Weekend Plus Some

I just had such an amazing weekend!

We went out again on Saturday night, but this time it was the four of us girls plus Natalie's German friend Erik (whom she met at Cal Poly but now lives in London) and Senne, one of the Belgian guys we met a few days before. We went to a lace called Tiger Tiger which was really fun because they have themed dance floors on different levels. The most notable was the 70's themed floor called Groovy Wonderland. Clever. There were disco balls and a light up dance floor and girls dressed up in retro dancing al over the place. Anyway, it was just fun.

The highlight of the weekend was most definitely Sunday afternoon. Erik (the German) reserved a table at a place called the Bavarian Beerhouse underground in Hackney for England v. Germany World Cup game. Now, this game was HUGE here, and one of the main reasons we went to this place was because those cheering for Germany felt like they had to go someplace other than where anyone supporting England would be. And believe me, this place felt like Germany! Almost everyone there was German, with a four Americans (us) and a couple English people scattered in. Now I'm talking all the waitresses were wearing Germany jerseys, there were German flags on every table and the walls, and all the food was German (of course). All the football fans had their faces painted and were wearing jerseys, German flags as skirts or capes, or just anything red, black and gold. Well, Germany ended up winning 4 goals to 1 (but I'm sure you've all heard about the goal England got cheated out of because I'm assuming it's all over the news). Whenever Germany scored there were people jumping on benches and tables and banging on the ceiling. It was so loud and soooooooo fun, of course I joined in. I met a lot of really fun people as well. After the game was over we stayed to celebrate, and everyone else was singing and chanting in German for about two hours afterward, and of course the beer (or bier) was flowing. Everyone knows I just love German and/or Austrian culture since I studied in Austria in high school, so the whole experience was right up my alley. It was really interesting that as soon as I tasted some of the food I felt comforted, a little like home. Although the culture is not the same, I was still reminiscent of my time spent with the Venningdorfs. It's amazing how that experience has stuck with me, even after 5 or 6 years. Astrid, I can't wait to see you!

After the game, Natalie, Jill, Erik, Jill and Andreas (one of Erik's German colleagues) went out to dinner at Nando's. Nando's is a South African restaurant right on the Thames in South Bank and the food was delicious. THe night ended beautifully with a sunset walk along the river and across the London Bridge. It was absolutely perfect.

Yesterday began with a field trip instead of class! We went on a tour of Parliament. Um, that building is amazing! It was the original royal palace of London, called the Palace of Westminster, and it is directly next to Westminster Abbey. We got the whole shebang, including a walk through many of the halls and lobbies, as well as the House of Lords and the House of Commons. I'm not too big on politics, but the architecture is out of control!

Yesterday afternoon takes the cake though. (Well, at least a big chunk of it.) My professor Josh brought his whole family over with him, including Riley and Avery who I get the pleasure of babysitting every so often back in SLO. Well, in Hyde Park there is this incredible playground called the Princess Diana Memorial Playground. When I say incredible, I mean INCREDIBLE. There is a huge pirate ship and paths that go into secret playing space. Slides, houses, instruments, little pools of water, swings, EVERYTHING. The catch, though, is that you need to have a child with you to go in. So we borrowed Josh's. I just love playing with Riley and Avery, and Riley's friend Livia (who's family is visiting the Machamer's from their vacation in Slovakia) was also there. We got to play for so long! Josh bought all of us ice cream afterward, which definitely hit the spot because it was so hot! I have the cutest pictures...

After the playground, Jill and Natalie and I walked the long way home, traveling deeper into the park to find the Peter Pan Statue (now of Finding Neverland fame) and then onto the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It's a giant circular run of water open for the public to enjoy. You are encouraged to walk through and get your feet wet! We spent some time there, and then found a restaurant next to the Serpentine for some water and Cokes! The weather here has been so off the wall. We were expecting cold and rainy, and it has been so hot lately. We've been wearing shorts everyday. Oh well, it's just another reason to eat gelato!

I'm off to another show! This one is Like A Fishbone at a really small fringe theatre, but you'll here all about it I'm sure!

Okay, okay! Last one for the day, promise.

Natalie's Photoshop wizard! She's been playing with some of our pictures, and I have to share:

The past few days...

