london: part two

the part i had forgotten from my last post was when we went to the tour center and booked a tour to the stonehenge for the next day. which is a great segue into this post!!

on tuesday morning we caught our tour bus to the stonehenge, and i was super super excited. i was so looking forward to it! i wouldn't say it disappointed, but it certainly wasn't anything like i'd expected. i was expecting this grandiose monument standing in the basin of a large, lush green valley, all misty in the morning. but when we got there, the motorway ran right by it, in the midst of traffic, and this is what boggled me- apparently the military had set up a training base not too far from it, and they would train with guns and tanks and airplane bombers RIGHT NEAR THESE PRECIOUS STONES!! i couldn't believe it. ridiculous.
in any case, we spent an hour there and i made sure to take lots of pictures. dani went on ahead, and i met a guy named brad who was disappointed that his children weren't interested and that they were sitting in the cafe. we talked about the energy of the stones and the space itself, and shared quite a lovely moment together. i was happy just to stand there and breathe in the moment. i really was quite moved; there was a stir inside of me, as if i was leaving a piece of me behind when we left.

and well, there's the cheese for the day. although it was a very real feeling, it never sounds good to retell. i guess it's something one must experience himself.

we all returned to the city and got a fancied up for dinner. beforehand dani and i returned to the british museum to look at the clock/watch exhibit which was pretty cool. the pocket watches were fun. when i looked at all the gears from the innerds of the clocks, i thought: 'now THAT is some kind of art'. afterwards we all met up and were going to get last minute tickets for lion king, but when we got there there were standing tickets only. we debated and decided to go with it, but there were only three spots left! so we decided to split off as dani and i really wanted to see the show. so when we went back for the two standing tickets, it just so happened that someone had returned two tickets in the front row of the royal circle, the best seats in the house!! we did have to pay quite a bit, but the seats were DEFINITELY worth the show. it was absolutely incredible!! the costumes were so elaborate, and the music was magnificent. rafiki had such a rich, powerful voice that just sent shivers up my spine. dani and i were on the edge of our seats the whole time, and the audience energy was great as there were a lot of kids there. it was fantastic.
we met up with carly and liam again afterwards, as well as helen and her boyfriend, and we sat out on the patio of a cafe with a few drinks until it got too chilly to be outside. it was all together a mighty fine day.

for our final day in london, dani and i tried to pack everything in that we could. we took the tube across town to the tate modern, where we vowed we'd spend only an hour since we had a tight schedule. but, alas, we ended up spending two and a half hours there!! what amazing exhibitions! we saw the originals of monet, picasso, modigliani, degas, matisse, warhol, bacon, and many many more. i was in awe of it all, i hadn't ever been to a museum like it before. to get right up close to those pieces, to read the explanations about them, to feel like i could actually maybe pursue something after i get my diploma...it was a fun experience.
we passed st. paul's cathedral, but you had to pay to get in for a tour and we didn't have time, so we took pictures from the outside and moved on. we tried to go to the globe theatre, but again we didn't have enough time. we passed the london bridge and big ben as we took the train back to russel square, where we found a cafe to order lunch from. we were in a hurry because les miserables was starting at 2:30 and we had to get tickets at two, and the waitress took FOREVER to even get to us to take our meal orders. while our food was being prepared, dani ran to the theatre-as she knew where she was going- and returned so that we could eat. we shoveled our food in as quickly as possible, and then RAN through the streets of london, stuffing the rest of our chocolate cake into our mouths, trying to make it on time. we arrived at the perfect time: 2:29. craziness. so, nick jonas (eye roll) was a main character, which was LAME because all the little girls were going nuts over him. i didn't really enjoy the performance very much, but dani said that was because they had cast the characters poorly in order to make the jonas guy look better. in any case, it was interesting. from there, we picked up our luggage from the hostel, and taxied to the train station again to find our way back 'home'.

so, that was the london trip! i am ofcourse leaving out quite abit, but i could never write about everysingle thing that happened. it was a good adventure, however i kind of feel like london is overrated. it seems to me to be just another city.. but then i never have been one for the hustle and bustle. all the same, it was very enjoyable. :]