Home, I'm Coming Home

I have not very much internet at the moment (15 mins for 50p at the good old hostel) but I had to take a second to just say what an AMAZING day I had today. Lots of details to come but I want everyone to know I am safe and happy and had just one of the greatest days of my entire trip. I do love to go out with a bang :)

See you all tomorrow America, I'm coming home!!

Bright Lights, Bigger City

Okay. I made it. On my own in the big city. It's pretty cool, actually. The hostel is kind of just like an enormous dorm... have plenty of experience with those. I got lunch at this mall a block away, which is very convenient. Then I walked down to the British Museum, which although beautiful didn't actually interest me very much. But I knew I had to go, it's on everyone's like top ten list of things to see in London, so at least I did it. Afterwards I took the Tube (which was dumb, it's not a far walk) to Leicester Square to see the National Portrait Gallery. That, I loved. They had an exhibit called "Glamour of the Gods" that was all old Hollywood portraits. Love it, especially after taking my film history pre-1945 class last quarter. There were some really amazing pictures.

I walked through Leicester Square and considered going to see a musical or something, but pretty much nothing is playing tonight. I had to keep ducking into little shops when it began to DOWNPOUR, but it was off and on so I made it back relatively dry. I also stopped in at Blackwell's, which is a chain bookstore kind of like Borders, and perused the Shakespeare section for a little bit. Good stuff. I got a little lost walking home but no harm done.

Like I said yesterday, I feel like I've started a whole new trip. It is so different being on my own, staying in a hostel, no free Tube (I know, poor me), than the month I just had. On the one hand it's very freeing but on the other it's kind of lonely. Definitely a good test for my independence.

Tomorrow: my last full day! Can't even believe it. I'm going to meet Nicole at Madame Tussaud's to FINALLY use our tickets that we bought like three weeks ago, and then rain or shine I'm heading to the Globe to see Much Ado one last time. I know it's a little ridiculous, but I also know that a month from now I'll be sitting home missing London and probably the thing I will wish I could do the most is go back and see the Globe. And if Much Ado just happens to be playing on my last night, oh well, I guess I'll have to go :)

New city. Kind of.

It was a bit of a nightmare getting over to Matt's flat this morning. Of course the day we have to move they decide to close the Piccadilly line and it rains the hardest it has our whole time here. But we made it, so no harm done.

We decided to take advantage of our last day with an Oyster card and go down to the Borough Market, which is like a GIANT Davis Farmers Market and is right near the Globe (I resisted stopping by to say hello). I had a meat pie, which was on my list of things to do. It was delicious. And the weather cleared up a little for us which was nice. Afterwards we went a little further south to the Imperial War Museum. The area wasn't the nicest, in fact it's the only time I've felt a little uncomfortable my whole time here in London. It also didn't help that the clouds descended right when we got off the Tube. We were together though so we were fine.

The museum was awesome, definitely worth the trip. A little heavy, as you can imagine. The Holocaust exhibit was particularly depressing. But they had some really cool old war memorabilia and some interactive exhibits that were neat. They had one that was like walking through a real World War I trench, and another one that felt like being inside a bunker during the Blitz in WWII. Really interesting. That'd been on my list since the first day so I was glad to finally check it out.

Nicole and Matt went out to dinner with his family so I went and explored the area. It is very odd being on the entire opposite end of the city. It doesn't really feel like the same city, at all. Like I feel like I've begun an entirely new trip. Which I guess I sort of have, just a much shorter one.

Pray that it doesn't rain tomorrow as I move yet again. Not quite that far this time, but still not my favorite way to spend a morning. Still, I'm here!

Kensington, adieu

I'm lying here in my ridiculously squeaky bed for the last time :( I have approximately 2 and a half hours and then I have to leave our wonderful flat forever. Tonight I'm staying at Nicole's boyfriend's--they literally saved me as it seems like the entire city of London is sold out of beds for Saturday night, unless I want to pay like 400 pounds. I move to a hostel for Sunday/Monday nights, and then home Tuesday. I've said most of my goodbyes to my fellow students; a lot of them left yesterday or have been trickling out this morning. It's all just too sad.

