Wednesday we had a day trip to Chichester, which is a quaint little town. I actually enjoyed it more than Bath. Lots of little shops, a beautiful cathedral, and the reason we were there, to see the play: Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are dead. This was another one that hit the mark, but I will admit I went into it not happy to be there. The Player, one of the characters, was set to be played by one of my favorite actors - Tim Curry. However, the weekend we got to London, he dropped out of the play due to a bad chest infection. While I respect him completely for doing this because of his health, he really would have made the best Player and I was disappointed to watch someone who did okay, but not anything like Tim Curry. The play itself is a long play, and it felt it at times.
After the play, we came back on the train which was an hour and a half ride through the beautiful English countryside. Afterward, Daniel and I decided to walk and get lost, which ended us up in a really gorgeous Victorian part of town.
On Thursday, I got up early and headed to the Delfont Makintosh theatre with Devon to try to stand in line and get into the lottery for their production of Much Ado About Nothing. Guess what? 20 of the best seats in the house, with about 30 people there and we both got a ticket! It was absolutely amazing. I thought it was a great production, fantastic cast, as well as one of the most beautiful sets I've ever seen. If you get the chance to see it, go, but expect to have to pay an arm and a leg or wait in line for the lottery.
Later Thursday, Devon and I went to try to meet-up with the others who are on a walking tour of London. We spent an hour looking for them and finally ended up seeing them at Samuel Johnson's house! I was on cloud nine for a while. I'm hoping to go back and actually tour it, but there wasn't much time. After that we went to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, the oldest pub in the city. Many famous writers ate there, so it was a great treat.
Friday was interesting. One of my favorite playwrights, Henrik Ibsen, is having one of his plays (he considered it to be his life's work) shown in English for the first time. I'm going to be in one of the first showings. However, first time being stages in English, the fact that it's been cut from -eight hours- to -four-, and the fact it's a play that's -four- hours long was enough to have me worried. The play is Emperor and Galilean. What can I say? First, the set was the most impressive and gigantic I've ever seen. However, it seemed like a lot of the play was sacrificed for the production quality. The acting was great, the story was interesting, but considering it was a four hour play, it just started lacking till the end. It wasn't my favorite, nor my least favorite. I didn't know that we went to a preview of the show and that it actually hadn't premiered yet. At the intermission, a good 1/4 of the audience had left. I think that once they start getting their act together it'll be a really good show, and worth the time but right now it's still sloppy around the edges.
Saturday was crazy, and ended up being more than I expected it to be. Daniel, Becky, Devon and myself got up pretty early to get to the Trooping the Colour and made it over there by about 9:15. We just follow
ed the crowds, and ended up getting to see most of the parade leading up to it. At one point we are just standing there, and the we hear cheering. Everyone looks up, and guess who comes rushing by? Prince Harry, Kate Middleton, Camilla and Albert. We all stand in awe for a few minutes, and then begin to watch the rest of the parade. Seeing all the guards was amazing, and hearing the music had me so excited. Then suddenly, cheering again followed by the Queen herself. (Picture Right, taken by me) It was so wonderful to see her, and to get to jump up and down and cheer for her like everyone else. She's in her carriage with Phillip, and behind her (not pictured) were Charles and William - riding in their full soldier garb. You could barely even recognize them, but this woman in front of us, who comes every year, pointed to them and told us which one was which. All in all, a beautiful morning.After this we were going to go to Portabello Road, but instead we went to this toy store, named Hamley's. This is basically the FAO Schwartz of toy stores here in the UK, and it's been around since the 1760s. Five floors of nothing but toys, but on the fourth floor we came to this big glass display case, and we nearly all screamed. Every single character in Harry Potter had a wand created, and you could buy the replica. Each wand was absolutely beautiful, and then I found the one of my favorite character - Professor Snape. I shrieked a bit and then reluctantly left. I went outside the store for a while, and waited for everyone to come join me. When Devon came down I finally exclaimed, "I'm getting it!" and pushed past everyone and went and bought myself the replica of Snape's wand. It's beautiful and the perfect birthday/London/Study Abroad/what have you souvenir.
I also wanted to add a few things to this post that I've found myself addicted to since coming here. The first is something I thought I'd never be interested in but adore - adding a slice of lemon to a lemon-lime soda, especially Sprite. I don't know why but it's so yummy. Also, I'm slowly starting to integrate scarves into my wardrobe. To quote my roommate, Becky, "Scarves are the easiest way to look European." I was freezing walking through the square one night, and I bought one and since have loved wearing it. So, maybe I've picked up two habits since being here.
So, today we have a free day and I'm spending it getting ahead on work. I have two oral reports a week from Tuesday, and two papers due when I get back, and a final. I'm trying to get a jump on it so that I can get back, pass out, and hopefully not be jet lagged and having to worry about homework!
Twelve days and we'll be heading back to Arkansas!
