somewhere over the rainbow...

Today was a day where all your plans just fail. you have two choices when this happens. you can a) be upset and grumble or b)make an adventure of it. 

we chose b.

to start off the failures. today we were supposed to go to brighton. this didnt happen. now how did we get to the point of not going to brighton you ask. well it started with an early morning run through hyde park and bridal boot camp on the lawn- which resulted in us being covered by the fluff fluffs. then home to shower and get ready, which always seems to take longer than one would have hoped. also our internet stopped working so homework couldnt be submitted, weather checked, or travel information checked. another girl in the program was planning on coming with us to brighton but she hadnt finished her paper, so we had to leave without her. on the way to the tube station we were freezing so we stopped in H&M, and Cali and I got hoodies which were 2 for 1 to help us stay warm. we finally got to the tube stations and the trains werent running because of engineering work. the cold windy weather and the delay we would face in trying to get there, and the fact we wanted to be home early to go to a show, resulted in us deciding not to go.

blessing in disguise: i had woken up that morning at 7 to write my paper before we left for brighton, and was able to submit it before the internet stopped working. waking up early stunk but i didnt have to worry about it later.

once the decision not to go was made, we decided to meet up with the group who was going to the sherlock holmes museum, and we figured going back to the flat would just be a waste of time. so we jumped on the nearest bus hoping it would take up to another tube stop that did have trains running. we eventually found a tube stop, but the line we need was- you guessed it. closed. the overground was running from that station, but we had never been on it and we werent sure if our oyster cards would work. but as part of the adventure, we tried it and it worked. here is the adventure continued by photos.

on the overground. it was a much nicer ride than the underground.

because of the detour we passed the BBC broadcasting buildings. it was a huge complex

we finally made it to baker street. so we had to bake something of course. this is us baking the pizza Hitch style.

when we walked out of the tube station there were tons of police officers.

it turns out that the pub across the street is a very popular place to watch "football" (soccer) matches and the finals were that day. the police were there to make sure everyone got on the tube okay. a nice policer man told me all of this when we asked. it was so fun to see how excited they all were for the match. you could hear cheering and chanting all throughout the city. there is a part of me that wishes soccer was as big of a deal in the United States.

we finally made it to the sherlock holmes museum

the gift shop was almost more entertaining that the museum itself (actually in my opinion it might have been more) there were pipes 

sherlock holmes hats

a mini violin- my parents always pretend to play a mini violin when you complain, this would be perfect for them- there were also these really neat crank music boxes but it wasnt worth the money but we had a lot of fun playing with them

we then had to wait in line to go into the house, but there was a sweet police officer dressed man who set us up for a  photo op. dont we look just like holmes and watson?

 inside the house/museum was interesting because sherlock holmes is a fictional character. so walking around looking at things was confusing because it would say "watson's medicine bag" however it was just an antique medicine bag. while confusing it was still fun to look at all the old books and newspapers.

books.

an old newspaper.

This wax boy was standing at the top of the stairs and about gave me a heart attack 

we got to sign sherlock's guest book. it was fun to see where everyone was from. there were people from India, Italy, France, and the USA

the little wax boy was the least of our problems. on the top floor there were tons of wax figures from cases. they were so creepy. there was a woman shooting her husband, this guy who was shot, a man in prison, a mummy. very weird.

old suitcases in the attic.

 after the sherlock holmes museum we ventured next door to the beatles shop. It was fun to just look around. they had shirts, purses, posters, you name it. anything you could ever want with the beatles faces' on them.

 on our way back to the tube we past a patisserie which looked delicious, we just stood and stared until the worker asked us if he could help us and we realized we should probably eat lunch first. with a promise of return, we went on a search for a good place for lunch.

heaven in a window.

 after wandering through the streets of London looking for the perfect place for lunch. we came across the bagel factory, which had the most amazing bagel sandwiches. but to continue our failures- when asked if we wanted it to go or stay, we said to stay, so they charged us extra. thats right folks. it costs more to sit at their tables and eat it. 