Yesterday I spent pretty much all day running around trying to find lodging. I went to the STA Travel office in High Street Kensington and the guy there was incredibly nice and helpful--definitely should have gone sooner and saved the headache. It took a couple trips back and forth but we finally got it worked out, which was a relief. Not exactly how I wanted to spend my last day in Kensington, but that's what I get for waiting until the last minute.

The crew wanted to find a pub called Shakespeare's Head (for obvious reasons), so we trekked out to Oxford Circus to do so. Of course, when we got there it was packed, so Nicole and I got burgers at the most DELICIOUS place, because we were starving, and then met everyone else who had gone to O'Neills, our favorite Irish bar. Then we came back and hung out in the other flat until the wee hours of night, reminiscing and wishing it would never end. I kept feeling like I had something to do, like a paper or reading or something like that. But nope, I'm all done.

The next three days should definitely be more of an adventure than I've had so far. I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to update much, but here's hoping. Here's also hoping that everything goes according to plan with my hostel and the place isn't completely disgusting or sketchy (this is my first time ever staying in a hostel, so we'll see how it goes). At least I'm in an all-girls room. And I am SO THANKFUL that Nicole is letting me stay with her, I seriously do not know what I would have done. But hey, it all worked out.

Farewell, Kensington! I'll miss you!

Not quite goodbye...

Heavens it's late. The crew and I just got back from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two... that may be the only time in my life I write out that entire title. Too long. Anyway apparently the Brits do not care about Harry nearly as much as I thought they did, because when we arrived to get in the queue (as they call it) at 9 o'clock, there was nobody there. NOBODY. Wait, sorry, there were two girls who went to Boston University dressed in Hogwarts gear and looking just as confused as we were that no one had bothered to show up. We sat there alone until 11:30 when a few people started to gather, but by the time the movie started at midnight it wasn't even full and from overhearing conversations, pretty much everyone seemed to be American.

The movie was pretty great. Maybe it's the lack of sleep but I can't really comprehend that it's all over. Also I didn't cry much, which was unexpected. I think maybe my second viewing will provide more insight. Also: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES TRAILER. Kind of anticlimactic. Except for the quick shot of Bane, which was exciting. But again, maybe it's the lack of sleep.

We had our final dinner tonight as a class with Dobby. That was cry-worthy. It's just been such a wonderful month, and everyone is so great, and Dobby is so great, and I love it. Nikki and Becka leave tomorrow morning early... actually in about 3 hours, come to think of it. I'll miss them dearly. I'll miss this flat dearly. This flat has been very good to us. It's so nice to have a safe little home base to come back to every night.

Last night we went and saw Anne Boleyn at the Globe (I know, I know, back again). Despite how tragic you may think it would be, what with her head getting chopped off and all that, it was actually really funny. And not sad at all. And pretty much the entire cast of All's Well was in it, which was great but also odd. They do that a lot, have a cast (minus the main characters) put on two productions a summer. I just found out that almost everyone in Much Ado (yes, including HIM) is opening another show in about three weeks. I'm terribly distraught that I won't be here.

Second-to-last night in home sweet Kensington. I'm kind of terrified to move out into the unknown land of hostels for three days. Thank goodness I've grown at least a little accustomed to this city. Anyway, I'm trying my best not to stress about it. I'm going to enjoy my last day or so, and now that we've turned in our final and class is done, I am just young and free in England, and that is a great place to be.

Can the world buy such a jewel?

Much Ado Round 2 today, and my goodness was it worth it. That play is so wonderful. I went with Becka and the two of us walked back across the Millenium Bridge arm-in-arm with the goofiest grins on our faces. Top of the world.

But first. I made us book it out of class so we could get there ASAP and hopefully obtain some groundling seats. The short of it (imagine, me, concise): we did. I was thrilled. I had sent Becka to get sandwiches while I waited in line and I went tearing into Eat (that's the name of the restaurant, it's delicious) waving our tickets and smiling like a fool.

So we waited in the next line, the groundling line, and were the fifth people there, which meant one thing: we would be getting great seats. Or, standing spaces. That's what the groundlings do, you stand in this giant pit and get right up next to the stage, literally resting your elbows on it if you want (I wanted). So after waiting in line about an hour and a half we were finally loosed into the theatre and Becka and I went right up to the front, slightly stage left, right in front of the little pool that Benedick would ultimately wash his feet in. No, really, it was great.

