On a Trip

We're going to Stratford-upon-Avon today for three days. I'll give a full...er...semi...um...some kind of a report when I get back. When I get back, I'll only have a week left in this program. I'm crying already. But as soon as I remember that Sara is coming, I perk right up!

Random Stuff

Yes, post number four for the day. I'm doing laundry and have no homework to do. Lucky readers of my blog.

First, this is my area of the room that I share with Shelby and Lexy. On this day, I called it The Pit of Despair. Usually I keep it picked-up because our room is so small and I want to be considerate. I know, shocker. I just thought mom would feel comforted to know that I don't keep it this way just to annoy her when I'm at home. It's just who I am.

Next, the group went to see The Tempest produced for a children's theatre called The Unicorn. Guess what? They had a giant unicorn in the foyer. It was pretty awesome. Its eyeballs are disco balls. The play had a great set that looked like the deck of a ship. I really liked the simplicity of the costumes. Each actor wore a black suit and tie, then took off jackets or added other stuff to create a new costume. They did this because there were only six actors in the play, so many of them had to play several parts. It was very cool to see the actors morph into new characters. They were all very excellent.


Last, when we were going to Borough Market (again!) we stumbled upon some teenage boys swimming in the Thames. They were hootin' and hollerin' something fierce. We never found out why they were doing it, probably just some misplaced male bonding. I took a picture.

J & A Cafe

Shelby's sister has a friend who lives in London and works at a cafe. So we decided to go check it out. We got horribly lost, partly because of incomplete directions, but mostly because it really was rather hard to find.

Here is the view from the street of the place we had to turn.

Here's the alley that led to it. We almost turned back because it looked just like a dead end.

We turned another corner, still nothing.

We turned one last corner , and voila.

The food was pretty good, but not amazing. I had a steak sandwich because I wanted the protein.

Then I had a scone with jam and cream. The scone was a little dry but the jam was delicious. I enjoyed it.

In our wanderings, we found this amazing store called Magma. So many funky books and items. I bought a Totoro key chain and a book about Tim Burton's exhibit at the MOMA that the MOMA didn't have when I was there.

London Assurance

Saturday, the group went to see a comedy called London Assurance, and it was hysterical. Just a situational comedy with great actors and great costumes. There's not much I can do to describe this play. But there were lots of recognizable people in it.

Mary Addy: He's Friar Tuck in the new Robin Hood.

Fiona Shaw: Who is Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter movies, amoung other numerous roles.

Simon Russell Beale: Who is a very famous British stage actor, and he played Charles Musgrove in Persuasion. You know, my favorite Jane Austen. Although you couldn't tell in this photo that they are the same person.

Richard Briers: Who was in Much Ado About Nothing, he was Mr. Smee in the live-action Peter Pan, and he starred in this Scottish soap opera I used to watch on PBS called Monarch of the Glen. Let's just say I was super excited when he came out on stage.

Fabric Shopping & Soho

Friday was a glorious day. Shelby, Sarah, and I went to Savile Row to gawk in all the windows, and then we went to Soho to fabric shop. Remember this lyric from Annie: "Who cares what they're wearing, from Main Street to Savile Row!" This is what those little orphans were singing about. Savile Row is (or used to be) famous for high-end men's tailoring. There are still a few shops that do this, so we went to gawk in the windows. So amazing and gorgeous. Unfortunately, there was a mighty glare on all the windows so it was hard to get very good pictures.


Our next stop was at Liberty of London. It's a pretty ritzy department store. The building is beautiful. The third floor had fabric, buttons, yarn, etc. The cotton that they sell is about 20 pounds per meter but it is the most delicious feeling cotton that I've ever handled. I bought some yarn and ribbon here, and I'm sure I'll go back with Sara. I think she'll love it.



Then, oh then, we went to Soho. This may have been my favorite place in London so far. It's funky and artsy and just a little sketchy. Also, this is where several fabric stores are. Not as many and as varied as in NYC, but there were some beautiful things to see nonetheless.

So much beautiful wool. I found myself attracted to several different red herringbone fabrics. Don't ask me why. There was also this Dupioni silk black and turquoise plaid that I was thinking of getting to make a "Christmas skirt". (I've had this obsessive idea of having a fancy skirt that I wear for Christmas for a couple of years. Not sure why I do, but it's fun to think about.) However, I only want to get one piece of fabric while in London so I wanted to mull it over before my final decision. Plus, it's expensive, like all the fabrics I liked.

There were a lot of amazing plaids.


And a whole wall of colorful, wool felt.


We hit a thrift store at some point, where we bought silk scarves. Side note: thrift stores is the UK smell the same as thrift stores in the US.

Then I had a new kind of ginger beer. Good, but a little tame for my experienced palate.

