is legal in Holland so the windows in the district are the best way for the ladies to show their...wares. The ladies in the 'red' windows kept trying to get our attention so we couldn't gape too much without seeming that we wanted their business! There were many sex shows and peep shows being promoted as well but we basically just walked around for a couple hours and took it all in. There were lights and sounds everywhere illuminating the canals and cobblestone streets. It really is quite in your face and doesn't leave much left for the imagination. There were lots of people in the district but it didn't feel overly crowded. I imagine in the summer it must be crazy though - tourist central! We stayed around until 2 am and then rode our reliable bikes back to Joe's.

On our last day in Amsterdam we sadly returned our bikes and then walked the streets to find a canal cruise. The cruise was an hour and it was so relaxing. Mark didn't quite have a conscious cruise, but it was nice that we got to see the city through the myriad of canals.

Walking back to dinner I noticed this family that instantly sparked childhood memories. Does anyone recognize them? If so, write the answer in the comments of this blog!

Camden Market and Football Fun

A weekend in London isn't complete without visiting one of the many markets. We went to one within our own borough called the Camden Market. There are a number of markets in this area. We went through the Stables market where stalls were set up in old stables of wood and brick. It had an eclectic mix of antique furnishings, vintage clothing, funky people and great food.

We spent most of our time here people-watching all of the colourful (and gothic) characters (like the mohawk guy below) and just wandering the vast packed market streets.

One clothing store advertised their clothing and accessories outside with these genious life-size barbie dolls.

We even visited a store called Cyber Dog (no pics allowed!) that was a ravers clothing store with all black-light style futuristic clothing and paraphrenalia. We felt like we had warped 30 years into the future with some of the spacey stuff that was in there.

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On Sunday we decided to get some much needed exercise and met up with some Infusion peeps to play a classic european sport - Football!

Theres always something to see on Southbank...

The Southern Bank of the Thames, near London Bridge, always seems to have the best free outdoor entertainment. Last week was no exception. I went to see an 'open air theatre' production of the Jungle Book with Danielle Bieber's sister, Caroline. It was brilliant! Funny, great music and great costumes! Have a look at some of them below.

Baluu the Bear:

King Louie:

And of course, Shere Khan!

This is the crowd that showed up for the production so eloquently reflected in the glass:


Following the play, we met up with Syd and Mike and spent a great night on a patio at the 'Horniman Pub' enjoying english lagers overlooking the dark Thames and Tower Bridge.

Coasting Along

I think a mediterranean holiday is best experienced on a boat cruise. That way you get to see the wonders of the towns set among the cliffs, get exposed to fresh sea breezes and sun, and swim in clear blue oceans. What can top that!?

We spent all day Monday on a boat cruise and it was definitely the highlight of our entire trip. We had great seats by ourselves at the bow of the boat and lots of opportunities to relax.

We didn't visit the towns that the boat stopped at (Positano and Amalfi) and instead went to the beach to bask (aka: bake) in the hot italian sun for an hour or so before taking the boat back to Sorrento.

These cliff formations are off of the coast of Capri. We swam at the base of them and the water was amazingly warm, a turquoise blue, and so clear! Syd had the most fun continually climbing up onto the dive platform and then diving off into the crystal sea.

A walk through ancient history

Picture yourself in your kitchen washing the dishes on a warm August summer day. Now picture the skies instantly darkening with ash and soot. Look out the front door and see mayhem as your neighbours start screaming and running around when they realize that the nearby volcano is erupting! Then picture yourself running for your own life to escape the molten hot magma that is beckoning at your heels. That was the reality for people living in the city of Pompeii when it was completely destroyed in 79AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted.

We visited this ancient city on our italian trip. Below is the arch leading out of the public forum. You can see the massive volcanic mountain behind the arch.

Surprisingly the city was preserved under the hardened lava and in 1748, under King Charles III of Naples, exploration began on the site. In the 1930s they started major excavations and uncovered the city in a pristinely preserved state. They found an extraordinary wealth of architecture, sculptures, paintings and mosaics. Even some public fountains remained intact.

The bodies of the deceased had also stood the test of time from being quickly covered in ash and rock, so archaeologists were able to preserve the expressions by coating the bodies in plaster. Thus, the bodies remain in the same state and facial angst that they died in. Very sad, but fascinating at the same time.

The ancient Italians were a very cleanly folk, and we were fascinated by the many baths that were in the city of Pompei. The baths were divided into mens and womens sections, both with dressing rooms, cold rooms, warm rooms and hot rooms. Public baths were inexpensive and heavily used, especially in early afternoon. We especially liked the way the sun came in through the ceiling of this one. We enjoyed the vast amphitheatres (above) and coliseums(below). The coliseum was used for gladiator battles. Of course I had to prove my prowess in the ring! ;o)
We enjoyed a picnic of wine outside the coliseum gates to cool down after a hot day of trekking through the ruins.