I missed a pretty crucial part of day one (I know, I know, what am I doing with my LIFE??). We got to see Wicked! It was super amazing. It's a pretty moving play. I didn't cry, but I had something in my eye once or twice. London was super talented. Different from New York, but it was cool because they definitely made the play their own.
Okay, now that we have that taken care of that we can move on to day 2. First thing, we got on a tour bus. It's one that you can take all day and get off and on whenever you want. They give you headphones when you get on to listen to the tour. About 10 minutes into it I changed my dad's headphones to the Japanese tour. He didn't see me do it and to describe the look on his face would not do this story justice so I won't even try.
We went to St. Paul's Cathedral but it was closed for an American Thanksgiving service (???). Whaaaaa???? So we went and drank coffee and ate muffins instead. Not the same thing, but pretty great nonetheless.
I have seen 4 British versions of people I know in America. I have seen a British Adam Reuss, Jane Lloyd, Rachel Wood, and Lisa Fife. I wanted to say hi, but that might have been weird. Especially when I explained to them that they were a doppelganger.
We then went to the Tower of London to learn about all the people that were beheaded (that's not all that happened there, but those were the parts that stuck out to me). Hearing the stories behind them is always really interesting to me. It's like a medieval Jerry Springer. There was a tower where people who were held prisoner had carved stuff in the wall. That blew me away. I was looking at stuff that had been carved 600 years earlier, by people who were about to die.
We spend the evening shopping and hanging out. We walked past one store that was serving champagne at the door, and we decided we definitely couldn't afford that store, so we moved on.
My father gave me the task of finding our way home... and I don't mean to brag, but I did in fact find the way back to the hotel. Only one little snag. Coming out of the underground, I continued with some extreme confidence. So much so, that I proceeded to kick over a homeless woman's jar of change. And when I say kicked it, I mean KICKED it. We were about 3 blocks away from the Thames, but I'm pretty sure some of the change rolled into it. We did, however, help her pick it up. So we stole £20 and gave her £20 almost at the same time. I felt very proud (by proud, I mean embarrassed).
On the final stretch of the trek, we talked bout Neverland, being the second star to the right and all. My dad asked me if I had any pixie dust. We determined, however, that you don't need any pixie dust, you only need pixie sticks and some happy thoughts, which we do, in fact have. (Didn't make it to Neverland. I say that with deep regret.)
Day 3: We walked to Westminster Abbey, which is about 2 blocks from our hotel. When we went in, there were signs everywhere that said "No Photography", but I thought it was just a guideline, like one-way streets. Turns out they take it quite seriously. I took one picture, and was immediately met with a "turn the camera OFF." I adhered, but the picture was so worth it.
Then we went to the National Gallery and looked at paintings. We spent about 20 min. there, which was more than enough. I wish I appreciated historic art more than I do.
We wandered around after that, saying to each other more than 3 times, "do you know where we are?" - "nope." And both being totally comfortable with that answer. This has been the most relaxing, productive trip I have ever been on.
We ate dinner at a super trendy Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. I felt very cool and popular eating there, and still very hungry afterwards.
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