So, where did I last leave off? Oh, yeah.
Friday: Meet up with Katie (she's doing a study abroad in London too) for dinner. Feet still THROBBING from King Lear. Meet up in Notting Hill (cute part of London, nice change from the industrial side of town where I am currently living). Meet up at a pub, eat a burger (but a weird British fake burger) and then head back home to collapse.
Saturday: the Epic Day of Musicals. In honor of my still hurting feet (it's unfortunate, but I'm a wimp) and the fact that Colby's feet were covered in blisters, we decided to devote a day to seeing plays. We did Les Miserables as a matinee and Spamalot for the evening (I'm not gonna name names, but someone whose name rhymes with Molby Cay was unaware of the fact that Spamalot was a musical version of Holy Grail). Les Mis was good; the individual performers weren't really standouts, but the ensemble was amazing. We had a tall, skinny Jean Valjean (blasphemy!) and a pretty good Javert. We were way closer than I usually am, so I got to notice way more of the nuances than I'm used to (like the dead students all being at the wedding). Also, the erection of the barricade still gives me chills.
Between our plays, we walked around and found a pub to eat in. We ate at the Cambridge (I liked the name for the symmetry), foregoing the WAY more interestingly named Crooked Surgeon (if I have a pub in NO, it will be named the Crooked Lawyer). We also went football jersey shopping and generally just played tourist.
Spamalot was fantastic. We had an Indian Arthur, which was pretty good. There's something to be said for Monty Python with legitimate British accents. Unfortunate note: it is currently hot here and no places have air conditioning. It's not Southern-Louisiana-in-Summer hot, but it is generally in the mid-80s. AND NO PLACES HAVE ANY AIR CONDITIONING. Including theatres. So, we're 6 rows back, watching these guys give it all and we're hot, so they must be dying. You know it's bad when the actors start making jokes about the heat. End of tirade: Spamalot = awesome.
Sunday: slept in some. The whole lack of air conditioning thing makes it hard to fall asleep and even harder to stay asleep. Colby and I went to find breakfast and after lamenting that nothing in our area is open on Sundays, found a TGIF style pub nearby with AIR CONDITIONING and reasonably priced food. We were about ready to move in. Also, they have Pimms (our new obsession).
Went to Camden town to meet up with Katie and see the markets (only half of my objective was accomplished, could not find Katie). The markets are a lot of fun and I'm planning to go back. Unfortunately, the evil, evil Tube system shut down the Camden stop, so I got to go on a quest of sorts to find the closest one. Finally, after much struggling, found it and headed back to my side of town. Went for a pint (or two) with one of my classmates and tried cooking in our kitchen (with little success)
Monday: Finally Saw the Rosetta Stone!!!!!! Sorry, this particular moment took 6 years, but I've finally seen it! Our classes ended up all disorganized today (stupid InEffecto), so in between classes, Colby and I went over to the British Museum. It's pretty amazing (and free!), but we spent most of our time either in the Egyptian section (because one of us has an unhealthy obsession) or in the rare air-conditioned sections (Go Korea!). At any rate, was awesome. Definitely wish I'd made it on the first try.
This evening was Timon of Athens at the Globe. This time I was prepared to be a Groundling. I queued up early so that I had leaning room (totally worth it) and spent as much time as possible taking it easy on my feet. Timon of Athens was pretty good (Lear was better), but I can not even compare the amount of pain I was in by the end. Leaning is the way to go, for all of y'all who're on your way to the Globe. The director decided to use this bizarre bungee cord/webbing system to convey the ravens, which was cool until the actors almost kicked you in the head. Then it was less so. The production was good (though some of the directors choices were rather ridiculous), but the enjoyability was vastly increased by the fact that it was 1) less than 3 hours and 2) not inducing excruciating pain.
Interesting tidbit: there's the bizarre cultural tendency among Americans. My interactions with actual Brits have been pretty limited, primarily of the money changing hands variety. If, however, I end up within 20 feet of another American, I must talk to them. For hours. It's ridiculous. I need to feel less self-conscious of being that American and actually talk to a Brit. Good to have a new goal for the week.
Okay, I'm off to bed. Cheers!
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