Longest Weekend EVER...in a good way

I didn't have pop culture & diversity class Thursday afternoon because the group took a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon (aka Shakespeare's supposed home) and Oxford (as in University). We left Madison House on a private coach at 3 pm and arrived in Stratford around 6 pm. It took a good hour to get out of London, a fact that wasn't incorporated into the timing of this trip. Everyone was stressing out once we got to the bed and breakfast because we only had, like, 30 minutes to eat before seeing Romeo & Juliet at the Courtyard Theater, part of the Royal Shakespeare Company. I decided to opt out of eating because I knew we wouldn't have time and I didn't want to deal with all that. The others didn't get their food until 5 minutes before the show started and somehow managed to get to there in time. It was unbelievable. ha ha ha

I really enjoyed the playhouse and the show itself. The theater was round so there were seats, and even a few standing stalls, on all sides except behind the main stage. We had seats on the very top row, in the very top section (aka the gallery), dead center. I really liked my seat because it allowed me to see everything, even the other audience members. The play itself was traditional in every sense of the word except for Romeo & Juliet. They were wearing contemporary yet simple clothes and had modern props like headphones. All the dialect was still traditional Shakespeare which was nice. I thought the acting was brilliant and I was surprised that it actually held my attention. Since it was an educational outing for the theatre class, one of the actors (Mercutio) came back to the hotel to have a discussion with them, but I didn't attend. I was so beat after the play that I literally went back and fell asleep. As I was drifitng off, I heard the actor yell upon his arrival, "I AM MERCUTIO!"

Friday morning we woke up bright and early for a traditional english breakfast...which I didn't order. To me, breakfast should not consist of baked beans and tomatoes. The rest of it was a fried egg and sausage. I got scrambled eggs on toast and some corn flakes. YUM!

We then proceeded to take a bunch of pointless Shakespeare tours to Anne Hathaway's (his wife) cottage, Holy Trinity Church where he is buried and, finally, his birthplace. I mean, it was all nice and cute but it all seemed fake to me. My main concern is how everything is a "probably/most likely/possibly/maybe" kind of thing. No one really knows everything about Shakespeare so it's hard to give a tour about him. We heard a lot of "he slept in a bed SIMILAR to this one" and "he MAY HAVE walked across this street" and so on. It was just ridiculous. Plus, my camera died it little after Anne's cottage so that was a bummer.

After seeing Shakespeare's birthplace filled with replicas of things he possibly may have used, we had some free time to walk around the little town center and grab some lunch. I was still pretty full so I just went in some shops and got some presents for a few people. The best part was seeing the actress who played Juliet the night before strolling through town. I don't know why, but I was oddly starstruck.

We made our way to Oxford, about an hour from Stratford and an hour from London. I really liked it. I mean, I probably would have like it more if school was in session, but it was nice. It's like a college town to the extreme. We took a tour of the university and a few of the different colleges within it. It was really intersting to learn some of the history behind the school and learn about the school sytem in England. It would be so cool to do postgrad at Oxford or Cambridge but it would be super hard to get in. Just a dream.

After the tour we had some free time, but only like an hour. So a few of us decided to have a few pitchers of Pimms at The Turf Tavern, Oxford's oldest pub. I was told by Helen at work that I MUST get Pimms while in Oxford. It is a brand of liqueur that you add lemonade and some fresh fruit to in order to create a wonderfully refreshing summer drink. It was delicious and seriously one of those moments that just creates a memory. I will never forget sitting on the patio of The Turf Tavern in Oxford; the warm summer sun shining on my shoulders and a nice breeze rolling through. Hanging out with great people having a laugh. I truly treasure moments like that.

Then it was back to the bus as we made the trip back home to Londontown. The night was kind of a bust that basically came down to a really terrible and completely overpriced martini at an annoyingly loud cocktail bar when all I really wanted to do was sleep.

Saturday, Tessa and I hit the streets early to Portobello Market. It was much different from Camden because it was a single road instead of a giant maze of shops and food stands. People were selling everything from old books and clothes to silver tea pots and fresh produce. The best part was the music. There were tons of musicians performing for the crowds in the street. Tessa and I split the cost of a cd by the Ryan O'Reilly Band and then spent a while talking to a new artist called Robbie Boyd. He was really nice and very talented. Then we headed home and laid out in Russell Square for a bit before heading to Sister Ray's, a pretty famous little record store. I could have done some serious damage in there, but I kept cool and didn't spend any money.

Saturday night was nice. After enjoying a delicious homemade spaghetti dinner for one, Michelle, Tessa, Marie and I went out to Witherspoon's (the cheapest pub around) just to have a few drinks and talk. It was nice to get out with no pressures and just relax, though their Pimms wasn't as good as The Turf Tavern's.

Sunday, we all went out to Spitalfields Market in the East End. I saw so many cute things I wanted to buy but I kept cool and only bought a few small gifts for some people. Then Tessa and I enjoyed a delicous asian feast for lunch.

After the market, we headed over to Leake Street. There is a sketchy looking tunnel that used to be a bus station that has sense been turned into an open forum for grafitti artists in London to come a tag/bomb/paint whatever they want whereever they want. We went for Culture by Design class the other day, but I didn't have my camera so we made a trip back. Upon arriving, we saw Lawler, Ingrid, Sarah and Katie come to make some tags of their own. Quite a coincidence. Lawler's the artist in the group and she had designed an image of a cow that has one of it's spots in the shape of a "hazard" sign. The title of the piece is "Mad Cow" and it turned out really nice. I had so much fun taking pictures of all the grafitti. I highly suggest checking it out on facebook because, I must admit, some of those pictures are pretty awesome.

Tonight, World Cup fever finally subsided as Spain beat the Netherlands in the final match. Most of us went to Witherspoon's to watch the game, but I left to come home in the beginning of the second half. A part of me is kind of sad that it's over now. No more random pub outings at work or heated group discussions about which team is better. No more random cheering and pulling for a team because their players are more attractive than the other team. Yup, sad times.

Anyway, tomorrow starts another long week until we go to Paris on Friday!!! Emily so thoughtfully made a French Guide for me so I don't feel completely helpless with the language. She even wrote it out phonetically because she knows I can't read it correctly. She's a doll.

Emotionally speaking, I really don't think I'm ready to go home. I miss everyone and everything but I am having such a great time here I don't want it to end. I'm most worried about not ever seeing these people that I've grown so close to once school starts. We run in different circles and it will be tough, but hopefully we can make it work :)