London/Oxford Trip 2012: Twelve Tempest Trains

Today felt like the longest day of my life but every moment was worth it. We woke up early and made breakfast before heading out on a bus to go to London! Cathy and I listened to a remix/dubstep remix on the way there all along while being silly/twinkling! When we got there, we had some extra time before the Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night, started so a group of us hauled over to kings cross station to take a picture at platform nine and three quarters!!! It was extremely touristy, but fun as always! Then, Cathy, Katie, Matt, and I headed into a cute cafe nearby where I had a deliciously crafted grilled cheese sandwich. I'd been craving one so it was a more than satisfying meal. Afterwards, we saw the Roundhouse's production of Twelfth Night! The cast was the best I've ever seen and I really think I learned something about acting today. The theater was a "theater in the round" so the play was set in a circular building with multiple rows of people. Our group was on the highest row and had an amazing view of the play. Anyway due to the stage the actors were able to interact more with the audience---their monologues were no longer monologues but points with a conversation the two of us were having. This allowed the characters to form a stronger relationship with us. I may also mention here that the play was hilarious!!! I was laughing hysterically at the characters, Toby and Andrew, who remained intoxicated the entire play. Afterwards, we had about three hours to walk around London before the next play so Cathy, Katie, Matt, and I took the underground to Abbey Road Studios where we got a picture of us crossing Abbey Road like the Beatles! SO cool. On our way back, we ran into some other Americans and Cathy instantly befriended a girl as they discussed her camera. Next, we got off at a stop further south at Baker Street to go see the Sherlock Holmes Museum. It was amazing! I took a picture of 221b Baker Street and got a picture in a sleuth hat and a pipe!!!! ALSO, before this I found a Kate Middleton mask that I unfortunately didn't buy, but posed with as tourists watched. Yes, yes dahling. After the museum, we stopped into a place to eat that had questionable food which we reluctantly ate. I'm currently feeling the result of that decision. On a happier note, we took the food to go and threw some of it away in the underground. The bad news is as we tried to get back, the underground had completely shut down three major lines so it took us 45 minutes to get back to the Roundhouse. Thankfully, we got there in time for our second Shakespeare play of the night, The Tempest! This play was a lot darker than the first one and interestingly enough maintained the same cast in VERY different roles. I won't lie it scared me a great deal in some places. After the play, the girls and I bonded on the bus back to London before we started feeling sick because of the dinner we had. We had a midnight snack of pasta to settle our stomachs and then we booked our train tickets to see the cliffs of dover tomorrow! Can't wait!!!