...have been so busy! I haven't had much of a chance to write. Here are the highlights:

We saw Ditch on Wednesday night. The space they found for the production was underground in the Old Vic Tunnels! We were in dark, damp, musty abandoned tunnels underneath Waterloo Tube Station, so the trains were rumbling overhead the whole time. The show itself was about London in the future, after being hit by some horrible disaster (most likely a war?). It was a pretty good production, but it definitely had some problems. The space was amazing (see the set! It's the picture with the blue lighting...) and the tunnels leading into the theatre had some really interesting art work. There was an incredibly decorated bar called Bunker next to the theatre (see the pictures of the bar and the mirrors). One of my favorite tableaux in the tunnel was a table with a bunch of old beat up things from daily life. But during intermission I realized that it was their prop table! It is so crazy that they would leave it out in the open! I asked the nearest person who worked at the theatre, and she told me I was right. I then asked what they would do if someone moved/stole something and she told me it was her job to watch it all night. A prop table right out in the open?!? That's a bold move. A really bold move.

After the show we took a walk along the Thames at dusk. See the picture of Parliament immediately after the sun went down!

Thursday night we ate dinner in Chinatown (picture) and saw The 39 Steps at the amazing Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly (another picture!). Sitting in those seats was like being transported back a hundred years! The auditorium itself is beautiful with multiple balconies, a chandelier and red velvet curtains. The show was based on the Alfred Hitchcock-directed movie of the same name. (Think of a murder mystery from the 1930s about a spy organization.) It had a devilishly handsome protagonist, a beautiful blonde damsel in distress, and just the right amount of cheesiness! AND the actors were incredible. The cast was only four people, but together they played over a hundred roles! It was a ridiculously funny show.

After the show we decided to check out the nightlife a little. We got all dressed up (see the picture of my beautiful roommates!) and went dancing for a bit, and I made some new friends from Belgium (Senne, Dimitri, and Robin). The last two days have been spent with a little sightseeing, a little relaxing, and a lot of homework. Oh yeah, and I went back to Topshop for a while. (Don't roll your eyes at me, Andy Farrell. I spent hardly anything!)

(...But I still have 5 more weeks! <3 )

Pictures From This Week!

There is a lot of big, old stuff in London. And Natalie and I love swans and each other!

























Here is a photo I thought was interesting. It was in the Roman Londinium section of the Museum of London. They also love Glee here! (Just like me and Max.)
























A picture outside Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.
















Looking up at the Temple Church.

















The girls and I outside the Globe.
























I'm at the GLOBE with a MACBETH ticket in my hand!





















And actor exploding out of the depths of Hell! :)

So Foul and Fair a Day I Have Not Seen...

This is frustrating: I wrote this blog two days ago but have not had time to pictures in it so I didn't publish it. I still haven't been able to put any in, but I'm posting this any way. It's really hard being one of the only people here without a computer. This is about Tuesday...


So here's the thing. I could talk a ton about my day because it was super loooong and packed full. But I'd rather write a little about my day and more about last night because I don't know about you but...

I SAW MACBETH AT THE GLOBE LAST NIGHT.

We were prepared for a very long day yesterday, but by the time we got home last night everyone was exhausted. We got up at 7:30 as usual, went to class, blah blah blah. Class is really interesting here because every single thing we learn about happened here. British Romanticism is all about the beauty of London and the surrounding areas and the philosophies of the people in the late 18th/early 19th century. There is evidence of what we learn in History of London all over the city. But most importantly to me, of course, everything we cover in World Drama, we are going to see. Live. In the theatre. In London.

After our classes yesterday, our history professor John Makey took us on a field trip. We rode the tube across the city, and he walked us through some backstreets to places we never would have seen without him. Most notably to me, he took us to a the Inns of Court. Standing in the courtyard he gave us a short lecture on the legislative system and the process of becoming a lawyer in England. Then he pointed out a building that was constructed in the 1500s, and (are you ready?) Shakespeare and his men performed The Twelfth Night for the Queen in one of the halls of that building. I'm sorry, what?

We continued walking past St. Paul's to find the Museum of London. Having just learned about the origins of the city, called Londinium after the Romans braved the Thames and conquered the Celts, it was very interesting to see the evidence and artifacts from that time (especially since I understood everything). I ended up walking through by myself because while everyone was speeding through, I found myself reading everything. I watched all the movies on the Plague and the Great Fire of 1666, and I spent a lot of time in the Victorian Garden Walk. I only made it through about half the museum so I'll have to go back.

