Sunday/Monday - Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, and The Dumb Waiter

So Sunday I got up pretty early (x_x) to go with Allison and Parissa and their visiting friends. We went to Trafalgar Square and they climbed up on the lions with some great difficulty that was quite schadenfreudistic to watch, if I may make up a word. We hightailed it to Buckingham Palace, then for the changing of the guard.

( I'm trying something new, there's a video under here. )

When a certain person showed up, I made my graceful exit (I swear, I have one nerve left and she dances on it). I walked to Victoria station and took the tube to London Bridge tube station, across the Thames, and then I walked down to the Tower Bridge and across the river again. It was kind of a long way to get to the Tower of London, but since the District and Circle lines were closed, I didn't really have a choice. I was really excited to get to go into the Tower of London. The lady didn't even hassle me because Coe is stupid and doesn't put a date on our student IDs!

( London Bridge Tube/Tower of London! )

W00t! So Monday night we got to see Jason Isaacs and Lee Evans in The Dumb Waiter, by Harold Pinter. It was a pretty intense experience with a twist ending. I saw the twist coming, but not so soon that I was like, "Blah, I am smarter than you." I saw it at just the right time. That's all I'll say about that. :) Parissa and I stage doored, of course. I thought it was going to be awkward for a minute because I brought a Harry Potter book for Jason Isaacs to sign (*dork*) (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, FYI), but didn't have anything for the other guy to sign. AWKWARD. Because he was great. But then I had him sign my ticket and all was well. :)

I felt sort of bad waiting for Jason Isaacs' signature, because his mobile phone kept ringing (All You Need Is Love if you must know :D) and there was an autograph hound sort of person - who'll sell it on eBay and come on, what fun is that? I don't blame Jason Isaacs for not wanting to be part of that. But he signed my book - when I handed it over he said, "You know, I'm not in this one." I said first of all, it was the one they had at the used book market, and two, he sort of is because Draco gets Lucius involved in the whole hippogriff business. Then he said, "You are one of the big fans."

He has no idea. :] A very pleasant man overall. I think it must take infinite patience to do that, because I know when I get done doing a show all I want to do is go back to my room and sit.

( Picture - I look like I was run over by a lorry. )

Tuesday - Stonehenge, Avebury, and Bath

So here's the deal. An 8:30 departure time after you've slept two and a half hours in a makeshift bed from a couple of chairs is effing terrible. It would have been otherwise, except we got a visit from our furry little friend the mouse rummaging through our trashcan. So all three of us (me, Allison, and the visiting friend) made a break for it, left the room, and then camped out in the classroom. Not fun. But there were no mice. And now we have a Facebook group titled "I Want My Daddy Here And Your Daddy Too." Even though my dad would have laughed uproariously at us. :P So yes. We left at 8:30 and I was exhausted.

It was about two hours (a little longer, I think, but my watch died so I suck at judging time) to Stonehenge and it was kind of cool because we drove over a hill and... there it was! In a way it was really cool because STONEHENGE but on the other hand it was kind of lame because they had it roped off and basically all you did was walk around it in a huge circle. I would have liked to go closer, but if wishes were horses we'd all be eating steak. (Mm, steak...)

( So basically I took a picture of Stonehenge from every conceivable angle. )

I have to say that while Stonehenge was cool, but Avebury was also cool in its own way, because you could go right up to the stones. It wasn't a huge circle in the sense that Stonehenge is, but there were standing stones. Although I also have to say that while the stones were cool, they had the most uninspiring restaurant ever.

( Avebury. Sadly, no going through the stones or Roger Mackenzie for me. :( )

The village (and it really was a village) was tiny, and sort of idyllic in a way. Just the sort of place faeries would run around standing stones, I'd imagine. :)

After that it took about forty-five minutes to reach Bath (for which I slept), and we went to the Roman baths and then were allowed to wander around. It's good stuff. Lots and lots of history. :] I bought a button and a charm for my charm bracelet of a Roman centurion. Come on, where else am I going to get one of those? I also bought awesome fudge.

( Roman baths and the abbey. )

So, yeah. That was pretty much the trip. It was a nice day too, good weather, no rain whatsoever. It would have been better if I didn't feel like I'd been run over by a lorry, but you can't have it all.

And because Kitty wanted to see it, here is my response to Much Ado About Nothing at the Globe, in iambic pentameter. I would like to be able to blame something or someone, but I can't. This was all me and my search to fulfill Neil's request for creativity. I also responded to Peer Gynt in the form of an obituary. Sarah did her response to The Man of Mode in limericks, why can't I do bad iambic pentameter. Anyway, the meter's off in some places and the last paragraph says it all, I think. XD

( Much Ado About Nothing. )