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!