Breakfast this morning was rushed like none other! I sat down to this wonderful cheese and tomato sandwich, my Canadian roommates would call it a snack master, with tea and juice as always. Albert kindly volunteered to drive us to Hampton Court but, from the time we sat down to breakfast, we only had 15 minutes until Albert needed to leave in order to get us there and be back in time for work! Boy oh boy were Scott and I getting ready fast. Fast like none other! I'm afraid I held us up just a little bit trying to get all of my things together...a coat and socks and shoes and grabbing some makeup really fast. Well, we ran out to the car really. Scott accidentally went to the wrong side! haha. The whole driving on the other side of the road thing is ok and easy to get used to but getting into a car where the driver is on the right is seriously strange. If I thought driving with my grandfather was scary, try driving as a passenger on the left side of a utility van down the narrow streets of Wimbledon. My blood was pumping! With cars parked on either side of these streets, two lanes seem to become one. It felt like we were playing chicken with the oncoming traffic. At one point, we had crossed through a neighborhood that has limited access because there are these metal poles restricting certain cars from getting through. The side mirrors would normally hit but, Albert's handy man van is taller than most cars and he fits right in. He laughed as we passed the metal rods because he knew he was cheating the system. That was a little exciting but nothing compared to passing on a main road on the right hand side of the car in front of us, heading into the oncoming traffic. Albert even got honked at. I will admit, I feared for my life at this point. We made it there safe and sound. Alberts driving may be a touch on the crazy side but, it sure was time efficient!
Scott and I stepped onto the grounds of Hampton Court, home of the oldest clock in the world and built by King Henry VIII. What incredible grounds! And the palace...I have no idea what it looks like :) It would have cost us somewhere around 22 US dollars to enter this thing! What in the world are they running in there? A day spa? Unless that tour came with a continental breakfast at the end, it was not going to be worth $22! Scott and I said pshhh, no! I saw a group of small children, probably a school group, and I suggested we follow in with them :). Scott suggested we grab a few of their hands so as to look more a part. haha. Genius! Well, we didn't do that. I suggested that we just walk around the flower gardens and enjoy the grounds. Turns out, there is a separate charge for walking around the gardens even! I boycotted. I was so disgusted by how much money this place was costing that I wanted to start looking for back entrances to the gardens and the hedge maze. Scott keeps me honest. I've realized since being in London that I'm a little on the...let's call it thrifty side. Well, I was soooo done with the palace and we decided to walk along the river for a bit before catching a train to Waterloo. We sat on a fence and watched little goslings swim by with their mum. The sun was shining and it seemed quite lovely but, we needed to head out for the Globe because we had tickets for Macbeth!!!
Scott and I arrived at the Waterloo station and walked along the Thames to the Globe. Scott decided to curb his hunger with a 45 pence piece of bread from Pret. I documented that price for my posterity. Maybe their bread will be more expensive and they might like to hear about mine. Maybe they won't even eat bread. I digress. We walked under a tunnel, along with a group of school kids, and there were some musicians performing some jammin music. These kids were kinda bopping along to the beat of the music and Scott and I kinda...ok really got into it too. I loved that. Finally we reached the Globe Theatre. We waited outside for a minute in the groundlings queue and realized we needed our tickets. Scott went to grab those but, just as he left the groundlings were taken through the gates. I didn't have my ticket yet but, some how I still got into the courtyard portion of the theatre. Scott went back out to where our first queue was and didn't see me. As you can imagine, that sent him into a panic. Well, I asked a couple in the second queue I was waiting in to hold my spot while I went to find my boyfriend. Just then Scott rounded the corner with tickets in hand. He said when he walked out to the outer gate where the first queue and asked where everyone went they told him it would have been impossible for me to get in without a ticket so that's probably why he was getting a little nervous. Well Globe theatre...I got in! What now? boom baby.
The show was incredible! Not that i expected anything less at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. His writing is timeless! Sure there is plenty of stylistic things that we are unfamiliar with but, he wrote about human issues that we experience today...passion, jealousy, politics. It was amazing to see how such an "old" play could feel so modern and edgy yet authentically Shakespeare. There was a sheath that covered the "groundlings" area with little slits for us to put our heads through. This allowed the actors to sort of sneak up on us and interact with the audience. I could feel the three witches as they came up from the "underworld" (aka, below the sheets and between our legs). I thought that was pretty innovative. Of course there was your standard blood packet and fake tongue but there were some staging choices that I really loved. When Lady Macbeth comes out for the scene when her chamber maid calls on the doctor because she is sleep walking and rubbing her hands, they brought her downstage through this sheer dark curtain. She walked straight forward wearing a silky white night gown and light shining down on her face casting these dark shadows. I really felt the creepy intensity of her character and that scene. There was quite a bit of music used throughout the piece also. I was impressed with how much there really was! I'm used to hearing a little bit of music in plays but, there was music in at least every other scene! It felt like a horror movie at times.
After our adventures at the Globe, we headed for Picadilli Circus to meet up with our friend and fellow student Steve Durtschi. We walked for a bit looking for some reasonably priced food for dinner and of course...nothing was less than 5 pounds. :/ So we decided today would be a good day to get some fish and chips. Steve left us there and headed back to visit with our friend Jeff Lark who is now living in London. There was an extra charge to dine in at the tables outside the little fish & chips place so naturally, Scott and I refused to pay and we dined at the center of town on this little monument circle/ round about. :) It was nice though I'm not fond of fish and chips. Scott and I took a walk around looking at more closed shops and exploring some more. We decided it might be fun to hit the National Portrait Gallery but by the time we reached it, it was closed for a private event. We walked back to the monument area and I popped in to see what it would cost to get rush tickets for Chicago the musical. Prices for 4th row seats dropped from about 70 pounds to about 30 pounds! Amazing but, Scott didn't seem to excited about seeing that show :) We decided to head back because we were exhausted from the day full of walking. Scott and I both fell asleep on the tube and were woken up at the Wimbledon station by some fellow tube riders. Lucky for us someone decided to wake us...who knows how long we would have been sleeping there!! Then we made one of our last trecks back to Albert and Janice's. I've really enjoyed these walks. They give Scott and I time to chat about anything from experience to memories to beliefs and dreams, goals and desires...just everything and anything. Once back at their home we sat down to yet another cup of tea with cookies. Sometimes I just feel like I don't deserve to live like this! It's far to lovely have even imagined. I'm so lucky!
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