Sooooo sorry I have been absent for over a month! My, how the time flys by. I have a few things that I need to talk about to any readers out there! I'll start off in chronological order...
SO- I got to experience an amazing and wonderful trip to both London and Paris! It was an amazing trip, and nothing could ever replace in this special place in my heart. Of course, there were ups and downs, but that is life. SO! On we go...
The day we arrived in London, we got to meet our tour guide for the next ten days (His name is John!). John went and got our coach and we rode to our hotel, and literally dumped our bags in our hotel rooms and walked down the street to ride the tube. (London equivalent of the subway. But better, because it's in London.) We rode the Piccadily line to Piccadily, and rose out of the ground and stepped our first steps in London in West End! Directly in front of us was a Ripley's Believe it or not Museum, Across the road was a theatre (The one we would be seeing a show in the very next day!) and this beautiful statue, and behind us was one of the big screen advertisement boards. It was truly a remarkable site on our first day! We walked through West End and ended up at Trafalgars square, which has beautiful statues and a big statue in the center with four statues of lions surrounding it. (There are MANY statues in London!) We saw the big countdown tower for the 2012 Olympics, and then walked to Covent Garden and did a little looking around. There was a street performer who would pull his pants down and chase people down the sidewalks. What people will do for laughs... Anyways, we then walked back to West End and were allowed to branch off and do some shopping. Me and my friends got our red phonebooth pictures, and went to this souvenier shop called Cool Britannia, and got a lot of stuff there! Bought some stuff from a couple street vendors, and went inside the (THREE STORY) M&M World Store! You could even meet the red M&M (Does he have a name?). After we met up, we rode to the tube to go find dinner- Fish and Chips are AMAZING. I don't know if it was just the pub we ate at, but the fish batter was almost like funnel cake batter, but not sweet. Just delicious! We then rode the tube back to our hotel and took showers and went to bed. Side note.... The showers don't have curtains doors. There is this glass panel that covers half of the shower. Hope no one barges in on you...
Day 2! We went to Windsor Castle. My oh My, is it BEAUTIFUL! Here's a picture of the (used to be) moat and one of the towers. We had a glorious time seeing all of the rooms in the castle, STANDING on floors that ancient kings and queens, princes and princesses, and other royalty have stood on! We also got to go into the church where people like King Henry the 8th and other royalty are buried. Annnd we got to see the changing of the guard! It's a big procession. After that we ate cornish pastys in Windsor, and then went to Oxford street, for some GREAT shopping! That night, we went back to West End to see our first West End show- The 39 Steps! It is absolutely HYSTERICAL. Like there's times I was crying I was laughing so hard. It's a play that has a cast of four people, who play 139 different characters. It's about a man who is accused of murder, and is on the run to clear his name. It had few props and nothing very advanced at all, which provided for many hilarious acting opportunities! It's my favorite play now!
Day Three: We got to go see Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, which was great! We did lots of walking this day as well, so it was a pretty chilled out sort of day. We got to go to the Globe Theatre, and take a tour and do an interactive workshop. My friend was chosen to play Juliet! We then got to walk a lot more, and rode the London Eye in the afternoon. That night, we got to go see Sweeney Todd. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Let me tell you a little bit about the cast. First off, the man who played Sweeney was Michael Ball! (For those who don't know, his most previous role was as Tracy's mother in Hairspray!) He was FABULOUS, and is a beautiful singer. Now. Mrs. Lovett was played by a lovely woman named Imelda Staunton. If you don't know who this is, let me give you a clue: 1. ANother character of her's is extremely fond of pink. Got it? No? Well, here's clue number 2: Her most recent character was also not very fond of a certain teenage wizard. Got it? Oh fine, I'll just tell you: She also plays UMBRIDGE in the Harry Potter movies!!! I about died, she was so wonderful. She's a great singer, and absolutely hysterical! The theatre we were in had those little binoculars that they have in the movies, but in real life! So just about every time she was on stage I was zoomed in on her! I mean, I was in the same room as Umbridge! What a dream.
Anyways, this is an extraordinarily long post, so I'm going to wait to post more about the trip. Next up is the British Museum, Platform 9 3/4, and my experience at the London Disney store!
