"I do believe in fairies!"

I can't believe my trip is almost over. Three weeks ago we bought tickets to Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens and I just got back from seeing it.

I accidentally woke up early this morning and for whatever reason I couldn't go back to sleep. I started doing some packing and just tried to take a nap on the couch while I watched Friends reruns. We had to meet up at The Globe one last time for a tour and a workshop type thing. Sara and I left early and got some Starbucks--it's been pretty instrumental for survival here--before we met up with everyone. The tour guide that we had was pretty entertaining--in that he tried to engage everyone with awkward staring contests... He had us do this workshop because he's an actor himself. We were given a part of a speech by Phebe in As You Like It and we had to read it in different ways. First we sat around in a giant circle and each person read a line. That didn't work out so well so each of us read to a punctuation--better. We had to whisper it to each other, pretend we were reading it to a 5 year old child across the room, yell it while standing on chairs, and yell it into the ground. It was hilarious! Finally we had to act out a set of lines from the speech in small groups. Kathleen, Kendall, Patrick and I had so much fun. Kendall and Patrick said the lines while Kathleen and I hid behind them and used our arms as theirs. So funny!

After I said goodbye to The Globe a few of us went to Vinnopolis again to get gifts--I just got a bottle of wine with a few of the girls that we're planning on drinking by the river in Westminster tomorrow night when the city is all lit up and gorgeous. Then we walked through the Borough Market. That place is just awesome! It's all foods and cooking stuff and it smells AMAZING! I got my parents each a gift there and then we headed back to Ability to get pretty for Peter Pan.

I did a little bit more packing--well mostly a little more head scratching because I have no idea how the heck I'm going to get everything home! Then it was time to go.

Sara, Sara, Alex and I went to Chilango (our favorite mexican restaurant) to get burritos before the play. We underestimated how much time it would take to get there, so after looking at the Tube Map we got our food to go and high-tailed it to the station. Once we got to the park we had time to sit under a tree and eat our burritos. Classy.

The play was not in a theatre, really. It was in this amazing white tent set up in the middle of Kensington Gardens. The whole thing was absolutely gorgeous because it was white and lit up in the middle of this area with grass and trees. We were so excited to go in and see what it was going to be like. It did not disappoint. We bought programs even though they were too expensive because I don't think I could describe how they did everything with my own words. The tent was circular and so was the stage, so all the seating wrapped around it. Our seats were in the dead center on the third row! The actors were really great. Peter Pan was a lot hotter than any version that I've ever seen! Tinkerbell was hilarious--she had some kind of Italian/Mexican combination accent of some sort and wore a pink tu-tu. Captain Hook was amazing too! I just couldn't get enough of all of it. The actors flew above our heads and there was a screen that wrapped around the entire audience above us where they could change the scenery. We teared up a few times because it was all just so gorgeous! When Tinkerbell dies and has to be brought back to life we all had to jingle little bells and whisper, "I do believe in fairies." I cried at that part because there were two little girls behind me whispering that with so much intention. It was beyond precious! I didn't want to leave. The way that they did everything was just so impressive--all the animals were puppets that were controlled by a man who just walked around with them. Sounds weird, but it was done really well. The Crocodile was awesom! It was driven around on stage by two people and was absolutely hilarious! I want to go back right now!

We left the park in the best moods ever. It really was the perfect thing to end on because I'm getting ready to go back home now. Caitlin made us all laugh and cry when she said, "London is like our Neverland!" We were ridiculous.

After we left we mad our way to our pub, the Angel, for one last time. The tube ride was hilarious because the driver was obviously in a horrible mood. Sometimes when people try and board right when the doors close, they open back up just like elevator doors. Well the doors tried to close, and then opened and shut again. He came over the speaker when we got on and said, "Your journey was delayed because of passengers obstructing the door, thank you very much." It was a little uncomfortable because at the next stop he spoke again, "Please move away from the doors! Man in the black shirt please move inside the car!" Everyone was laughing because then he gave a small speech about the importance of not standing near the doors again!

At the Angel I ordered my last pear cider in London and we just sat around again talking.

I'm back at Ability now thinking about packing and how it might possibly not work out very well for me...I hope I don't have to leave anything behind!

Tomorrow's my last day in London,
Whitney