At 5 pm, Josh met us outside the museum to take us to a pub called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (!), which was rebuilt in 1667 and is still open for business. The pub consist of multiple levels, and there is seating and bars one and two stories below the street in catacomb-like rooms and hallways. The ceilings of the stairways are so low that I had to hunch over to get in them. If I had stood up I would have smacked my entire face, from forehead to chin, into the wall.

From Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese we walked passed St. Paul's yet again and crossed over the Thames on the Millenium Bridge, which was built to celebrate 50 years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. Just across on the South Bank is the Tate Modern, which I can't wait to visit. But just a little ways to the left once across was one of the greatest buildings I will ever see - THE GLOBE!!!! I have been learning about Shakespeare's Globe for years. As a Theatre major, I have taken so many classes involving Shakespeare, and the Globe has always seemed almost intangible. But last night as I stood in front of it, it took my breath away. It's not actually the original Globe Theatre, and it stands in a slightly different location from where it once did. However, when they rebuilt it, they took every measure they could to make it as similar to the original as possible. This included using wooden beams and pegs and nails to hold it together. We got our tickets and went inside, and it was greater than I ever expected. The way the Globe was set up was that it consisted of three levels of seating in a circle around the stage. The higher up in society, the higher your seat. In the middle of the circle, right up to the stage, was a dirt plot called the yard. This is where the groundlings stood. The groundlings were the poorest of the poor, and the yard was disgusting. For example, back then, if someone in the seating area had to use the bathroom, they would relieve themselves over the railing onto the groundlings. Of course I wanted to watch the show from there!

For this production of Macbeth, the yard was a little different. The audience still stood for the entire show, but there were black cloths stretched across so the audience. There were slits cut into the cloth for the audience on the ground to poke their head through. It was supposed to be a reference to the Seventh Circle of Hell ala Dante's Inferno, and the effect was definitely achieved. It was such a strange experience! I had also heard that those in the yard could potentially get messy, but I was not expecting what we were about to experience. On the doors outside the theatre were signs warning us of the gore we were about to see. Usually I hate gore, especially in movies, but in true theatre nerd style when I watch it live I am more interested in how exactly productions will pull things off.

As the play began, the Weird Sisters ran under the material and grabbed as many people as they could. We souldn't see them coming and screams rippled across the yard! The bagpipes started, and all of a sudden, actors drenched in blood exploded out of holes in the material. Throughout the show some of the grossest things happened to those of us on the yard. For example, at the point in the show where the Thane of Cawdor is killed for treason, they tied him to a post and began by cutting out his tongue. Well, a blood packet exploded out of his mouth, and the man who cut his tongue out threw it in the yard! They used actual cow tongue and of course, it flew directly at my head and at my friend Camille's. It fell threw Camille's hole, and we had to be careful not to step in it! Sooooooo gross. During the rest of the play, the Porter "peed" in a bucket and taunted the audience with it until he finally dumped it on a group of obnoxious middle-school-aged boys in the front. In addition, when the witches give Macbeth the prophecy that he shall not be killed by any man born of woman, one of the witches "gave birth" on stage to a bloody baby dummy, and blood and gross birth juice (technical term) squirted all over the audience. The whole show was such an amazingly disgusting, wonderfully bloody mess. I have always loved Macbeth (it's definitely one of my top Shakespeare plays, if not my favorite), and I am so happy that this was the show I saw at the Globe.

Well, except for the part where I was unconscious. Yup, I was "that girl"... The one who passed out. Not at all from the blood, but because it was so darn hot and we were all sooooo tired. Okay Mom, okay Dad, don't worry. At this point, I'm great at knowing when it's going to happen so I sat down and put my head on my knee before fainting. Got some sparkling water and a chocolate bar at intermission and I was right back in the action. Now I can say not only that I saw Shakespeare at the Globe, but that I fainted during it too. :)

Ohhhhhh, School.

