London: A Magical, Musical, Fantastic Weekend

Last weekend I went to London for three days with five friends from the J-Force, and now I want to go back and live there. London reminded me of Chicago with its streets full of people and the diversity of food and entertainment. I also loved how it seemed like everywhere we went I was reminded of a great movie, book, or television show. When we arrived Thursday night and decided to explore the city I had “chim chiminey” from Mary Poppins stuck in my head as we looked at all of the rooftops and Big Ben lit up.

One of the major reasons I went to London last weekend was to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. The first public showing of Harry Potter in London was Friday morning (since it the premiere was at midnight in California or something). I couldn’t believe I was going to see Harry Potter premiere in London!!! It was like Christmas morning as we made our way to the theater through the busy streets of London. We walked from our hostel to Kings Cross, which was the closed underground stop, and happen to be a very important Harry Potter sight. Even though we didn’t have time to look for platform 9 ¾ the excitement of the group became to grow exponentially. We were standing in the station that takes students to Hogwarts! We ended up having some time to kill before the show so we wandered around the downtown area we were in. We stopped to eat at the only Chipotle outside of the United States and met a guy from Rogers Park who works there. When it was finally time for the movie to start I felt like a kid waiting to open all her presents on Christmas morning. I can’t remember the last time I was that excited about something. 

As I walked into the giant Odeon Theater and heard the brilliant John Williams score for the first Harry Potter movie I could not stop from jumping up and down from excitement. When the dramatic red curtains that had been over the movie screen were drawn back the excitement and magic was almost tangible in the theater. In the part of the movie where Harry, Ron, and Hermione have to apparate quickly away from the wedding they apparate to the first place Hermione thinks of which is Charing Cross Road. When they apparated I instantly realized that I had just been there. I had been standing on Charing Cross Road in the same square they were showing in the movie! Matt, one my friends on the trip, realized this at the same time as me and we grabbed each others hands and whispered with more excitement that exclamation points can express “We were just there!” It was sooooo exciting!

 

After the movie we went to see Big Ben in the daylight and then walked around central London before heading back to the theater district to grab some dinner before going to see Phantom of the Opera. Yes, I got to see a musical on the West End of London! Earlier in the day we had all gotten half price tickets to see the show. We headed toward the theater and stopped at a local restaurant for some yummy fish and chips. Phantom of the Opera was spectacular! When the orchestra started playing Andrew Lloyd Webber brilliant overture it gave me chills and I sat in utter amazement as the musical progressed. After the performance we headed back to our hostel stopping at Kings Cross Station, and of course looking for platform 9 ¾. Well, I found out that there isn’t actually a platform between 9 and 10 but instead only open tracks, but just standing on platform 9 was enough for me to feel the magic of Harry Potter. I had heard that there was a little plaque somewhere that said 9 ¾ so we went to find it, and found it under construction. Fortunately, the extremely nice construction workers let us run in to the barricaded area for a couple seconds to get a picture. I think that the men wearing luminescent vests in the background of my picture only add to its awesomeness.

 

The last thing I really wanted to do in London was go on a search for a historic blue police call box that functions as a time and space traveling machine called the Tardis in the awesome BBC show Doctor Who. My youngest sister Anna got me hooked on the series and now I absolutely love it! I just had to go see if I could find the Tardis, and so I followed some vague directions I had found on the internet. I wandered around the area it was supposed to be until I found it. It was yet another exciting moment in London. The people in the area gave me some strange looks as I began to take pictures of this blue police call box that it seemed only I knew was The Doctor’s Tardis. I asked a group of teens to take a picture of me with it, and when they realized what it was they got really excited and said they hadn’t realized there was a tardis in London. It was really exciting to meet some native Doctor Who fans and touching the Tardis was like being on Platform 9 ¾, it was magical.

I loved London and all the amazing things I got to see! 

Pilgrimage to Poland

One of the places on the top of my list to visit in Europe was Poland since it is a huge part of my heritage. I've grown up listening and singing along to polkas, going to PNA (Polish National Alliance) parties in Chicago, and hearing about my parents visit to Poland. I went to Poland with my cousin Brittney who is studying abroad in Spain this semester. We met in Krakow and spent the weekend experiencing and learning about our Polish heritage in Krakow. 

It was a great experience to be in the country where my ancestors came from. One of my favorite experiences from the weekend was going to Saint Mary's Basilica in the main square. Maybe it's just because my time in Rome has been consumed with the study of sacred space but it was my favorite part of the weekend. I am taking a class on the theology of pilgrimage this semester and it has made me look at sacred space in a new enlightened way. In one of my textbooks the author writes about the trend of medieval pilgrims going to the Holy Land to walk in the footsteps of Christ. My pilgrimage to Poland was prompted by my Polish heritage, and my desire to walk in the footsteps of my ancestors. I think of my trip to Poland as a pilgrimage where I was able to walk where my family had walked and partake in a real way the same religious devotion of my family when I visited Saint Mary’s Basilica in Krakow.

When I approached Saint Mary’s Basilica I felt like I was approaching part of my family history. Like the early pilgrims I traveled to Poland knowing only a few Polish words and not knowing anything about Saint Mary’s Basilica. I went with the desire in my heart to walk and pray where my family had walked and prayed. At the time I felt connected in a very special way to my Polish ancestors. There was something special about physically standing in the place where my ancestors and my parents had stood and prayed. The inside of Saint Mary’s Basilica was stunning. I had not expected such a rich and beautifully decorated interior. I didn’t know where to look as I walked past the pews filled with people. I was amazed at how many people sat in the pews sitting quietly in prayer, praying the rosary aloud, and waiting to go to confession. There was something transformative about the quiet murmur of prayers and the visible devotion of all the people in the church. At the time it seemed to me that the large group praying the rosary in Polish prayed with fervor greater than I haven’t heard anywhere else in Europe. The elderly Polish women reminded me of my own grandmother who made me say the rosary with her countless times. There is such a strong devotion to Marian theology in my family, and I experienced this devotion in a very tangible way hearing the rosary in Polish surrounded by a plethora of images of Mary. 

I had gone to Saint Mary’s the Saturday vigil mass, and in participating in the liturgy I celebrated not only the Eucharist but also my cultural heritage. As I made the sign of the cross and knelt on the rickety wooden pew I was participating in the same prayerful ritual that my family had. When mass began I remembered how my mother and grandmother had taught me how to make the sign of the cross saying, “W imię Ojca, i Syna, i Ducha Świętego, Amen.” To my family, being Polish includes participating in Polish Catholic devotions. Hearing mass in Polish was a new and wonderful experience that made me feel as though by taking part in the ritual of the Catholic mass in Polish I was able to experience the Eucharist in a new way. Through my pilgrimage I broke down the separation between myself and my Polish ancestors. I was able to physically connect myself to the place where they prayed, and I became unified with the ritual of the past and my family heritage through my participation in the Eucharist.