England times 2

Sooo I’ve been very very busy over the last few days here in London town. Last time I was here I was able to do a lot of the touristy stuff, so I’m not too fussed over it all and it’s given me more free time to do things with friends, such as going to Fran’s birthday get-together and watching Harry Potter 6 with English folk in an English theatre. ‘Twas fun. I’ve seen part of a South African theatre production completely in Afrikaans (one of the players is staying in Lucy’s house, his name is Jody, he’s very funny), a comedy show by another of Lucy’s friends (Yianni) who was very funny.

St. Pancras Station, very old and fancy

Of touristy things to do, we went to Brick Lane Markets (not very touristy, but a little bit). You can buy almost anything there, back of the lorry (truck) makeup and chocolate, used clothing, international food. I had a tangine for lunch, which is apparently a stew from Morocco. It was delish. Also mango juice, several pastries, and some very cheap chocolate.
I went back to the British Museum yesterday to see a few rooms that I missed the last time I was here, and I also got to show Lucy around and give her an alternative (and non-British, Hellaphile version) view of the Elgin marbles (those from the Parthenon). We also went to the Tower of London, which I wish we would have done first thing in the morning and stayed all day. It’s definitely on my list of things to go back to when I return to England. We took part in a weapons demonstration, and I got to be part of a team of four to fire a catapult! Although I daresay none of the other women seemed to be quite as excited as me. We went on a tour guided by a Yeomen Warden of the Guard (aka, Beefeater--they don’t know why they’re called that, although it might stem from in the olden days when they were allowed to eat the leftovers off the table when the king was done), we saw the White Tower which was full of armor and weapons (not really my thing), and we saw the Crown Jewels (a bit excessive, if I do say so myself). It was a blast, but I didn’t get to see half of the rooms they had open. We also went to a pub and had a cider while playing pub games on the little computer there, where a nice man from Yorkshire lent us 5p and helped us with the game for a while (we never won…).

Lucy with a giant horse, from the tomb of Masollos, where we get "mausoleum"

I was the only woman to volunteer for about two whole minutes... I was a little enthusiastic compared to the rest...
I look kinda like a kid on Christmas morningThe White TowerMe in front of Tower Green and where the Yeomen live

Part of today was spent at the Science Museum, which I must say isn’t my thing, although they did have a very cool hands on section for kids (like me!) and two floors dedicated to medicine through the years which I visited in honor of all the nurses in my life. It was pretty cool, although there were about six kids up in those floors total. Then we went to a posh shop called Fortnum & Mason (where the Queen gets her tea!)--it was very neat and very fancy and very expensive.

Lucy with an early MRI. She was told to look excited.

We also picked up coffee and cakes (I got a mixed berry tart that was DELICIOUS) from Patisserie Valérie before heading to “An Afternoon Less Ordinary”, a program through the theatres here for under-25s. We got to see a reading of a play for free. It was very good, and there were some famous people there, like the weird lanky pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean, and a guy from television here (he was also in History Boys and Dr. Who) and a lady who was in Notting Hill and Atonement. Now if only I could find Atonement the book (I’ve been looking for it everywhere!) I’d be happy.

Other touristy bits: The bridge recently destroyed in the latest HP movie
(not the same one as in the book, one might note)A Magnum ice cream bar. It was realllly good.