First day of classes! We start at 9 am with British Literature from the Romantic Period with Professor Waitinas from Cal Poly, then World Drama with Josh from 10:40 to 12, and lastly History of London with Professor Makey (from London!) at 1 pm. It went by really quickly, but I already feel like I have a lot of homework! Only six weeks though, and then I'm officially done with college and out in the real world (aka traveling around Europe...?).Max, Natalie, Jill, Tia and I ate lunch at this amazing deliciously cheap cafe near school, where I got a mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwich on a baguette with chips (or "crisps") for less than 3 GBP. After school we walked to Sainbury's to get some groceries and the like, then headed back to the flat for a moment or two of relaxation.

That didn't last long, because Natalie, Jill and I decided to talk a walk! And by walk I mean we were walking fro 2 and a half hours. After passing the cutest cafes and vintage shops carrying secondhand Manolos, Jimmy Choo's, Guiseppe Zanottis, and Alexander McQueens (which I was still FAR from being able to afford), the three of us found ourselves on Portabello Road in Notting Hill! Check out the gorgeous bright blue house we passed. We had some delicious gelato! We all got something deliciously European, and I chose Stracciatella, which I can never pass up. It's like American chocolate chip ice cream, except the chocolate is broken into the smallest of pieces and mixed all the way in so it's still smooth. Add some shell chocolate on top, and voila, amazing. Portabello Road is famous for its street market, which happens on Sundays, so we will be back. On the way home we decided to go a different way than we came. Exploring in London is great fun! We found an old church called Saint Matthew's (and old in Europe means REALLY old) and a really cool synagogue in Westminster. (Pictures) We cut through Hyde Park on the way back, where we stopped at a small lake to feed the swans! All we had was a PB & J sandwich that I was randomly carrying in my purse, but apparently swans and pigeons love 'em. Natalie had never had a wild bird eat from her hand (although I would hardly call these "wild") so she was really excited, and Natalie excited means Jill and Ashleigh are excited too! We frolicked through the park on the way home, and here we are. Time fro some homework and a shower because tomorrow is a long, exciting day: classes, field trip (!), and Macbeth AT THE GLOBE!!! I can barely control myself.
























P.S. Here's a picture of where I live!

Hey Dad...

Happy Father's Day! Even though it's the next day here already, Father's Day is about to end at home. I hope you had the best day, and I'm glad I got to talk to you! I love you!

Now that I've graduated, I'm going to be a princess.

Today was simple, relaxing, and incredibly fun. We didn't have any specific time we had to do anything, and the whole day was ours for whatever. I actually got sleep for the first time one this trip last night (7 hours - as much as the first two nights of our trip put together) so I was ready. After a quiet morning, Max, Tia, and I decided to walk through Hyde Park to Kensington Palace for a tour. Well, the Palace is not quite the same as it used to be. Right now it is in the middle of it's Enchanted Palace exhibit, which is a celebration of all the princesses that have lived there - Mary, Charlotte, Caroline, Victoria, Anne, Margaret and Diana. However, this was not your everyday educational exhibit. The gardens outside were beautiful (Pictures!), and I loved them even more since they had creepy black metal decorations placed throughout them. (Another picture!) I even made a little friend in a squirrel who followed me part way through the foliage arches. (Oh hey, squirrel.) The palace had been gutted because all the furniture was being renovated, and each room was decorated in the most amazing, enchanting, sometimes creepy, magical way. You could hear small children whispering under staircases, there were black shrouds over lanterns, doors opening to brick walls with shattered mirrors with "Get out" or Turn Back" written on them, and mobiles casting eery shadows on golden statues. Each room had a different theme, such as the Room of Royal Sorrows, the Rooms of Lost Childhood, and the Gallery of War and Play. You can see me on the Seat of Power, where your voice booms and echoes when you talk. "Be careful what you say..." A monarch's choices affect everyone. My favorite rooms were Victoria's Room of a Sleeping Princess and Diana and Margaret's Room of Dancing Princess. The former was in the room where Victoria as basically kept as a prisoner in her own life by her relatives in hopes that they could take over the crown if her uncle died before she turned 18. It was actually in this room that Victoria woke up at 5 a.m., a month and a half or so after her 18th birthday, to be told she was now the Queen of England. The most incredible part of the day was that this day, June 20th, is exactly 173 years after this event. It was the most amazing coincidence, and it sent us reeling! Diana and Margaret's room was made to look like a dark forest of white trees and white roses. Throughout the palace, everyone of the princesses was represented by a dress that had been designed by famous designers and artists, including Vivienne Westwood. The dresses stood alone without bodies or mannequins inside. The most amazing one was Victoria's which was made entirely of paper cranes and was hanging from the ceiling in her room . (Picture) Diana's dress, however, was one that she had actually worn. The whole tour concluded in a long dark hall, in which hung portraits of the actual princesses. In this room, red roses tumbled out of royal fireplaces and shadows of ghosts danced on the ceiling. It was the most exquisite tour I have ever been on, and anyone who knows me knows how much I enjoy fantasy creepy and enchanting in nature. This tour was worth more than what I paid for it.

