I am aware of the Great London Riots of 2011 that have been going on since this past Saturday. However, since I’m assigned to blog about this past Monday, August 8th, please know that my lack of commenting on the matter doesn’t imply anything. This is just me, assigned to blog about my experience at Westminster Abbey and the Garrick Theatre (which I will not discuss in length). Although, I should probably note (for my non-British public) that the riots are a bunch of youth of ALL different ethnicities who seem to be finding joy in the smaller things in life. And by “smaller things,” I mean Plasma TVs and running shoes, of course.
*The actual blog post*
Although watching Rupert Everett on stage in Pygmalion at the Garrick Theatre was a treat, I’d like to focus mainly on our trip to Westminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey is a huge church where a) Will and Katie were married on April 29th of this year, b) lots of people are commemorated and/or buried, and c) conspiratorial hypocrisy takes place on a daily basis. I will now provide proof of the previous points I just made:
a) Prince William and Catherine were married on April 29th, 2011 at Westminster Abbey. In case you were living under a coconut tree during late springtime of this year, type “William Katie Wedding” into a Google search box. There’s your proof.
b) Many people are commemorated and/or buried under the vast catacombs of Westminster Abbey. Because of the NO CAMERAS rule inside the abbey, you’ll just have to take my word (or Google search) for it. For those of you who do believe me, walking into Westminster was a surreal experience. There’s nothing like a large cathedral filled with dead people to make a girl in a foreign land realize just how finite life really is. Even though I could hear the voices of many tour guides and visitors scurrying about, it almost felt as if I was in a vacuum of solemnity and tranquility as I walked by the tombs of hundreds of people including kings, queens, knights, and poets.
But the one that hit me the most was the tomb of the Unknown Warrior – a soldier who fought and died in World War II, and whom no one could identify when his body was brought back to England. Having many friends as well as a brother in the military, I couldn’t help but feel an extreme sadness as I looked on at this Unknown Warrior’s memorial. I guess there will never be a generation that doesn’t know war. I’ll still keep hoping for one, though.
c) Westminster Abbey is run by many so-called “holy” men who make us pay an arm and a leg to enter, and who love to yell at us only to then ORDER us (though they’ll probably say they asked us) to “pray together in loving kindness” moments after. Remember that feeling of solemnity I was talking about? Well, it left the moment two church workers came up to my very small group of six and told us that we couldn’t talk about the abbey with each other because “guiding is not allowed unless you’re a registered Blue Badge guide.”
Sure, it doesn’t matter if Stephen Hart is a history professor from England who has taught both Prince William and Prince Harry; or, that he wanted to show us around his hometown as a favor to his friend – our professor, Kathy Cassity – whom he hasn’t seen in years. If the Church of England (which is just a fancy name for Catholicism, if you ask me) hasn’t pre-screened the historical information you’ve received, they want absolutely nothing to do with it. And they will prevent you from telling other people too. Sound familiar, Reformation buffs?
Needless to say that from here on out, the famous wedding of 2011 will not be the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Westminster Abbey.
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