DAYS 15, 16, 17. Lion King, Hamlet, Tea Parties, & Wanderings.

I have been busy and blogger has been down, which equates to being behind on posting once again. Unfortunately my memory is awful but I will try not to leave out anything important (especially because this is my only method of recording my travels).

DAY 15, WEDNESDAY.
Class as usual. We discussed the performance we saw of War Horse, and what we read for Hamlet. After class we bought tickets for Lion King, the musical. During the afternoon I have no idea what I did haha, probably attempted to do homework but ended up on the computer sifting through photographs. Before the show we went attempted to find a cheap Thai restaurant but failed and ended up getting pizza at an italian place. Lion King was so great, I loved it. The acting and singing wasn't the best but when there is so much else going on, you don't really notice. The costumes were fantastic, and the set was beautiful and creative. The opening scene was my favorite part, I think my mouth was agape the whole time. I realize that I am biased to this show and that most of the other people who saw it didn't like it as much as me butttt...I am obsessed with all things African and it doesn't help that I was raised on the music from the Lion King. "He Lives In You" has been stuck in my head ever since. After we left the theatre we did some meandering down to the Thames and admired the city lights illuminating Parliament, Big Ben, and The London Eye. It was a perfect night.

DAY 16, THURSDAY.
I slept in a little bit. Glorious. Then we went to Hyde Park for a tea party at noon. We had chamomile tea, crumpets, pain au chocolat, lemon biscuits (cookies), and a baguette. We ate and chatted underneath the overhanging branches of a draping tree, it was a beautiful day and that made it perfect. Later that evening we went to a lecture for Hamlet and then saw the performance at the Globe. This time I decided to be a groundling and stand on the ground in front of the stage instead of sitting around the sides where there is a good chance of an obstructed view. Even though we had to stand for around three hours, it was worth it to be closer with a pole-free view. I really like their version of Hamlet. I think that they made a good choice on the costumes (monochromatic/earth tones), and on many of the actors. The man who played Hamlet actually looked like a hobbit and made strange facial expressions that did not always match what he was supposed to convey, but some of the other actors were great, especially the man who played Laertes. The mousetrap scene was hilarious and very creative as well.

DAY 17, FRIDAY the 13TH.

Today almost everyone in our program went to Brighton, a seaside city mentioned frequently in Jane Austen's novels. I chose to stay instead with a few others, and plan on going back another day. During the morning we went to the Victoria & Albert Museum, which houses art and other artifacts. We viewed sculpture, paintings, drawings, and some theatre stuff. It's a great museum and I plan on going back to explore some more, especially since I am feeling guilty being the resident art major and not even spending much time looking at art so far. After that we went to High Tea at the Orangery. BEST THING EVER. It was straight of out a book. The Orangery is situated at Kensington Palace within Hyde Park. I ordered chamomile tea and fruit scones with clotted cream and marmalade. It was divine and I loved every minute of it. The gardens were also beautiful and exquisite. We then took the tube to Hampstead, which is north of central London. We ate crêpes at this little stand where they actually spoke French and they were so good. Mine had egg, cheese, and ham- plus they came in a cone with a "snaknife" (think fork-knife)! We then decided that since it was Friday the 13th, we would find the cemetery. We were told it was over the Heath (a large park raised up in between High Gate and Hampstead), so we journeyed through it asking directions along the way. Long story short, we wandered for hours trying to locate it when finally we took a bus to it and found the cemetery to be closed since it was dark...however we plan on going back. The park was beautiful and walking in it was just what I needed- to be out of the city and in nature. Today was something out of Pride and Prejudice. And anything that even comes close to a Jane Austen novel makes me happy, so today I was extremely happy. Ready for lots of pictures?

Carolyn @ the Heath