to be or not to be...

warning. this post contains a ridiculous number of pictures. i apologize. london is too pretty.

today we experienced london the tourist way. yes, that is right, we did the Big Bus tour. all i needed was a fanny pack and i would have been set. a group had started it the day before (they are good for 24 hours) so we started with them at the Thames river, for the river boat tour. I was so happy to be on a boat, there is just something about being out on the water, even if the water is the color of dirt, that is relaxing. however the adventure started before we even got on the boat. before we left I challenged lauren to drink 3 bottles of water throughout the day. now you need to know that she had the biggest water bottle i had ever seen, i think she said it was two liters. so by the time we got to the westminster tube stop she had to go to the bathroom. tidbit about london- there arent many public restrooms. so she found some bathrooms you could pay to use. so we see her a little bit later, where she recounts how she had flat out used the mens room on accident. she just figured that they were communal when she saw the boys in the bathroom. the confusion came in the fact that they boys was on the left side and normally the girls is on that side. needless to say- we had a lot of fun teasing her about it the rest of the boat ride.

you cant have too many pictures of Big Ben. It was a beautiful day, the sky was so blue with fluffy clouds. it was wonderful.

The London Eye. It is like a ferris wheel but it takes about 40 minutes to get all the way around. it is expensive, but we are contemplating doing it one of the last days we are here.

parliament from the river.

the group. (minus katy, katie, and ellen). cami, cali, ashlee, patrick, camille, me, lauren, and elly.

our tour guide. not going to lie, i was kind of in love with him by the end of the tour- he had the best accent in the world in the world, and was a funny one. the best was when he was talking about the tate modern. some of the best lines... "its free, because they know that no one would go if it wasnt" "there is a room that is painted white with a light bulb that just turns on and off, i dont know if your into that sort of thing" and it went on. 

beautiful london.

is no longer falling down. did you know london bridge is not tower bridge. shocking right. story has it that an American bought london bridge thinking it was tower bridge, had is disassembled, and reassembled in the united states. he was shocked when he found he had a normal bridge. poor guy.

tower of london. where we were on monday. so pretty.

tower bridge.

we got off at tower bridge to start the bus tour of the bus tour. it was just elly, cali, and i, because the rest of the group went on a walking Harry Potter Tour. we were torn on what to do, but from what we heard we made a good choice because the tour wasnt very good, and they ended up leaving early. we had to wait a while for the bus, but it was well worth the wait. It was fun to just sit (on the wrong side, and on top of a double decker) and see london. we realized as we drove that we have already seen a lot of the places, but it was nice to get a sense of where everything was in relation to each other. considering we jump on the tube and then just pop up where we need to be.

it was as windy as could be.

it was a nice break from walking to just be able to sit and look.

how much more "london" can you get. old  buildings. red telephone booth. and bikes for rent. side not: dont look in the telephone booths, as cali said its the red telephone booth district instead of the red light district. but really.

parliament from the bridge.

i love the architecture of london. the roof tops are stunning.

green park. it won the most creative name title in 2010. or so we were told.

the pigeons gave us much entertainment. there was a baguette inside of that bag and they were trying soo hard to get it. we were sitting stopped at a red light cheering for them, right as we were leaving one pigeon (the smartest one) pulled on the one side of the bag making the bread accessible, but it was sad because all the other pigeons got to the bread before him so there wasnt room for him. we didnt get to see the rest of what happen, but we were very emotionally involved in their success.

economics is everywhere. jonathan, i love you.

trying to figure out where we should get off. they skipped the baker street part of the tour so we had to re-plan. sherlock holmes will have to wait for another day.

marble arch.

the tour was grand. it would have been more exciting if we had done it before we had already seen everything, but at the same time is was amazing the think about what all we have done in the last two weeks.

other memorable moments from the tour:

*passing the Audi store. there were a group of business men huddled around the window, like little school boys at the candy store. they were so giddy, and then all went in and were sitting in a beautiful car smiling from ear to ear. i have a feeling a midlife crisis purchase will be happening soon

* when we got off the bus, the big bus work on the side walk stopped us. we stood there confused as he talked to another customer and then he talked into his walkie saying "i have the people you said look suspicious here" im sure we all were as pale as could be when he cracked a smile, laughed, and said "have a great day!"