After Kensington Palace, the three of us walked through much of Hyde Park on our way to visit Josh and the rest of the Machamer family. I was so excited to see them all, especially the girls! I cannot get enough of Riley and Avery, and to have that whole family here in London is so exciting. On our way to Westminster on the north side of the park, we passed the Princess Diana Memorial Playground, which is an amazing park you can only enter if you have children with you. I'm hoping to borrow Josh's kids some day so we can play together! Once at Josh's we got to see his flat, and I was so happy to get hugs from the girls. Each of them gave me a princess picture they had drawn that I am going to keep by my bed. All seven of us walked over to a pub called Duke of Kendal, where we all talked and I bought the hungry girls bowls of chips (french fries!). We then continued on to a part of the city dominated by Middle Eastern culture. At this amazing whole in the wall deli, we found an entire case-sized selection of baklava. Of course, we got a big assortment of four different kinds and each had five pieces as we walked back through the park after saying goodbye to the Machamers. You can see a picture of Max with three-fourths of the Machamers (the fourth - Riley - is holding my hand). On the way back the three of us walked the bridge over the Serpentine in the park. The last few hours were spent at home getting ready for class, reading Macbeth, cooking a dinner of beans and sausage with Max, and just being ridiculous with my roommates. Much needed. Goodnight everyone! I miss you all!

Topshop and Epic Fail.

Well, I didn't sleep much last night. I have the strangest jet lag! I have absolutely no troublestaying awake, but actually sleeping is a WAY different story. I went to sleep around 00:30 (!) but woke up at 3:30. Now, Mom and Andy already know this because in the next four hours I called both of them, stared at the ceiling, read, ate some food, etc. I finally fell back asleep at 7:30 and couldn't get up an hour later.

But I had to get up! We had an amazing bus tour of the city at 10:00 with our tour guide Sara (who reminded me of a more socially acceptable version of Helena Bonham Carter) and our driver Mark. We drove around for two hours catching glimpses of the sights all over the city, from the Tower of London to Parliament to Westminster Abbey to - get ready Andy - the Gherkin. The first picture's for you! Along the way, we stopped to get out at St. Paul's Cathedral. You may recognize it as the location of the steps where you can feed the birds for tuppence a bag (Mary Poppins!). Well, we didn't have any bird seed, so Natalie and I fed the imaginary birds in our theatre geek minds, but had a hard time keeping straight faces. (See next picture!)
But here's one of the best moments of the day: while walking back to the bus after our stop, I ended up on the opposite side of a fence from Natalie. While being unnecessarily silly, I decided to quickly hop up on a ledge to get yet another ridiculous picture of her. Well, apparently I missed the memo about the lip on the edge of the step because my foot got stuck and I 100% ate it. Two bleeding knuckles later, I was fine. Until I realized that I RIPPED A WHOLE IN THE KNEE OF MY SEVEN JEANS!!!!!!!!!! Saddest day ever. Not only are these jeans one of the few pairs I actually brought to London, but they were also my comfiest. Have a look. It's a good thing theatre majors don't have egos that are easily bruised. It's just another excuse to get up and take a bow.

Now the best part of the day... TOPSHOP. I finally made it to one, and let me tell you, I'm going to have to go back when I stop hyperventilating. It wasn't as big as I thought, but I've never been anywhere more my style. Girly as all get out, but with just enough edge. I'm pretty sure I couldn't breathe/speak for at least ten minutes. It's absolutely amazing!

