London Calling

Hello, Everyone!

The London Experience:
On Thursday night we arrived in London around 9 tired and hungry, so I went to a pub and had a beer and some oreos with some friends, then hit the hay.

Friday, I woke up early and walked to Buckingham Palace (a very long, Brian Goner-paced walk) to see the changing of the guard. BUT just my luck...the changing of the guard was canceled that day. So, I moved on to Trafalgar Square.

I wandered into the national museum which was wonderful. Then I moved on toward the embankment and found Big Ben, The Parliament Building, The London Eye and Westminster Abbey.  I laid with some friends outside Westminster and looked up at the British sky for a few minutes before moving on.

We walked across the Millennium bridge to an area filled with street performers.  I was chosen to be Charlie Chaplin's personal assistant for a trick. Then, I had a Ragtime moment.  I stumbled upon an old, jewish man making silhouettes and found a tear trickling down the side of my cheek (anybody that's ever been to a UET party would say that they weren't surprised).  He made me a silhouette and wished me luck in life.  We walked along the river before we decided to eat dinner and head back to the hotel.  Then, we went to Soho to dance our asses off, but found no dancing around...even in the gay district. humph.

Saturday I woke up early again to try the Changing of the guard again. Success!  All was great and the royal marching band played Abba.  Then, we took the underground to the museum of natural history where we found some lunch at a farmer's market and wondered in to see all of the dinosaurs and monkeys.  After that, we took the subway to Portobello Road to do some serious shopping and great deals. I found a 3 pound purse, a wallet, a journal and some scarves and called it an expensive day.  That night most of UET Harlax. Fall 2010 (minus a few of my favs.) trekked down to the National Theatre where we saw a new work of theatre called "Welcome to Thebes". It was SPECTACULAR and will stick with me for a long while. It tied classic greek theatre (Oedipus and Antigone) to today's issues in Iraq and the genocide in Africa.  It is theatre like that which reminds me why I do theatre and places like the National Theatre that remind me why I do management.  An amazing facility that does great things for the community and changes the lives of its' theatre-goers.  In an industry as hard as theatre, sometimes you need a little reminder.  And, I got a drink at intermission!  Just like an adult!  That was when I called it a day again and slept like a rock.

Sunday, I had to be checked out and on a bus by 10am so I got to sleep in a tidge bit.  Then, Harlaxton chartered a bus to take us to Hampton Court Palace, home of Henry VIII and all of his wives.  It was great, but I was exhausted and ready to be back in my dorm, fast asleep on my bed.  This picture goes out to all mah ducks. It was taken at the children's play room of the Hampton Court Palace.  As you can see, I'm lookin' rough. We finally got back to Harlaxton in time to do my homework, skype some friends and go to bed in time to wake up refreshed for class the next day.