Oh, Claudio. In mine eye he is the sweetest man that ever I looked on. I legitimately worried I may faint when he entered. Becka told me I'd better not dare, since then she'd have to leave and all our hard work would be for nothing. Anyone, it was all I could do to look at anything else onstage, but I managed, and was I glad I did because if that wasn't one of the best damn shows I've ever seen. I don't know if it was my heightened level of excitement, our close proximity to the stage, the audience involvement (they were super into it), the fact that it wasn't 1000 degrees as it was the first time I saw it, or that the actors just got a weeklong vacation. Whatever it was, it was spectacular.

It was an entirely different experience than any of my other Globe shows. There's nothing like being a groundling. I think I made eye contact with almost every actor onstage at one point or another (yes, even HIM. But it was painfully short). It's almost a little disconcerting, really. I felt vulnerable, which is ridiculous because they're the ones acting. But when they can see you just as well as you see them, it's definitely a different dynamic. It's also what makes the Globe so wonderful, it is a totally different theatre experience. It's also the best seat in the house, by far (despite it not actually being a seat). You can see every little expression on the actors' faces. You can notice things that you can't from farther away. My favorite: there's a scene where Benedick is eavesdropping on Claudio and Don Pedro's conversation about how Beatrice loves him. He puts on a gardening hat and grabs a hoe, pretending like he's gardening so he can get closer to their conversation. Just then his servant shows up, trying to hand him a book that he requested earlier in the scene before the others show up. He not-so-subtly turns, waves angrily at her, and mouthes f**k off... twice. It was hysterical, largely because it was so shocking, and I had no idea from the Upper Circle. I also managed to grab a souvenir, a piece of gold that Don John throws at Hero after Claudio rejects her and throws her around at the wedding (if you haven't read/seen the play and have no idea what I'm talking about, just don't worry about it).

Anyway, it was all wonderful. I could go into more detail but for those of you who are not fiendishly obsessed with Shakespeare (and I suspect that is all of you), I won't. We have a lot of schoolwork over these next few days, what with class ending on Thursday. We gave our group presentation on Hamlet today. We did a mock trial on whether Hamlet is crazy or not. It was good fun and on the class vote we won for the best presentation. Dobby gave us little Shakespeare's Globe pins. You know I'll treasure mine. Just like I'll treasure... all of this.

Getting the To-Do List Done

The busyness continues. I love it. I feel like with only a week left I'm down to the wire in terms of getting everything done that I want to.

Friday night we went to see Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in the West End, which was hilarious. It basically tells the story of Hamlet from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's perspective, who are two very minor characters that we don't care much about in the actual play. The actors were wonderful. It's really fast-paced, really witty--I can't imagine how long that script is. So we had a good time. The only bummer was that I was feeling a little sick (I kept thinking NOT AGAIN) so I couldn't quite enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

Friday night I went to bed terrified of waking up really sick, especially because Saturday we had plans to go to Oxford! The good news was I was fine and able to make the trek up to Paddington station to catch the train.

Oxford was in some ways exactly what I was expecting, and in some ways not. The part I was expecting was the reallllly old architecture and beautiful lawns and small-town feel to the whole thing. I kept wanting to see it covered in snow and on a postcard. The not-expecting part was how really touristy it was. I was surprised at how many chain stores there were and enormous masses of people. It was a Saturday, but still. We also found out that it was "Alice's Day," which I guess happens once a year to commemorate Lewis Carroll (who went to Oxford) and Alice in Wonderland. So there were a lot of people dressed as Alice characters, which confused us for a while until we figured it out.

Cool moment: Having lunch and a half-pint (I wasn't feeling well, okay) at The Eagle and Child, the favorite pub of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and their literary group called The Inklings. That was pretty much my number one reason for wanting to go to Oxford, and it didn't disappoint. There were a lot of signs declaring their former presence and we got to sit in these very old booths that looked liked they could have been around when they were. I tried to soak in all the literary magic I could. Loved it.

