checking things off

My Monday was quite eventful.
After class Paige, McKell, Sarah, and I headed to the Tower of London.


I had seen it one of the first nights I was here, but I still hadn't actually been to it. It was so much fun, and so much bigger than I had expected. We had a really great time we went on a tour and saw the crown jewels and just explored around for a little while. We then hoped on a boat down the Thames to the Tate Modern museum.

We looked in the really cool shop and headed up to see Monet's "Water Lillies" painting. As we were looking through that first gallery the museum closed....so we didn't see much, but I liked what we did see. It's the first museum that I've actually liked...so it's a little sad we didn't get to stay longer, but that's okay.
We then headed back across the river on the way cool Millennium Bridge and were off the the New London Theatre to see "War Horse."

Wow.
That's all I can say about the show. It is about a boy and his horse during WWI and they have these brilliant and fascinating life like horse puppets. It sounds cheesy and weird but it is innovative and dramatic and beautiful and moving. I'm still processing it and trying to understand what I saw and why it affected me so deeply. I'm pretty sure it's going to be the next big thing in the theatre world. It's already taking London by storm and I can see why. I'm so glad we got to see it, and I had a fantastic seat which made it even better.

Today was also very eventful. We boarded the coach at 6:45 this morning and were off to Coventry Cathedral. It was a really beautiful place, I was pleasantly surprised. We were then off to the castle ruins at Kentleworth

and then another castle at Warwick. The castle at Warwick has been restored and turned into a sort of Medieval family fun centre.

We had about 4 hours there and spent it exploring the beautiful grounds and just having fun being together. It was a really nice day, with perfect weather and I just had a blast sitting in the shade and taking everything in.
From Kentleworth we were on to Stratford-Upon-Avon. Since I've been in love with Shakespeare I've wanted to come here. I'm so excited to finally be here in this adorable little town where everything is named after something Shakespeare. It's such a cute, quaint little town and the Bed and Breakfast we are staying in is so fun.

We got here, dropped out stuff off and headed to "The Windmill" pub (suggested by our hosts) for dinner before the show tonight.
It was so good. The building was apparently built in the late 1500's which is awesome in and of itself, and the food was fantastic. I had some really yummy 'Hunter's Chicken' with new potatoes and lemonade that tastes like sprite and I was pretty much in heaven.

I think it has been my favorite meal in England so far. After that we headed to the grocery store to pick up some chocolate, and were onto the Royal Shakespeare Co. to see "The Winter's Tale."

Its definitely not my favorite Shakespeare show, and although this production had some really cool design elements, and I loved the theatre space itself, I was bored out of my mind and I could not wait for it to be over. You will some, you lose some I suppose.
Now I'm back home, after walking through this beautiful town in perfect weather, and I just can't wait to see what tomorrow holds.
Yay for England!