Alright, alright, so the store was amazing. But nowhere near the experience we had later that night. Josh managed to snag twenty free tickets to a show called Money for whoever was interested in going. Well, if Josh Machamer wants me to follow him through the streets of London to an abandoned warehouse for a show at 9 pm, I am FOR SURE gonna go. I was not disappointed. I've never seen anything like the musty, smokey, dimly lit, chilly building we found ourselves in. In the middle of the warehouse was a set, a giant metal machine with stairs climbing three stories. We took a place at a table in front of that monster of a set and waited for the show to start. A police man handed out brightly colored balloons while a machine roared rhythmically in the background. Soon the sound intensified and the whole place went back. When the lights were back up, we were invited to climb the metal frame of the set to the second story. Through a door, we found a room with black silk sheets for walls, which soon inflated with air from a source behind them. After a few minutes of pitch black and the deafening roar of the machine, the lights come on yet again to reveal a small intimate wooden room with long benches on either side. The actors took us to a world where doorknobs were for the privileged, feathered men climb through the overhead pipes and float down from the ceiling, and plastic balls from a ball-pit rain down from the ceiling. We were lead to the next story up where we were handed a glass of champagne and asked to spread ourselves around the thin walkways around the edges of the room, encompassing a large chest-height glass box that allowed a view of the wooden room we were previously in. However, looking down, the actors had begun to move that floor away in pieces, revealing a "swimming pool", then two rooms two complete stories below us (we were looking through two glass floors). One was a drawing room, one was a steam room. From above, we witnessed an oblivious dance routine, an affair beginning, and woman who would trade a red book of secrets for a small jam sandwich followed by an under the table rendezvous. The dark and sinister atmosphere took us from being bombarded with both deprivation and overstimulation of every sense, from fright to jubilation that could only be expressed by singing. What an incredible show.

Alright, more tomorrow!

Pictures From Yesterday's Post

Here are some pictures to go with yesterday's post! The first is Tia, Natalie and I waiting for a tube ride. The next is one of the amazing elephants from Leicester Square, which I actually found out today are ALL OVER THE CITY. I want to bring one home... Then we have some of the store fronts in Camden, followed by Jill, Max, me and Natalie exploring the food in a busy part of Camden Market. Oh, and the guy in the back photo bombed us. Twice.

Just Touched Down in London Town

Yes, they have Cheerios in London. I'm eating some right now, actually. And don't worry, I figured this out within 12 hours of landing at Heathrow. Now I know I will survive this trip.

Now that the important stuff is out of the way, this is the best way I can think of to keep in touch. Many of you have the same questions, and I thought I would answer them in the form of a blog instead of email so everyone could read them! Also, that way we can all save money on phone bills so I can call more often. But here is where my story begins...

Jen happens to be the best roommate in the world. I know this because she drove me all the way from SLO to LAX, even though we left at 6am. We expected a lot of traffic, and although I happened to sleep through at least 2/3 of the drive, I'm pretty sure we had hardly any. The beautiful girl dropped me off at the airport, and I was on my way! I got to the airport close to three hours early and security took all of 30 minutes to get through. Lovely.

The plane ride was the shortest 10-hour flight I've ever been on. I sat next to a 17-year-old girl named Julia from Kazakhstan who was on her way home after 10 months of an exchange program in Minnesota of all places. If anyone felt bad for my 10 hour flight, she still had a four hour layover at Heathrow, another 10 hour flight, and a 15 hour car ride until she was home. Gross.

I flew with Jill and Tia, which meant I was one of the lucky ones who had company getting from the airport to our flat. We had to navigate the Tube for the first time immediately and with all our luggage. Mind you, this was 7 am here/11 pm California time, and I barely slept on the plane. The ride was about 40 minutes long before we were thrown out on the streets of Kensington at Gloucester Road. Of course we walked the exact opposite direction of our flat, but in the most roundabout way we could. By the time we figured it out, we were about 6 or 7 blocks in the wrong direction. After a looooong walk we finally found Metrogate, the location where we got our keys. Then we walked another 3 or 4 blocks to stand in the middle of a side walk staring blankly at an entire street of buildings, one of which was ours. A few minutes and three keys later we were in our flat. I'm pretty sure we have the best room in the flat: it's fairly big with two bunkbeds, our own bathroom, and four armoires. I'm on the top bunk, one of my drawers is broken, and the shower is about 2'x2', but it's perfectly lovely.

