The End

Well, not the end of the blog... after all, I still have about 2 weeks worth of updating to do. But, I figured I'd write this now. It's weird to think that these 2 months I had looked forward to for three years are over. It'll never quite be like this again. I might come back to Europe and I will definitely see the wonderful friends I've made again, but never a combo of the two and that's (for lack of a better word) sad. I suppose all good things must come to an end. It just sucks when a really good thing comes to an end. I don't know if any of you London people read this but... thanks oodles for making this such a wonderful experience. I love you guys! That's it for now... I can't wait to see everyone at home!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Hello all of you blog readers! I'm very sorry for the lack of updating... but, it's been busy in London. We had our finals all last week and saw a show every night. Last weekend was Amsterdam and this past weekend was Edinburgh (For those of you who have Facebook, pics from both trips are posted there). Anyway, we are off to Cornwall in a half an hour and staying there for three nights. Unfortunately, this means I have no time to update. I have everything written in my journal and still fresh in my mind. Things will be posted eventually. I'm still not as bad at updating as Jared. Heehee :) Love and miss everyone!

Amsterdam

Well, before I get to Amsterdam... I have some other things to talk about. Billy Elliot. Amazing show. Maybe my favorite one so far. I have never seen such talented children in my entire life. They were really incredible. There is this one scene where young Billy Elliot and his imaginary older self dance together and it gave me goosebumps. I cried because it was sad and I cried because I was laughing so hard. That was Wednesday night. Thursday, we had class all morning and then went to the Open Air Theatre in Regents Park to see Twelfth Night. It was... not my favorite. Olivia messed up half her lines and would then repeat them to correct her mistakes. It probably didn't help that we were sitting in the direct sun for the first half of the show, but I just wasn't that impressed. It seems like the actors at the Globe really know their stuff, where the actors in this show were not at that same level. But we had a lovely picnic lunch in the park with Val beforehand, which was a good time. Afterwards, Noelle, Kurt and I booked it to the tube station to catch the train to the airport.

PJ Party at the Palace

So yesterday was just the usual. We had class (our last Stacy class!) and, since it was Tuesday, we went to Sports Cafe. This morning, Greta, Mal, and I went and got tickets for Billy Elliot, which we are totally stoked to see. We decided to walk to Buckingham Palace to take a peek, since we hadn't seen it yet. Awesomely enough, when we got there, the changing of the guard was happening! That was pretty sweet and we had a lot of fun taking pictures in our pjs in front of the palace.

That you have but slumbered here while these visions did appear...

Yesterday was catch up day. As you can see, I updated my blog like crazy. Greta, Nobe, Evan, and I went to the post office and went down by the river to study lines and hang out. Everyone else went to Wimbeldon for the day. It was nice to sleep in and not really have any plans until the evening. Greta, Noelle, Amber, and I saw A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe last night and it was wonderful. We enjoyed it a lot more than the production we saw in Stratford. It's funny how Stratford had all of the fancy lights, tricks, and crazy costumes and the Globe had none of that, but, in my opinion, was a lot better. Afterwards, we stopped and grabbed food along the Thames and then made our way back to Schiller. I went to bed around 1:00 last night, which was actually kind of early... it was nice.

Going to The Clink...

Yesterday (Sunday), Mal, Noelle, and I went to the British Museum and St. Paul's Cathedral. The mummies at the museum were pretty sweet and the American exihibit was cool as well. St Paul's was gorgeous and much bigger than I had anticipated. We took the tube an extra stop so we could walk along the Thames to get back to school. We got some ice cream and sat by the water. I'm relaly going to miss that when I go home. Mal, Nobe, Greta, Ricky and I went to The Clink Prison Museum that evening. It was kind of short and stupid, but we took some fun pics and got grossed out by some crazy forms of torture. We stopped at The Anchor on the way back for drinks and nachos. I have never laughed so much. The four of us sat outside telling goofy stories until they finally made us leave (after they had cleaned up and stacked the forty tables around us). I booked my flight to Edinburgh. Kurt, Noelle, Trevor, and I are going there for the weekend of July 4th.

West End Live

Saturday, Greta, Kurt, Noelle, Ricky, Mal, Amber and I went to West End Live. This is an annual celebration where a bunch of shows each do a couple songs on a big outdoor stage and anyone can go watch for free! It was a really great, and crowded, time. We saw We Will Rock You, Grease, Buddy, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Chicago, and Mamma Mia perform. Noelle and I did a little shopping after the show and she picked up a really cute dress. We both got our haircut at this really interesting salon where nobody spoke English and the man who cut my hair did it with the most precision I had ever seen. We took a little longer there than expected, so we booked it to the restaurant, Tiger, Tiger, where we met Greta and Ricky for dinner. I had salmon for dinner that was absolutely delicious. It was a really nice restaurant and we definitely treated ourselves to a delicious meal. After dinner, we popped right next door to meet Mal, Kurt, and Amber for Marguerite. Marguerite is a musical about a forty year old woman who is the mistress of a Nazi general during WWII. She falls in love with a young piano player who's sister is part of the resistance movement and best friend is a Jew. It was very moving and the operatic music was beautiful. Some of the moments were a little over dramatic and corny, but that's musical theatre. After that, some of us bought wine and went down to the river for a bit to sit and drink. Then Rick and I watched Phantom of the Opera, the movie.