Not cool moment: Trying to get into Christ Church College, AKA the Great Hall in the Harry Potter movies (at least the first one). They had two weddings scheduled for the day and it was closed to the public. The man standing by the gate was amazingly nice about it, though. He was this cute little man who apologized probably five times and said if we came back at just that time tomorrow we could see the Great Hall and all of it. So we didn't feel too put out. We also visited the Oxford University Press and Oxford Castle before heading home. It was a good trip.

Today we really felt the need to start checking some major things off the list, so we started off the morning by going out to Abbey Road and taking our obligatory crossing-the-street-like-the-Beatles picture. Unlike the Beatles, we had to worry about getting hit by the endless parade of cars that wanted to get by. Those poor drivers. There was a mass of probably about thirty people all perched on the edge of the sidewalk just waiting to jump in and get a picture. It was all very amusing.

Afterwards we headed down to King's Cross Station to try to get a picture at Platform 9 3/4. After wandering aimlessly for several minutes, at one point stalking a Portuguese tour group wearing HP7 Part 2 necklaces who seemed like they knew what they were doing, we finally asked and were told that the platform itself was under construction but we could take a picture with the replica out front. It wasn't quite the same, but they had the half of a luggage cart sticking out through the wall so it looked like we were going through. Some jerk had scratched off part of the 4 so it looked like Platform 3/1. But it sufficed.

Then we went to check off a MAJOR to-do, the National Gallery. I was so proud. We had two hours and saw it ALL. There were some seriously famous works of art there. Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" and Da Vinci's "Madonna of the Rocks" were kind of the superstars. There were a lot that I knew from Art History but probably wouldn't have otherwise. Still very famous, though. Titian's "Bacchus and Ariadne" (this was one of the first ones I saw and I got a picture of it before I realized we weren't allowed to take them), Caravaggio's "Supper at Emmaus," Jan van Eyck's "Arnolfini Wedding Portrait," Constable's "Hay-Wain," Turner's "Fighting Termeraire" and "Rain, Steam, and Speed," Seurat's "Bathers as Asnieres," Holbein's "The Ambassadors"... for those of you who are interested at all in art (I'm looking at you, Maddie), or anyone who took AP Art History with me, it was all really cool.

I cannot believe there is only one week left. I feel like it's gone by so quickly, and yet I've done SO MUCH that it also feels way longer. That's kind of what I anticipated I guess. We have a lot to do school-wise this week, with a project on Hamlet due Tuesday, recitation of memorized lines on Wednesday, and final on Thursday, but come on, I love all that stuff.

So much Shakespeare.

It's been a busyyy couple of days. We had a triple-header in terms of class-related activities, starting with Richard III on Tuesday, then Hamlet on Wednesday, and our trip to Stratford-upon-Avon on Thursday. So much Shakespeare. So much awesome.

So first, Richard III. This was a really cool experience. Richard was played by Kevin Spacey, and he killed it. I actually didn't know much about the play, despite it apparently being the most-performed Shakespeare play (not sure if I believe that). But then of course I read it and got terribly confused with all the characters and was really just only excited to see Spacey, not really the play as a whole. The whole production was phenomenal, though. It was directed by Sam Mendes. It wasn't at the Globe, where all of our other plays have been, but it was at the Old Vic, which is a far more developed theatre. Kevin Spacey has actually been the Artistic Director there for the last 5 years or so. Maybe longer. Anyway, because it was indoors and they had quite a bit of money to play with, they did some very cool things that the Globe cannot. Every time they had a scene change they played this really intense drum music and projected the name of a character on the wall--which was cool as well as helpful to keep everyone straight. One of my favorite scenes is when Richard and his right-hand man, Buckingham, go out into the square and try to convince the citizens that Richard should be the new king. It's all very deceitful of them, Richard is pretending like he's this very virtuous man who couldn't possibly be king and he doesn't want the burden, and Buckingham gets the crowd all riled up and "forces" him into accepting. The way they did it was to have Richard exit upstage, as if he was going into a church to pray, and then they broadcasted him on this huge screen reacting to Buckingham and to the citizens. They placed what seemed to be the entire supporting cast at various places throughout the audiences, who would cheer or boo or yell at opportune moments. It really felt like we were in the middle of this political rally. Spacey was so great, looking all humble and stuff, when in reality we knew it was all a part of his evil scheme.

