Holy cow--it's Thursday already! When did that happen?
Time is flying here, and I can't believe it. I'm so in love with London that I barely have any time to blog here!
I guess I should start with the weekend...
Friday's dinner at DiMario's was absolutely delicious. DiMario's is in Kensington, and Princess Diana would go there with her sons when she lived in the area. There are pictures of her on the walls. The pizza was incredible--very tasty and different from the standard "American" Domino's or Papa John's. It was kind of like St. Louis style thin crust, but not quite that thin. After dinner, we walked around the town and enjoyed the weather.
On Saturday, the girls and I headed to Hyde Park again to enjoy the 80 degree weather. We are in the middle of a heat wave here, and it's incredible. It's nice to have heat without the humidity! Saturday night I went to see Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens with Andy. The show was incredible--the stage was in the middle of the tent, and at times, the actors were suspended from the ceiling to look as though they were actually flying. The acting was great, and the staging of the show was fantastic. The top of the tent was a screen so that when the actors were "flying," their background was London, or Neverland, or something like that. Very cool!
Sunday was another fun day--I went to Kew Gardens with Andy. It is a giant park a little ways south of the city, and it contains several green houses, a conservatory, a "tree top walk way," an aquarium, and other things. We walked around all day, and I saw more plants than I ever knew existed! There was even a carnivorous plant exhibition, and we tried to feed our map to a venus fly trap...it wasn't hungry, though. :) Sunday night I hung out with the girls in our flat--we had a blast!
Monday was another park day--relaxing in Hyde Park is my new favorite thing to do! We bought lunch at the grocery store, rented chairs, and sat near a duck pond and had picnic. After our picnic, we went to the Natural History Museum as part of our class. There were tons of dinosaur fossils, including a triceratops-my favorite! There are many other exhibits in the museum--it is HUGE--but it was crowded and hot (very few buildings here have A/C because the temperature is usually very mild), so we left after spending about an hour and a half looking at all of the dinosaurs. I'd never seen fossils before, so that was an interesting thing to see. I've been so blown away by British history that dates back a few centuries, I can't believe we saw things from millions of years ago! After the museum, the girls went to an Italian restaurant while I met with my teacher for a class I'm taking on the side. After, the girls and I got gelato (delicious!) in Leicester Square then walked to Trafalgar square to watch the sunset. There were so many people there hanging out, enjoying each other's company, and overall having a great time. The night was clear and warm, and the lights on the National Gallery and the fountains in the Square were beautiful. We sat there, eating our gelato, and soaking up as much of London as we could.
Tuesday was back to class...BUT we went to Shakespeare's Globe! Unfortunately it's not the original, but it is built just as his would have been, and we even watched a show-- As You Like It. The show was good, very entertaining, but as it's not one of my more favored plays, I would have preferred something like Twelfth Night or A Midsummer Night's Dream. Oh well--I still saw a Shakespeare show at the Globe! We may try to go back and see Romeo and Juliet, which is also one of my favorites, so I hope we are able to do that. After, we ate dinner at The Anchor, a pub that sits on the spot of the ORIGINAL Globe. The sign said that Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, and others had been to that place. Incredible! Tuesday night, Jenna, Rachel, and I went to Bush Hall to see one of Jenna's favorite singers, Justin Nozuka. It was a great, small venue, and we were SO close to the stage! We also met two girls from Norway, Christine and Annabelle, and we hung out with them all night. After the show, Justin came out and we met him, took pictures, and Jenna got his autograph. He was very nice and friendly!
Last but not least, yesterday we woke up early to attempt to get tickets for Hamlet, starring Jude Law! We got tickets--but they were for STANDING only, in the back of the balcony. Oh well, they were only 10 pounds. Ok-more about that in a minute. After buying tickets, we went shopping for something cute to wear for Jude. haha. H&M was having a giant sale, and we all bought some cute items. For class yesterday, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is only a short walk from our flat. It was a huge museum, I think almost as big as the Natural History Museum that we went to on Monday. There were tons of exhibits, including displays on fashion, sculpture, modern design, theatre, jewelry, Buddhism, and much more. My favorite was the one on medieval Christianity. There were chalices from the 13th and 14th century, items that survived Henry VIII's Reformation in the 16th century, and even relic holders and actual "relics." I'm not sure if the relics are actual saints' bones, but it was still neat to see them right there. Some of the crucifixes on display were the most beautiful I've ever seen. After the museum, the girls and I went out at a Mexican restaurant near the theatre. We have all been craving Mexican food since we got here (apparently, it's not very popular here), and we thought it would be a fun outing before our show. The food was delicious, but not quite the same as back home. The Brits just don't understand salsa and creamy white cheese. On the flip side, my margarita was to die for! :) Ok, now on to Jude. Hamlet was by far, the most incredible play I've seen. Jude Law was amazing as the lead, really capturing the "is he crazy or isn't he?" mentality of Hamlet. The staging, set design, lighting, and costumes were also out of this world. It almost made me miss doing those things back at good ol' SDH! It was a very minimalistic set, but the lighting made it seem like new rooms all of the time. Brilliant. ANNDDD.... after the show, we met Jude Law! Yes, that's right, MET him. Talked to him, took pictures with him, and got his autograph. He was so sweet, nice, and seemed happy to be there. He almost seemed humbled by all of it. Oh, and yes, he is just as gorgeous in person! :) I'll post a few pictures at the bottom of this blog.
Today we're heading to the British Museum, then we're going out tonight for a bit. Tomorrow and Saturday will be busy days--we're seeing Oxford, Stratford, Bath, and Stonghenge! I'm very excited. Since Saturday is the 4th of July (not very celebrated over here--haha), we're going to an "American" themed party with Andy and his friends. A British celebration of the American Independence Day definitely should be a fun time!
Us with Jude Law!!! (Don't worry, he is happy to see us, he was all smiles when were talking to him, but he hardly smiled for anyone's pictures!)
