one crazy british week

So this week has been packed full of things to do, places to go, and people to see.
Here's a little recap of what I've been doing since the Temple on Tuesday.
Wednesday: I woke up not feeling well, so I ended up sleeping through my classes until about 12:30. It felt really good. I then slowly got up and around and headed off to Harrods. Harrods is ridiculous. It's a HUGE department store...I really think it's never ending, full of the most expensive things you could imagine. I just explored around looking at all the things I could never buy. They had a red grand piano signed by Elton John that pretty much made my day. From Harrods I went over to Starbucks and ate dinner while I read Time Out (the theatre happenings weekly magazine) and I kind of felt like a Londoner. It was really nice to have some alone time, I'm always surrounded by people here, and I love them, but sometimes it's good to go explore on my own.

Then was on to 'Waiting for Godot' starring Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. I have always wanted to see 'Waiting for Godot.' It's kind of a big deal in the theatre world--and I don't think I could have seen a better production. It was so amazing to see these two terrific actors just play onstage. You could tell that they were old friends who just enjoy performing. I loved it. We all went to the stage door and I got my poster signed. It was a blast. I'm so glad we had the opportunity to see it.
Thursday: Thursday was the 'Country Walk.' We traveled about an hour and fifteen minutes out to Kent, England and started a beautiful walk through the gorgeous countryside.
We rounded the corner and were walking through a field of yellow flowers and I was in heaven. It was so beautiful. I can take pictures upon pictures of it but it will never be able to show how beautiful it really is out there. We stopped at a cute little farm store and walked along a little river. We came through this cute little town with old houses and pretty flowers. Everything was just wonderful. We stopped at some old castle ruins and ate our lunches in the beautiful sun.

It really was lovely....until the second half of the walk turned into a hike...and I ran out of water. I struggled a bit, feeling like I might die, until we finally ended up back at the train station. All in all I'm glad I went on the 'Country HIKE' I just wish I had been more prepared!
We rushed home (hailing a taxi that got us back about a half hour before everyone else) showered, ate, and were off to see Shakespeare's 'Much Ado about Nothing' at Regent's Park.
I L-O-V-E-D it. It was a gorgeous night, I had a perfect seat, and it was set in this beautiful outdoor amphitheatre. I've decided that I love outdoor theatres in the spring/summer and I wish there were more opportunities for it.

The production was wonderful. I am in love with the set and the costumes were gorgeous. I was just happy the whole time. This was one of our 'bonus' performances that we didn't know we were going to see, and I'm so glad we did. It was an awesome night.
Friday:
We started the day by going over to Buckingham Palace for The Changing of the Guard. It's a pretty big production and they do it every morning. I can't believe it.

We waited..and waited...and played Phase 10 on the steps...and finally some cool traditional British guard band guys paraded through the street, went behind the fence, played You Can't Stop the Beat (which made my day) and just played songs...and more songs...and it was done.
Not gonna lie...it wasn't that exciting for me. But I'm glad I went nonetheless. Now I can say I've been to the changing of the guard, and I know I would have regretted it if I didn't ever go.
From there Sarah and I went to Hard Rock Cafe.

The one in London is apparently the original... so that was pretty cool. We had a hilarious waiter, who made my day, and having a salad with ranch dressing was divine. I didn't realize how much I missed "American" food until I had some. Yum.

From there we headed to The Globe theatre for a tour and then to see "Comedy of Errors." The tour was pretty neat. We got to see the excavated "Rose Theatre" which is one of the original theatres where Shakespeare's work was produced, so I really liked that. The show that night was fantastic. We got there early so we were able to get spots leaning on the front of the stage. It's so interesting to see a show like that. It really makes me feel like I'm back in Shakespeare's time. The show was hilarious. I don't think I've laughed in a theatre that much in a long time. The actors were great, and the production picked a concept and stuck with it all the way through. The whole performance just worked really well. My favorite Shakespeare we've seen so far.
Saturday:
This morning we were up and going early again.

We went over to Paddington and got traditional English breakfast and then we were on to Portobello Road in Notting Hill. Portobello Road is a huge market with pretty much everything you can imagine. We walked through it for about 3 hours just looking at and enjoying everything there.

I ended up not spending too much, buying a Birthday Present for Nicole and a cool drawing of London for myself. We got Lemon Crepes on the street which were amazing, and then I headed home for a nap. The plan for tonight was to go see 'Company' which I was really excited for...but we left a little later than we wanted to, and the tube line we needed to get on to get to the theatre was closed...and the line we were on had delays...so we didn't make it.
Paige and I headed back home, I stopped at Nando's (this awesome Chicken place one of my friends who served his mission here had recommended to me) and then we came home.
Now the plan is to work on some homework, get things ready for church tomorrow, and go to bed.
I know the next two weeks will fly by. There is still tons I want to get done here, but I'm also getting anxious to go home and be home for the summer. London still feels like a dream to me...so crazy.