The end was pretty awesome too. There's a scene where all of the ghosts who Richard has killed (there are about 10 of them... dude's got a lot of blood on his hands) come onstage and curse him the night before his final battle, while praising his enemy, Richmond. It's cool to read but the way they did it was even better. They seated everyone on this long table, as if they were having a dinner party and the curses were toasts. It was a really unique of doing it. Then at the very end, Richard and Richmond are giving these inspiring monologues to their troops, and they had all of the ghosts come back again and stand downstage with these enormous drums. So Richard and Richmond are yelling and the ghosts are playing and it was incredibly epic, like more so than I think it could have even been in a movie. When Richard finally dies, they attach this hook to his shoes and lift him up so he's dangling upside down, just him and Richmond onstage as Richmond delivers his victorious monologue. It was very creepy and great. It was also really impressive of Spacey, who just had to do this super demanding role for 3 1/2 hours, then scream out a monologue, then have this long swordfight, and then to top it off he has to hang upside down for a good three minutes. It was very cool and surreal to give a standing ovation to a guy whose won 2 Oscars. We went to the stage door and were there for all of 30 seconds when a bodyguard poked his head out and said "If you're waiting for Mr. Spacey or Mr. Mendes, they'll not be out this way tonight." Understandable.

So that was Richard III. The following night we went back to my beloved Globe to see Hamlet. With the stakes being so high given it was our last play, and we'd just seen Kevin Spacey, and it's my favorite Shakespeare, it would have been pretty hard to live up to expectations. So it didn't, really. I mean I liked it and everything. I hate having bad things to say about plays because I know that everyone works so hard and unlike in movies, you can see all that hard work displayed onstage in front of you. This production seemed especially tiring, given that they had only 8 actors playing every role. Hamlet was the only guy who didn't play at least 3 different parts. It's a traveling production, they're only at the Globe for 3 performances, so one of the things they've done to make the show unique is to try to emulate actors back in the day, like before there were real theatres. That's how actors would have done it in the past, with minimal actors so they don't have to pay a bunch of people, and they actually rarely went offstage, doing costume changes right there. Most of their costumes were really ratty too, I think again kind of demonstrating the lack of budget that traveling actor groups used to have. So that was a cool aspect, but it just didn't translate great to the Globe. Sometimes it felt more like it was about the costume changes and the idea of it rather than the play itself. It was still good, though, Hamlet did a great job (although we really could not get over how short he was... a Google search when we got home revealed he was 5' 4". FIVE FOUR.)

Thursday was our trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. It was all well and good. We visited 4 different Shakespeare-related houses, including the farm where his grandparents lived and he would visit in the summers (apparently he lived there for a while when the plague broke out in the city), his wife Anne Hathaway's house, his daughter and son-in-law's house, and of course his birthplace. The birthplace was by far the most commercialized, they had this whole Disneyland-esque video introduction thing. They also had his very first Folio, though, which was way cool. They said if he hadn't released that Folio there's a good chance like half of the plays we know today would have been lost. We also visited the church where he and his family are buried, and saw the font that he was baptized in. Stratford as a whole was a cute little city. Practically everything there was Shakespearianized. They had places like Iago Jewellery and Othello Bar... it was great.

Still not entirely sure what the plans are for this evening. We may go to a play or something.

4th of July in the Country That Lost

Yesterday was pretty mellow. I slept in for the first time since I've been here, really, aside from when I was sick. Becka and Nikki (not to be confused with Nicole), my two other roommates, and I planned on going to get Dim Sum in Chinatown, but instead had kind of a lazy morning and then went to the Globe to get tickets for Anne Boleyn and to see if there were any left for Much Ado. Tragedy of tragedies, there weren't. For the entire rest of the time I'm here. I had a very cranky walk back to the Tube.

For dinner we went back to our "local," The Builder's Arms, who had apparently had a very busy weekend given the Wimbledon finals and were almost completely out of food. I had a really overdone burger that was oddly spicy, so I kept piling it with ketchup to counteract the spice. 3/4 of the way through I realize it's the ketchup that's spicy, and I'm just making it worse. To remedy it all a couple of us went over to Nando's and got the best mash in the entire world (the menu actually says "we defy you to find better"), but then they didn't have any dessert so we had to stop for ice cream on the way home. I know this is all terribly fascinating.

