Okay, so I keep getting behind on this, I'm sorry. I will catch you up on the rest of last weekend and then onto to this week. So Saturday was really great. Jenna, Rachel and I went to Leicester Square, walked into the Garrick Theatre where Chicago was playing and bought tickets to the 8 pm show. The tickets were more money than the discount ones we could've found, but we decided to spend a little more anyways. And it was worth it, the show was great! I wish so much that I could sing like that, I think it would be a great release. Anyways, to pass time in the afternoon, we ate lunch in Regent's Park before going on a search for Abbey Road. We also went to the Beatles Store, which was pretty wonderful.
Abbey Road was such an experience. When we first got there, we stood and watched the groups of strangers in their attempts to get the iconic walking picture. It was funny because the road itself is incredibly busy, and the drivers didn't have patience for the tourists photography. So people would be standing in the middle of the street while getting honked at and almost hit by angry drivers. Rachel, Jenna and I didn't think we wanted to attempt this picture, but after taking pictures of the Abbey Road Studios and the gateway that was graffitied with Beatles song lyrics, we also took "the picture". However, I took one of Jenna and Rachel actually walking across the street, no posed nonsense, and then had Rachel take one of Jenna and I (I didn't want to go alone, haha). It was worth it. After that, we came back to the flat to eat before heading back out to the theatre. Saturday night life is very entertaining, I really enjoyed it. There were so many people out, especially couples, and the mood was positive everywhere we walked. We saw a group of girls dressed up in Where's Waldo outfits, you know red and white striped shirts and red pants, with the circular glasses. I laughed as we passed them and said to Rachel "We found Waldo", cheesy, but necessary. We also saw a few people dressed up as Teletubbies, and one guy in a banana costume, bizarre. After the show, there were crowds of laughing people outside of pubs, everyone enjoying their night. When we got into the Leicester Square Tube station, we walked past a musician (there's always musicians in this Tube station), and an older married couple stopped walking, slow danced for a minute, and then continued walking to catch the next train. It was really genuine moment, must have been date night :)
Sunday wasn't too exciting, groceries, laundry, homework, etc.
Monday
Andrew's class started off early on Monday morning with a visit to the Houses of Parliament. Our guide was a Member of Parliament, a man named Dennis Skinner. He's about 80 years old and very fiesty, he was so great! He had no problem at all sharing his political views with us and telling us exactly how he felt. I personally loved the honesty and strong opinion. He frequently insulted people during his tour and would start ranting about left wing this or that, he was humorous. I learned a lot about how Parliament works too, so that was a plus. Someone in the group commented on his strong opinion and said it must take courage to always stick up for your view even if you are the only one and he responded by saying he had used up all his courage in the coalmines as a young man. He used to work in the coalmines, so this wasn't "work at all" to him. His labor background definitely shaped his work ethic, and he said he always spoke plainly and clearly to better represent his constituents. A very genuine man, I respect him and his career. Oh and he got to be an extra in The Iron Lady, with Meryl Streep, and said he got to talk to her, which is so cool! He got so excited when he told that story because he was an extra who had to shout insults at Mrs. Thatcher. He was okay with that because he never agreed with Mrs. Thatcher's decisions as Prime Minister, but two other Members of Parliament wanted to be extras with him, supporters of Thatcher, and ended up having to insult her. He thought this was the funniest thing ever, so all of us were laughing.
After that entertaining morning, we had a break for lunch before meeting Andrew at the National Gallery to look at the paintings of Hogarth. It was a good afternoon.
That evening we had a play with Natania, so Jenna, Rachel and I decided to go eat around Leicester Square before heading to the play. Bad idea, we should've just come back and eaten at the flat, because the meal we had was awful! It was this little Italian cafe and we ordered pasta, but while we waited, could see in through this large window into the kitchen. As we watched, the man working brought out tupperware, put the food in the microwave, and then put it on our plates. What great culinary talent right? Ugh. So it was really bad food, I think ravioli in a can would've been better. For the rest of the night the three of us felt nauseous, but thankfully the next day we were all back to normal. And to top of this kind of bad night, the play we saw, Bingo, was just not good, in my opinion at least. I didn't enjoy it, was kind of boring and I never felt emotionally attached to the characters. Oh well, the majority of the shows we have seen have been great, so I can't complain.
Tuesday
Andrew took us to the Foundling Hospital on Tuesday, which was founded in 1741 by Thomas Coram as a place for orphans or abandoned children. This hospital began a philanthropic era in England, and now is a museum or artwork. The reason it is a museum of art is because artists like Hogarth were benefactors for the Hospital. It was a really neat place, and had collections of art that were beautiful. There was also a collection by Quentin Blake, the illustrator for Roald Dahl's children's books, which was adorable!
After the Foundling Hospital, we took a break and all bought coffee or muffins before heading to the British Museum. The museum was incredible, but so big that you would have to spend hours there. We only saw a few rooms, including the Rosetta Stone and parts of the Parthenon. We also walked through the library, which was really great, just full of antique sets of books, from religious texts to Shakespeare.
That night we stayed in, had dinner with the "family" and relaxed. I've definitely become addicted to Nutella, I eat it alone, on toast, pretty much on anything. I also really love peppermint tea, but thankfully both of these things are sold at home too :)
Wednesday
Wednesday we had class with Natania and then Rachel and I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum. I think it may be my favorite museum so far. There was an entire room dedicated to jewelry, which was glorious. It was dark, with lit cases, and was two stories! We also saw a collection of Raphael's paintings which were so huge, I literally walked in the room they were in and felt small. There were ironworks, silver, and stained glass exhibits as well. We spent about an hour and a half in the museum before I got a headache and had to come back to take a nap. Thankfully it went away later in the night so I could sleep without pain.
Thursday
Today was our day off so we got up and took another trip to Camden Town Market. We found even more than we saw before and spent about three hours there. Jenna and Rachel found cheap Chinese food that they ate while I ate my sandwich and apple I packed. I bought myself cheap souvenirs today, a scarf for a pound, and three pairs of earrings that were very inexpensive. If I had a lot of money, I would've spent so much today, everything is just soo cute.
Tonight we have another play, Snookered, which I hope is better than the one the other night.
I will write more after this weekend. Much love from London.
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