Peter Pan + A Clash song + Harry Potter =

So there is still so much I haven't talked about in Paris (my trip to Monet's garden, the Sacre Coeur), but I thought I'd take a break and post something about my FABULOUS London trip.



Gorgeous sunset with the London Eye in the background

I had so much fun, a week was just not enough time. At the end of the trip there was still so much I wanted to see (National Gallery....). Well, since I was in London, I had to of course see a musical. I got a little carried away and saw three. They were all amazing. The first show I saw was Wicked. I thought since I'd be hearing about this for forever from basically everyone I know that it wouldn't live up to the hype. But it did. I think my favorite song was either "Defying Gravity" or "No Good Deed". I also saw Les Miserables, which was also really good. I actually knew the music to most of the songs for this one, so I was really looking forward to it. And finally the last show I saw was Phantom of the Opera. I knew very little about this show, and almost didn't go (thank goodness I got talked out of that). It was possibly my favorite out of the three. Everything about it was well done; it was amazing what they could do with the stage. My friends and I had seats on the front row of the balcony so we could see everything perfectly. I was so smitten I even bought the soundtrack.






All the girls who went to see Phantom of the Opera! Poor Camille couldn't get herself all the way in the picture...

I, being an english major, was also really excited when our professor got us tickets to As You Like It in the Globe Theater. We were in the standing room area so everything was right in front of us and we were really close to all the actors and actresses. The rest of my time in London was spent eating good food, shopping, and running around to various museums and famous places.



Me at the Globe Theater

I saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace,wandered by Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, some really interesting exhibits at the Victoria and Albert museum (including one on the progression of fashion), and somehow missed the Rosetta Stone in the British National Museum ( I did see some cool mummies though...). Oh and lest I forget, I fell in love with the Tate Modern. I have a freakish obsession with modern art and this just was the place for me. My poor roommate somehow lost me in there and ended up waiting forever for me to come out of one gallery. Sadly, you can't take pictures in there and I forgot my sketchbook. So instead I just ended up grabbing my school notebook and jotting down all the different pieces I liked and my thoughts about them (somehow this became 7 1/2 pages long, and I didn't even visit the galleries on the upper floor). My favorite part was this one room that featured a Joan Mitchell (who I didn't know that much about, but ended up liking), a Rothko, a Jackson Pollock, and one of Monet's water lilly paintings.



The Millennium Bridge was right outside the Tate Modern. Think Harry Potter thoughts everyone.



This is the British Museum. It was amazing, and really big. I could have spent an entire day in here.



A real mummy. Haidy asked them if they had the book of Amun-Ra, but they made up some sort of excuse. They just didn't want one of us having some sort of exciting adventure where we conquer mythical evils that have come back to life, fall in love along the way, and then create a terrible three-quel about the aftermath.



It was insanely crowded at Buckingham Palace during the changing of the guard. We came early and somehow got right next to the gate. The best part was when the band played "I wanna hold your hand."

I also really enjoyed Hyde Park. I went there one morning by myself and just walked around the grounds and explored Kensington Gardens along the way. I ran into Angela doing the same thing, and we attempted to go to Princess Diana's memorial fountain, but it wasn't open yet.



A close up of the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park. I was talking with Angela and realized I have never actually read Peter Pan. I've only seen the movies. I'll have to add it to my book list.

The other great thing about this trip was the food! Usually when I am somewhere unfamiliar or going to new restaurants at least one thing you order is kind of bland or one place ends up having terrible service. However every place I went to in London was great. I had fish and chips (of course), awesome Indian food at a place called Masala Zone, and discovered a wonderful dessert called the Tamarind and Chili Pavlova at Wagamamas.



They had these cool dolls hanging from the ceiling at the Indian restaurant we ate at. They were reenacting a myth or story I can no longer remember the name of.



Since we are talking about food, I thought I'd mention that even the McDonalds are classier here. If America invented McDonalds how come we have the version with ripped vinyl seats and sticky tabletops?




My lovely dessert. I found out from Janette that it is Australian in origin.

All in all it was a wonderful trip, and I'm really glad I got to spend an entire week enjoying the city.

By the way, sorry this was so long. I just loved it, ok? I promise next time I will divide things like this up.

Currently listening to: Phantom of the Opera
Currently enjoying: the results of a rainy day in Parc Monceau