Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon...

Today was probably one of my favorite days in London. We got up early for class this morning and made sure we had time to stop for breakfast. There’s nothing better than a big croissant and a cup of Earl Grey tea with milk and sugar in the morning. So good! Class was great today—we had a guest speaker again. His name is Ian McMillan and he’s a poet/performer/radio show host who’s actually quite famous in England. He was absolutely hilarious! He read some of his poetry but he talked to us for over an hour and he never stopped entertaining us! I laughed so hard that I cried this morning—he was so great. I wish we had gotten his poetry book for class so that I could get him to sign it! I’ll probably buy one here before I leave. We also just had some great sharing time about what everyone did over the weekend. It was great to hear everyone’s funny stories, like two girls who ended up in a hostel in Paris in the red light district, and the girls who got chased by cows and sheep while hiking along Hadrian’s Wall. We all got to tell something about our weekends and even though we ran late it didn’t really matter.

After class Kathleen, Alex, and I stopped at M&S to look at a pair of boots that I was thinking about buying before we headed back to Ability for some lunch. Shocker—they don’t carry my size at all stores here either… Saved myself £30 I guess. I got a shower and just relaxed for a little while before tonight’s play.

I GOT TO GO TO THE GLOBE THEATRE TODAY!! I was SO pumped all day long that I didn’t even care that it was freezing and rainy. We left early so that we could grab a quick dinner in the area before Romeo and Juliet started. We got inside and I was absolutely giddy! I took pictures and got some people to take my picture in front of the stage. It was awesome inside! The theatre is round with a stage sticking out about halfway into the center of the circle and the seating was all around the circle and four stories high. Our seats were ground level, right near the stage—but unfortunately they were on the left side of the stage instead of in the middle. They weren’t the best seats in the house but it didn’t really matter. There are also “groundling” tickets that you can get and you just stand in the area around the stage. After the end of the first two acts most of us had moved down there for a better view. The acting was great and I love the play so much that I was reciting certain parts silently to myself while I was watching. I’m still smiling because I got to go there! Some of the actors were so funny—especially the guys who played Benvolio and Mercutio. They put a little bit of a sexual spin on everything and I’m sure Shakespeare would have appreciated it very much. Romeo was so handsome too—just awesome! I loved every bit of it, and when the play ended I didn’t want to leave! I know I’ll be back there twice more before we leave for As You Like It next week, and to get a tour a couple days before we leave. I need to go back; I didn’t get to the gift shop before it closed and it looked like it had some quality souvenirs!

Since the tube is on strike until Thursday night, we had to find a bus back to Ability. Luckily, Susan (faculty again) knows the bus routes really well and we got back really quickly. The views were absolutely gorgeous on our walk to the bus stop! St. Paul’s looked absolutely stunning all lit up as we were walking on a crazy lit up bridge across the Thames. Just beautiful!
I’m so happy with today that it’s kind of ridiculous. And tomorrow is going to be another great day because we’re going to Bath! Can’t wait!

Parting is such sweet sorrow…
Whitney