The “Glob,” and weird play and a deranged king!

Me and some leeks at Hampton Court.

So…I’ve kind of slacked off on my blog for a week.

I try not to fall too far behind; otherwise, I’ll never be able to catch up!

Wednesday, my class had a tour of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. It’s not the original theatre, but an authentic reproduction of what the theatre probably looked like when good ol’ Willy was still alive. The original theater burned down in the early 1500’s due to a fire, and though modern anti-fire things were sort of built into the theatre, everything is as it would have been back in the day: a thatched roof, wooden floor, wooden foundations, etc. It took several decades to build the new theatre because the builders were instructed to rebuild the theater using Elizabethan techniques.

O_O

Now that’s impressive.

Even though those pillars on the stage look like marble, they’re actually wood. Everything in the theatre is made of wood! It was pretty neat to walk around and I lived in Elizabethan England for awhile. Marika and I stayed in the café there for at least an hour and a half talking…the atmosphere was very relaxing and it was fun to just sit and relax with a cup of coffee.

Me and Josh.

Inside the Shakespeare Exhibit.

Thursday was a long, long, long day. ..at least it felt like it. First up was a visit to the Imperial War Museum.

Mom and Dad would have loved this place—there were lots of airplanes, tanks, explosives and the like, plus some fascinating and somber exhibitions on the Holocaust, trench warfare (they actually reconstructed a trench you can walk through) and wartime posters. I did my hair weird that day...but everyone seemed to think it was really cute.

I dunno...Katie Holmes-ish?

After the museum and lunch at The Three Stags Pub, we were off to Trafalgar Square to see a matinee performance of “The History Boys” at the Wyndham Theatre.

I’ve heard a lot of great things about this play, and was really excited to watch it, but I did not like it at all. I mean, the acting, staging, lighting and things were all great, but I didn’t empathize with any of the characters and the storyline was just sort of…blah to me. Oh well. I’ve decided that every “meh” play I see will only make the good ones better. =D

Then today, Friday, there was an optional field trip to Hampton Court. Turns out, only four of us (Marika, Violet, Josh and me) wanted to go! I guess most of us are kind of over all the castles and palaces, and while Hampton was a little bit of the “same old, same old” thing, there was some really interesting history as this was one of the official royal residences of Henry VIII. In fact, all of his six wives vacationed with him there at one point and it is rumored that Catherine Howard still haunts the Great Hall of Hampton to this day.

Marika, Violet and me at the Entrance.

Palace Gardens...

Trying to be scaaaary!

Walking in the Cloisters....

Although we didn’t see Catherine in the Great Hall, Violet and I heard a very ghostly giggle as we wove our way through the hedge maze in the garden.

I think the best place we explored was the palace kitchens. They were HUGE!

I'd hate to clean that chimney.

Marika liked the fake, plastic props...

Behold...the Leek Master!

Me and my organic lollypop. It was gross. =D

We had lots of fun at Hampton. On the train ride back to London, this old woman sneezed behind us. Actually, it was more like a terror-filled scream. It scared Marika and I so bad...then we couldn't stop laughing. Ah, the good times.

So, now I’m back at the flat. Dr. Denbeste and the peeps from across the hall are coming over for dinner. I’m making a chocolate cake, so I'd better start on that!

Tootles~!

By the way, this is my favorite commerical over here. Every time I see it I think of Mom and Jax. Turn up the volume on your speakers and enjoy! =D