War Horse

I have been awfully neglectful with my posts. First, I'll post about a show we saw called War Horse. The story is supposed to be kind of narrated through a horse, Joey. It's about Joey and a boy named Albert, who raises Joey, and when they both go to war in WWI. The play was rather good, with really good music that consisted of traditional English tunes. It wasn't a musical per se, but there was a tenor with a beautiful voice who sang all the songs and played the accordion. Delightful. But the most amazing part was the horse puppets they created. They were incredible. They had three actors controlling each horse: the rear, the head, and the "heart". (In the picture above, the "head" actor is on the right, and Albert is on the left.) The coordination of these actors was nothing short of inspiring. They were so good at becoming the horse that after about the first fifteen minutes, I forgot that they were even there.The movements of the horses were so realistic. There were independent controls for the ears and the horses even made breathing motions. Lexy grew up as a FFA, and even she agreed that they really did the homework studying the horses movements.

London Haircut: Before and After

Here is my sad and raggedy haircut before.



I went to the hairdresser with a picture and basically told her that I wanted something funky. Well, I got it. Let's just say I never knew that hair could have "design features."

Design feature one: the sides are a-symmetrical. The right side is longer than the left.



Design feature two: she said that I have a little more thickness in the back on the right side, but I can't tell.

Design feature three: a trendy "tail" on the left side. The best part is that we've been making fun of tails this whole trip. I nicknamed mine Chico and I stoke it lovingly and try to make it curl.


I've begun to grow quite fond of my little haircut, probably because when I style it it looks a lot like my other haircuts. I try to make it look different, but I can't seem to help it. It must be muscle memory. Also, I secretly hope that Anna (sister) hates it. I don't know why.

Tower of London

We went to the Tower of London today. We saw the crown jewels, which were pretty giltzy. I don't think most people would use that word to describe royal accessories. Meh. We also saw some (a lot) rather intricate suits of armour and I got "expert archer" in an archery test. We weren't allowed to take pictures of anything inside, but we got some goodly outside photos.



I tried to joke around with the Beefeaters. I asked them if there were any vegetarian Beefeaters. They were not amused. They wanted to make all the jokes themselves.

Lexy got stabbed by an iron knight. But she healed pretty quickly.

We saw some guards'n'stuff.


If you look closely, you can see a guard out this window.

We had to wear stickers because we were with an "educational group," and they wanted us all to stay together with one of our leaders always in sight. But this was because the educational groups are usually grade school kids. So we ignored them and did our own thing.



Then we got bagel sandwiches. This was called The Roosevelt and it was surprisingly tasty because of the nicely marinated portabello. Plus everything's better with cheese.

New Haircut

I have a new haircut and it's super funky. But I have to wait until tomorrow to post pictures because the "after" pictures look lame. The end.

Haircut

I'm getting a haircut tomorrow. Before and after pictures to follow.

Grasmere Food

We didn't anticipate amazing food in Grasmere, but we sure got it. We only ate at two restaurants. The first was the Travellers Inn was pub on our way into town. We first stopped there because it was the closest, but our experience was as such that we were drawn back. It doesn't hurt that they were open later than everything else in Grasmere. First, I just had some tomato vegetable soup, which was actually just okay. But Shelby got this delicious sandwich that she let me try. There was chicken and pesto. 'Nuf said.
Then we had two desserts: Chocolate bread pudding and banana creme brulee. Let's just say if all bread pudding tasted like this, it would be a constant part of my diet. The texture was firm but very moist and although it looks too rich to handle, it was a perfect amount of chocolate/other ratio.
For our second meal there, I had to get a steak. I realized that since I've been in London I've pretty much become a vegetarian. This made me sad. This steak was rare, and delicious. There was also a marinated portabello mushroom that was so tender and tangy, and the onion rings were the best I've ever had. They had a sweet flavor that made me want more. They only gave me three.
Shelby had this plum stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon that was also quite divine. There were these cooked plums on the side that were to die for. Just a little tart and a lot delicious.
The other restaurant was called Baldry's. They made all their own baked goods from local ingredients whenever possible. Our waiter was so sassy and covered in tattoos. He loved being funny, but he didn't really love it when we were funny back. He wanted the spotlight in a he's-used-to-being-the-charming-clever-one way. (I think my color settings were weird when i took these. Everything looks too pink.)

My first meal there consisted of a hamburger with tea. An excellent combination, if I do say so myself.
The cheese on the burger was AMAZING! It was a hard, white cheese with a lot of tang and flavour. And the coleslaw? Forget about it. There's something different about British mayonnaise, I don't know what it is but it's so much better than U.S. mayonnaise. It's lighter and tastes fresher in a way...hard to describe. I almost forgot the beets! So earthy and sweet. I didn't try the other dishes that everyone ordered, but they looked amazing. Shelby is a BLT connoisseur and she said her BLT is the best she's ever had in her life.
The next day I just went ahead and ordered a smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich. Delish! Two of the girls bought this sticky gingerbread cake and I about died and went to heaven. It was so moist with fresh ginger that kicked just enough. (I'll have to get a picture from one of the other girls.) I asked the waiter for the recipe, but he refused. He resisted all my charm and cunning. I don't understand how that's even possible.