Friday, May 6, 2011

Getting Lost in London

 We started out today rushing off to the British Library.  We may have gotten slightly lost on our way but we were a huge group so we worked together to find the right way while looking like total tourists.  I want to know how often Londoners see a single file line of 13 people weaving through the train station going under the ropes and trying wrong doors.  Pretty much we had to put on a show for them after they have let us see so much amazing things.  I just hope they laughed.  The British Library was so cool once we got there!  It had Shakespeare writings, Jane Austen writings and her writing desk,  Handel's original Messiah, Beethoven and Mozart originals, Beatles originals on the backs of cards and directions, some of the original bibles and other books, a tortoise shaped manuscript, and the Magna Carta.  Those were only a few things.  It was just so amazing to see the things that they did to preserve writings and the artwork they did on them.  I thought it was so cool to see the handwriting and crossing outs.  These people were great people but they were just like you and me.  After the library we headed for Trafalgar square.
 We found this amazing hotel on our way looking for the tube.
Lauren, Casmin, Kristen and me out adventuring looking for the tube to meet everyone at Trafalgar Square and hopefully grab lunch.
 So the Underground is really cool and I love that you can take it anywhere.  If you can't take the underground you can take a bus.  I don't know what happened to the side of it that it is all scratched.  It is kinda dodgy to think about it but I haven't had any problems on the tube.
 I am just trying to figure out where we are wanting to go.  You have to know where you are going to get on and off or you may just end up somewhere crazy!  We almost did it once, but today was not a good day for that.
 I am sitting on the tube minding my own business when these wonderful gentleman board the tube and sit next to me.  Yes they are super stylish and reading Star magazine.  It was hard not to laugh at them talking and reading that.  So I just smiled for a picture with them instead.  They will never know how they entertained us on the tube.
 We found lovely sandwiches to eat on our way and walked by many a beautiful building like this church to get to our destination.  I got a bacon and cheese sandwich but really it was just thick ham I feel like.
 These telephone booths in a row are just very London I couldn't resist a picture.
 The National Gallery.  It is very big and beautiful.
 A giant ship in a giant bottle.  Definitely something I have never seen before!  Only in Trafalgar Square...
 Big Ben
 One of many fake statues you can find hanging around the streets of London.  He was cutting off people's heads when they tried to get a picture next to him so I decided to keep my distance.  I am still using my head.
 This guy in the window was fake but moved! It was so cute!
 Just another cute little bakery that I would love to go in.  You can only eat so much so not every cute bakery is an option.
 Casmin cannot wait for the National Portrait Gallery!

 First thing we saw was the Princes!  This was before I found out that you can't take pictures inside but I feel like I got a good picture for just walking in and taking it.  A great souvenir for our experience there.  It was probably one of the best looking portraits anyways.  A lot of them were kinda creepy and weird, maybe only cuz it reminded us of haunted houses and such.
 Casmin and I on our way up to the portraits we were supposed to look at.  Since we are not historians we had a whole different outlook on the paintings that we actually quite enjoyed.  We loved looking at the paintings and noticing the detail but also some of the styles that are still around or not.  Like how men used to wear tights and a long tunic shirt.  Hello girls can we say mini dress and leggings?  Girl's today are wearing the same style as Dukes and Earls of old England!  Oh and some of the men had great shoes that I wouldn't mind owning.  We also noticed the floating head syndrome of taught but high collars that made the head look distant from the body.  There was also a lack of eyelashes in old times.  It is interesting that no artist thought to put eyelashes on anyone! Not even one! 
 When we walked out of the gallery we decided it was time to explore our surroundings.  So we stumbled upon Chinatown!  But most importantly we found shopping!  I learned that even though we have some of the same stores they do not sale all the same styles.  Definitely a different look here.
 We had to end shopping to get to the Globe Theater to see All's Well That Ends Well.  We couldn't take a tube all the way there because we had to take the Millennium Bridge across the Thames.  Way more scenic anyways.
 The Globe Theater

 The Stage
 Casmin presenting the seating
 Just waiting in the cold for the play to start...
 Still waiting...
My play buddies on either side of me!  We had to cuddle for warmth but the play was good!  A lot better than when I read it.  I really liked it though...reading it i did not agree that all is well that ends well but they made the play end happily so I was happy.  We rushed home after because of the coldness.  Its funny going on the tube at night because you see people wearing so many different types of things for what they are out doing.  Like the people going toplays and those going clubbing.  I just think it is fun to see what people wear when they get on the tube and make up stories about them.  I know I should read on the tube or something but I like to make my own stories better.

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