Clearly, our American Independence Day isn't a very big deal over here. Seeing as the Brits are the ones that lost the war and everything. We didn't make it a big deal either, really. Class in the morning as usual, and then Dobby took a few of us out to lunch who volunteered to act out scenes from Richard III in class tomorrow (This is the third time I've done it. Just can't stay away). Then since we had yet to actually read the play, my 3 roomies and I hopped the Tube to Northern London, where Nicole's boyfriend lives. We got free burritos because we were American (seriously, they had this 4th of July deal... just had to show our Drivers Licenses) at a Chipotle-like chain and then went to read in a little park. We only got a scene through, though, when Matt (the boyfriend) texted and invited us to a barbecue in a different park, with his co-workers. So we went to that for a while until I started to feel stressed about finishing the play by tomorrow. This is not exactly concise material. We spent the rest of the night reading the play aloud, always an entertaining event. Especially when there are only 3 people to read approximately 30 different characters, half of whom are named Richard, Edward, or Henry.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow, which likely means a) museum or b) sit inside and read plays. We still have one more act of Richard to go before seeing the show tomorrow night, and then we have Hamlet the night following... not a whole lot of time to cram in all that Shakespeare. I'm terribly excited for both, though. Richard III is starring Kevin Spacey and is directed by Sam Mendes, and it's not at the Globe, it's at a theatre in the West End. Very legit. And Hamlet, of course, is my favorite play of all-time (also Romeo & Juliet). Then Thursday is our trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace. So we've got a very packed week.

Also, I got the wonderful news that just because tickets are sold out for Much Ado doesn't mean that all hope is lost. A lot of times they have returns on the day of the show, and if I call in the morning I can usually get a seat. Or if not in the morning, then I can wait in line like an hour before the show and almost definitely get one. So I have faith! I knew there must be a way.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July--God Bless America!

Adventures Thwarted at Shoreditch, Henley, and the Globe

Public transportation: not my favorite part of cities.

So we've been hearing all trip that the place to go out for locals is Shoreditch. Last night we decided to check it out. I don't need to go into the details, the memory will just make me frustrated and anxious, but we ended up wandering around this neighborhood for hours, trying to find somewhere to go, getting lost, waiting in lines, figuring out maps... it was terrible. By the time 1:00 rolled around we were waiting in line for a bar and just decided to forget it, it wasn't worth it. Plus we knew it would be a fiasco getting home... which it was. Four bus stops, three buses, a long walk and almost two hours later, we made it back to our beloved Manson Place, where I never wanted to leave again. We had spent a grand total of about 45 minutes actually inside a bar and it was 3:30 before we were asleep.

This was a problem, because I had plans this morning to go to the Henley Royal Regatta, which I was very excited about. I got up after 4 hours of sleep, put on my long dress (it must be below the knee to get in... love it), made my way to Paddington station and was ten minutes early to meet Nicole and her boyfriend. After a half hour, though, the train we were supposed to take had left, the one after it had left, and still no sign of them. I was starting to feel very sorry for myself that I was alone in this enormous train station and no cell phone or anything to get ahold of anybody, and then I thought: well, that's okay, I can always go see Much Ado. So I left, hopped the Tube to the London Bridge, and headed over to the Globe feeling really confused about what had just happened but actually pretty okay about the whole thing.

I got coffee and wrote in my journal and embraced the idea of being alone in London, for the first time since I've been here, really. My parade was rained on by the ticket seller, though, who informed me that seats were all sold out for today. I wasn't terribly devastated--I should have known a Saturday matinee in July would sell out quickly--but also wasn't nearly ready to leave yet. So I perused the gift shop, finally buying DVD copies of Romeo & Juliet and Love's Labour's Lost from the 2009 season. Who knows if they'll be any good, but I thought it'd be nice to bring home a piece of the Globe. Also R&J is one of my favorite shows (the other is Hamlet). Also the guy who played Claudio is in both of them. Triple win.

