Title: lyrics from
City Of Blinding Lights by U2.
Counting days to events is one of those weird things I like to do. Counting to concerts, festivals, even to birthdays! But sometimes I have those moments of insane obsession about movies, when I am counting for the movie premiere. Just like now, when I'm waiting for
"Dracula Untold" with Luke Evans as a Vlad The Impaler. Just few more days... Promise to post my review here! Already got my ticket to see it so.. Tuesday, come faster, please!
Anyway...
Last year in October, I was counting to my first trip abroad. It was the second thing I was THAT excited for in my entire life. I was going to London, a place from the top of my "too see" list, and there I was about to meet my idols. Three men with their music that changed me & my life. Let's call them The Three Diablos. I kinda like this nickname for them. However, this period of time was full of excitement, shivers, plans, laugh & most important - faith that dreams are possible.
Stuff with London theme can be found anywhere in almost every shop. I used to believe that London isn't as cool as New York or Los Angeles, but everything has changed. I found myself feeling like at home there, even though it's one of the most dangerous cities in Europe. If there could be a chance to move out from Poland, London would be my pick for sure.
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| Hot chocolate with a view at London Eye - perfect for cold day in the middle of November. |
My favourite spot was that side of Thames from where I could drink hot chocolate from Starbucks & stare at London Eye talking about nothing with my bestie. It was amazing to feel so good in a different country far from home. Yes, I could live there.
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| Buckingham Palace. |
We both loved squirrels in St. James's Park. They were so cute! But Buckingham Palace was majestic! Big, & breathtaking, unfortunately we missed Changing the Guards. At least we have something left for another trip on our "to do" list.
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| Me at Waterloo Station wondering where to go. |
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| Red buses at Westminster Bridge. |
What made me smile? A lot of red buses & characteristic taxicabs, especially around Trafalgar Square. I was so fascinated by this view. Finally I've had an opportunity to see with my eyes things that I used to see only in pictures or paintings. Maybe it's not a big deal for someone, but for me it was.
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| Trafalgar Square with National Gallery. |
My 2nd favourite spot was Trafalgar Square. Full of tourists & street artists, with a very long queue to National Gallery, with a Nelson's Column, became one of the many reasons why I love London. It was so magic to be there, where action of one of the books I've read takes place. With the eyes of my imagination I saw main characters, what they were doing, where they were going... Awesome feeling.
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| Millennium Dome with O2 Arena inside. |
To be fully honest, nothing of those above compares to the Millennium Dome with O2 Arena. Not because it was prettier or more interesting (it wasn't!), but because it brought me the most beautiful memories from this trip. I've spent there about 12 hours. Most of the time, it was just waiting in line, but we've got pizza as a dinner from band & band crew, & we've also met few very nice people there.
Anyway, the main point of our trip was concert. It started with soundcheck. The band was obviously in a great mood & goofing around on the stage was the best proof of it. Then for me there was meet & greet with the band, including signing session & picture with The Three Diablos Thirty Seconds To Mars. Believe it or not, but it wasn't that easy to pose for a photo. There even wasn't enough time to think about smile or put it on your face! The concert itself was a pleasant change from concerts in Poland. People were calm, if you can be calm at rock concert, & you could see whole families, grandparents with their grandkids, or parents with their kids. In Poland it is quite hard to find someone above 18 years old at their show, pretty sure that it's because of how media here describe them, so yeah, I was surprised.
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| Natural History Museum |
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| T-Rex is "alive"! |
Let's be honest here. As a historical movie about Vlad III Dracula (also known as Vlad The Impaler, or just Dracula) it's pretty bad. No chronological order. No real names. It was very hard for me to not start screaming, that he's wife was not Mirena, and his son should be named Minhea. His first wife, which name we don't know, threw herself off the tower into the Argeş River below the castle during surrounding the Poenari castle by Turkish army, yes but they were led by Vlad's brother Radu, not by sultan Mehmed. In the whole movie there were more and more historical mistakes, but as much as I wanted to see something good about Vlad, I was also hungry for a Dracula movie that I can enjoy.
Dracula Untold is a very nice movie about medieval superhero. At the moment, when we live in era of unconditional love for heroes from comic books, the true story about Vlad The Impaler could be a missed shot in the taste of consumers. Some of us may want to see a movie with a plot worth remembering, but producers want to sell their product, and that's why Dracula is full of visual effects, poor storyline and few technical fails. However, we must take a moment to appreciate Luke Evans as Vlad. He was a perfect choice!