yummy bbq chicken sandwich, we were realizing how starved for protein we have been. it was good to have some meat.

cali looking all european outside of the bagel factory.

 then it was back to our yummy pastry shop. we got our pastries and took them to go (being scared they would charge us more) but saw a cute park where we could eat them. when we got to the park, our luck set in. the park was a private park (the only one i have seen in london) so what did we do? we sat outside the park at the bike racks and ate our pastries braving the insane wind. 

elly got a napoleon

cali got chocolate cake

and I got strawberry cheesecake. no worries we all shared.

 after our yummy food we were ready for a nap. the combination of no sleep and a lot of walking makes for three very tired girls. so home we came. taking a nap was much needed, but getting up was the devil. but the nap was all we needed to change our luck. 


we were off to "End of the Rainbow" and were so efficient in getting there, and then the supposed sold out show had three open tickets right smack dab in the middle. someone had returned their tickets. we then went and grabbed dinner in the hour we had before the show, and finished and were in our seat with 10 minutes to spare.

we ate at Garfunkel's- i have realized that American restraunts are very efficient. we stood awkwardly in the doorway for a bit waiting to be helped, and then we sat awkwardly before being helped. basically we are awkward. but they seemed to be running around, not knowing what to do, but the dinner was still delicious.

new cardigan. only five pounds. i love.

so this one time we were looking at the menu and they had their breakfast items listed. and i couldnt find pancakes, and all i wanted were pancakes. and i was so sad that pancakes were no where to be found. oh wait, look at the dessert menu and BAM- i am glad to know one of my favorite breakfast items  is considered a dessert here...maybe thats why i like them so much

cali got a yummy veggie pizza that was huge- she forced us to help her eat it. it was scruptious

elly got an omelette that was the best thing she had ever tasted. it was deep fried. hello london.

i got the potato skins appetizer because it was cheap and sounded delicious. probably not the healthiest choice- but yum yum

 after dinner we stopped by tesco for a chocolate bar for intermission at the show- but there were sales meaning we went a little crazy. proof of our craziness below-

outside the venue.

my purse is the size of china. meaning everyone put their chocolate in my bag. i was very tempted to make a run for it...so much chocolate in one bag.

cali got two huge chocolate bars (2 for 3 pounds) and elly and i both got 3 little carmel cadbury bars (3 for 1.20) 

 at the show we ran into ellen and katie. Addison and Bre (the married couple) had gone and seen the show a few nights before and raved about it, so we thought we would come see it, and they had the same idea. well technically we first ran into them at tesco- they were getting chocolate too. great minds think alike. 


also random fact- they had the smallest most compact bathroom in the world. but really where there would have been two stalls they had four.

at the show.

 the show was AMAZING though. it was shows a few days in the life of Judy Garland's life before she died. I didnt realize what a hard life she had, and what a character she was. It was a hard show to watch, as you watch her kill herself with drugs and alcohol, but the performance itself was impeccable. It made me want to go watch every movie with Judy Garland in it. The most amazing part was the fact that there were only 4 actors, and then an 8 member band. unlike hamlet they only needed the four. There was one point were a radio man asked her how long she would keep performing. her answer. i dont perform for me, i perform because people want to see me, as soon as that stops, ill stop. she didnt perform because she loved it anymore- it was her "duty." one of my favorite lines from the show was when judy said something along the lines of "the worst thing is to know what your potential, and never reach it." it just spurs a lot of thought. we are all capable of so much, but are we living up to our potential. are we giving our all, or are we just floating. just something to think about.

RANDOM TIDBITS

* cali always makes fun of me for saying boughten- she says it isnt a word, but you should say i bought rather than i had boughten. lame. but today when she was talking to sean- she said boughten. she will never live down this day

* we saw a ridiculous number of people dressed up today. we saw a girl with a mustache and a top hat, a boy with a 6-sided die for a head, and many an animal- london is weird

* there was a moon walk that cali really wanted to do that passed by our flat, we saw a bunch of people going to it and they had sweet shirts with pink bras on them (it was for breast cancer) that was cali's motivation for wanting to do it

The End.