after the tour it was home for a run. i recently started a summer running challenge with a friend, and due to the fact i am competitive as can be, i cant lose. the rules: we base it off of times going (not distance or time ran), a run has to be at least 15 minutes long, and the loser has to take the winner to dinner. we are also keeping track of time ran (which makes it a competition inside of a competition). no worries, im going to kick his trash. but cali and i went running in hyde park which was beautiful, and then came back for more bridal boot camp. its the best. my body is slowly hating me more and more.

so excited to see Hamlet. hmph.

then it was off to the globe for Hamlet, and the pre lecture. on the way, cali and i stopped by tesco to grab a treat to help us stay awake for the show. unfortunately i should have broken it out during the lecture because i was out like a light. but the guy giving the lecture was a cute little old man with a bow tie. he was the perfect looking professor.


as for the performance of Hamlet... i was severely disappointed. i had never seen the play done live, and was so excited to see it done in the globe- but it was done by a traveling company, and i was not impressed. the acting was too over-the-top to the point where it was almost comical, and considering hamlet is a tragedy was inappropriate. they also werent consistent. for the first half they would change on stage, and the second half they did so back stage. it took me long enough to be okay that all the actors stayed on stage at all time, that when the switched it frustrated me. to elaborate on that- there were only 8 actors, meaning they switched roles. king hamlet also played claudius, and the king in the play they put on. they would make these switches by changing a coat of some other part of the costume. while impressive they could do the play with only eight actors, they didnt not make the changes severe enough to get ride of any confusion. another inconsistency that urked me was ophelia. first off, you couldnt see any love between her and Hamlet, if anything you might think there is a love connection between her and her brother Laertes. the only time was when polonius read hamlets letters to ophelia out loud. then when she goes crazy after the death of her father, she was so inconsistent. she would be over the top ridiculous and then just be a little off her rocker. moral of the story: not impressed. sorry for the venting.


scary moment of the night: cali was on the second floor of the globe, while i was on the first. (our seats were all over the place) but when the play ended there were people everywhere all trying to leave, and cali was no where to be found- but the group was leaving and i didn't want to get left behind. but knowing cali was very self sufficient i wasn't too worried. except for the fact we were off to victoria station to buy tickets to go to Brighton, and there wouldn't be a way to find her. i had a major dilemma of "do i buy her ticket, or no" but as we are standing at the tube stop and the train is pulling up- im just staring at the stairs- i see her come running down. it was the biggest sigh of relief. we all got on the tube and life was grand.


then a group of probably 20 of us made our way to victoria station to look into going to brighton in the morning. i love that we all get along, and all love spending time doing the same things, but it is crazy having a group of over 20 girls making there way around the train station and trying to make decisions. but we eventually got to the ticket counter and figured out we could get the same priced tickets in the morning, but that in order to get the discount we had to be in a group of four. we decided to wait to buy them in the morning so we could get home, considering hamlet was three hours long. but this ended up being a blessing because cali's family is coming tomorrow now, so we had to switch to going saturday, and if we had already gotten our tickets this wouldn't have been possible.


we made another stop by tesco on the way home so elly could get chocolate and cali and i got some yummy chips (or crisps here) for the walk home. ridiculous? yes. but the chips here are way better. but it was the best walk home. the night air was crisp and cool as we ate our crisps and all talked about why people are the way they are. what in our lives made us act the way we do. i love talking about things like that, i find it fascinating. yay for a psych minor.


when we got home i just didnt want to sleep. blogger was broken, so i couldnt get this out of the way, but i didnt want to go to bed. so after sufficient time skyping, facebook stalking, and blog stalking, i decided i wanted to watch a show. but alas no shows work in london. its the saddest, they come up with a message saying that because of we are not in the united states of a territory of the united states the shows cannot be shown. seriously. what do they watch in london. so in my saddness i started looking at efy stuff and getting so very excited. it is so soon. but just like last year im silly and get this anxiety that im not fun enough or crazy enough. i look at pictures of other counselors and thing "they are so funny" stink. which i know is ridiculous its just my late night anxiety. so wish me crazy funness this summer- while helping the counselors feel the spirit, and the saviors love for them, as well as my love for them.


phew. what a day.