I wrote in my journal again and still couldn't bring myself to leave, so I investigated the sign that said "Exhibition and Tour". I'd already taken the tour with everyone else, so I just paid 5 pounds to check out the exhibition. It was interesting; exactly what I wanted to do if I couldn't actually see the show. They had some costumes from previous performances and a lot of history and it was all quite good.

Finally I thought it might be time to take my leave, so I headed out and started walking towards the Tube. As I was walking, though, I saw the woman who plays Beatrice headed towards the theatre, cell phone and coffee in hand. That makes three times I've seen actors outside of the theatre. Very odd. Anyway, I thought I might sit just a bit longer and see if I could see anyone else, while also writing in my journal for the third time. They closed the gates a few moments later though and I figure it was really finally time to go.

Back at home, my roommates were all terribly relieved to see me. Apparently Nicole's bus had gotten delayed, twice, and they hadn't made it to Paddington until after I'd left. She felt so bad about leaving me that she sent the boys ahead and came all the way back home to get me, assuming I'd come home when I couldn't find them there. I felt awful when I heard that, because I actually thought as I left the station that I should probably go home and check in, but the allure of being on my own and spending time at the Globe was too strong. My other roommates practically had to force Nicole to go, she felt so bad about leaving me. So now of course I feel bad. It's bad all around. I haven't heard from her, but hopefully she met up with the boys and is having a great time. Someday I'll see the Henley, just not today.

Today officially marks the halfway point of my trip. What an amazing time.

Globe Withdrawal

I think Kensington may be the most wonderful place I will ever live. You've got all the perks of the city, like restaurants, and the Tube, and a fun atmosphere, but it doesn't feel like the city, not with its white buildings and trees and clean streets and not a sketchy person in sight. I love it so much. It's getting to the point where getting off the Tube at our station feels like getting home. I can't help it; I'm attached.

I'm also incredibly attached to the Globe theatre, where of course I've been spending a great deal of time and falling increasingly in love with it. I actually miss it when we don't go there at night. Last night, FIE treated us all to tickets to The 39 Steps, the West End play comically based on Hitchcock's movie. It was amusing and all that, but all I could really think about was how much I'd rather be up in the third level at the Globe being treated to some 400-year-old witty banter. And as incredibly excited I am to see Kevin Spacey in Richard III this week, I do wish it was at my beloved Globe (although it will be nice to have seats with cushions--those benches can be brutal). Anyway, we're all finding it terribly ironic that instead of pining for the weekend like normal students, we can't wait until our next class and our next show. I was very close to hopping on the Tube and going to be a groundling (that's what they call the people who stand in the pit-like thing at the Globe, right in front of the stage) for Much Ado tonight, especially when I discovered it's not showing again until next Monday. But I resisted.

I've definitely been getting in my history for the last couple days. Yesterday after class we went to the Tower of London, which was incredibly interesting and also incredibly large. I had no idea there was going to be so much to see. We saw the Crown Jewels, of course, which were amazing and very sparkly. Then we spent the rest of the time exploring the various towers and walking along the wall and checking it all out. There was so much history there. We spent almost three and a half hours, which is by far the longest we've spent anywhere.

Today we continued our sightseeing with a walking tour that took us to Buckingham Palace to the see the Changing of the Guard, then over to Westminster Abbey. How beautiful. It was very fun to stand in the place I had watched at 5 in the morning a few months ago when Will & Kate were married, & of course where good old Colin was crowned in The King's Speech (speaking of The King's Speech: I was told that the woman we saw play Beatrice in Much Ado played Wallis Simpson, the divorced lover/fiancee of Guy Pearce... fun fact). There were also a ton of famous graves, monuments, etc. A lot of famous writers were commemorated there, like Jane Austen and DH Lawrence and Lewis Carroll and Charles Dickens and of course the man of the hour, Mr. Shakespeare. It was nice to get the tour, we got a lot of interesting information we wouldn't have otherwise. The whole thing was three hours, though, so we were pretty tired.

I came home and considered going to the Globe and took a nap while most of my flatmates went to Madame Tussaud's. Nicole and I are going to go some other time when I'm not so tired and my camera isn't dead. It's one of the places I'm most excited to go so I want to be prepared.

Have I mentioned I miss the Globe?