So after traveling halfway around the world, we of course got about 45 minutes in our room before my friend Max (my husband Zero in Zero to Infinity) began incessantly bugging us to go out in the city. Now, those of you who know Max know how relentless he is. Add to that how adorable he is when he just wakes up with his Jew 'fro everywhere and his sleepy little boy eyes peering at you through those old man glasses, and needless to say, we were out the door and on our way to Piccadilly as soon as our teeth were brushed.

Back on the Tube for a few, and all of a sudden we're someplace completely different from Kensington. We didn't do much; Max was only there to see if he could snag some student rush tickets for Hair and the rest of us were walking zombies. We walked through some back alleys, found ourselves in the middle of a sex district, and immediately scrambled out. Awesome. After some paninis, Max convinced us to walk the "only twenty minutes" from Piccadilly to Kensington. Well, that walk was waaaaaay longer than twenty minutes, and I was still wearing my boots. Barely in London a few hours and I already had blisters. BUT we walked through a lot of city, including past Buckingham Palace while catching glimpses of the London Eye. When we FINALLY made it back we were exhausted. I climbed into bed for a 30 minute nap and woke up two hours later.

Dinner was at Wagamama, an Asian noodlehouse with several locations throughout London. Soooooo good! It was really close (just a short walk west on Kensington Road). I got yaki soba which was amazing (thanks for the recommendation, Jeff!) and a lot of food for the price. After dinner, it was pints of Guinness (for everyone but me), then back to the flat for showers for each of us before passing out.

This morning we had our orientation for our classes and FIE. Long and practical. The real fun started afterwards! I woke up this morning with a craving for a bit of London with more edge than "The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea" has to offer, so I suggested we travel to Camden. Camden is famous for its fantastic outdoor market and its history as the origins of the punk scene. I rounded up Natalie (the Bride in Blood Wedding), Jill, Tia, Max, and Ryan (Inspector Oodles in Zero to Infinity), and we headed to the nearest tube station. Gloucester to Leicester, switch trains to Camden Town. As soon as we walked out of the tube station, you could feel the difference in the air. It was exactly the raw, rough-around-the-edges feeling I was looking for. The storefronts were all extremely unique and artistic, and some were actually disturbing. However, the best part was the ENDLESS outdoor market. It was a dense maze of kitschy souvenirs, fabulous dresses, cheap sunglasses, (all free game for bargaining) and oh my goodness THE FOOD. There were stands representing nationalities from all over the world. Stand after stand was shouting, offering free samples of their food. (Andy, I have a feeling your heaven might look something like this city...) Max and I decided the best way to go about it was to each buy a meal from different stands and share. Max got shrimp and salt and pepper chicken from a Chinese food stand with one of the best salesmen I've ever encountered, and I got Tarfulette (or something?... basically potatoes and sausage prepared to create amazing comfort food) from a stand offering food from the French Alps. Delicious. We ate overlooking the canal in Camden sitting on the craziest little motorcycles seats... Literally like the back half of motorcycle after motorcycle lined up like dominoes (Jen: if you haven't seen these, you would absolutely love to kick them over). Sadly, it started looking as if it would rain so after getting ice cream from an ice cream lab (not like Doc Berstein's, they actually make the ice cream from scratch right in front of you within minutes - sooo weird), we trucked it back to the tube. This time though, we decided to get off at Leicester Square to walk past all the the theaters. It's the Broadway of Europe!!! I can't wait to get student rush tickets to everything. We continued walking and came across the most amazing art project. There were elephant statues lining the streets to raise awareness for the disappearing Asian elephant. Some of the greatest artists of London were asked to use the statues to create a unique piece to be sold for the cause. We all know how much I love elephants. Well, apparently I love them even more when they are covered in hearts, geometric shapes, flowers, ducks, question marks, wild animals, and scenes from the London streets! Incredible.

Back at the flat much later, we all decided we were hungry. We only had one stipulation: where ever we went had to be showing the England v. Algeria World Cup match!!! The only way a soccer game can get better than it already is? Watching in an pub (Goat Tavern) eating fish and chips. The game tied, but we were fat and happy...

And TIRED. The last hour or so has been spent typing this while watching Glee (!!!) on the common room of our flat.

So, that's it so far. I apologize for the less-than-eloquent language in which this is written. Time is precious! (Hey Mom, no need to proof-read. Thanks. :) ) I miss all of you so much already! Please, please, please continue to email me or leave comments! I'd love to hear from you as often as possible. Goodnight from London!