Jolly Good!

Only a day after I made it back to London from Spring Break, I had yet another adventure ahead of me: Christine came to visit! After a speedy (and slightly frightening) taxi ride to Heathrow, I picked up a jet-lagged Christine and took her back to my flat. We were both exhausted, but since we hadn't seen each other in a few months, we had a lot to catch up on. Once we were up to speed on the latest gossip, we put in a movie and promptly passed out for a few hours. I know it's not usually the best idea to help people get over jet lag, but we were pooped! Plus it's no fun touring around London when you're exhausted.

When we woke up, I gave Christine a whirlwind tour of Westminster: Big Ben, Parliament, the replica of Shakespeare's Globe, the Tate Modern, a nearby street market, London Bridge and Tower Bridge. We got back to my flat with just enough time to eat dinner and decorate — now that Spring Break was over, it was finally time to celebrate my 21st Birthday properly. Christine and I popped open the bottle of champagne my roommates had gotten me, and once the rest of the gang arrived, cut the cake. Then it was off to The Loop, a club and bar near Picadilly Circus. It really was a perfect way to celebrate: great friends, great drinks, a great deal of dancing and a great night.

I continued to play tour guide for Christine over the next few days, traipsing through Westminster at night, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, St. James's Park, Buckingham Palace, the Portobello Road Market, St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Bartholomew's Church and Hyde Park. And while I'm not a walking encyclopedia of London, like Bill Sheasgreen, director of the ICLC program who does walking tours of London throughout the semester, it was entertaining for both of us and I think Christine enjoyed herself (speak now, Christine, or forever hold your peace). Hopefully I'll be ready to be a tour guide once again when my family visits in April.

Along the way we managed to see two shows: one bad, one good. I was seeing Over There, a show about twins living on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall in the 1980s, for my drama class and actually had pretty high hopes. The plot may sound interesting on paper, but the extremely experimental stylization of the entire production was bizarre, disturbing and a bit too modern for my taste. Luckily, we also managed to see a more traditional show that really delivered: Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre. Having stage managed the show this past summer on a cement stage outdoors at a park, I was a bit jealous of the double concentric revolve and other elements of the set that would have made our production much easier, but thoroughly enjoyed watching it from the front this time.

We also had some fun culinary experiences, including a full English breakfast — you really can't come to London without at least trying it — and Milk Chocolate Magnum ice cream bars, which are like Dove Bars, only better. Christine says they're mentioned in the movie Spice World, so she was dying to try one. We also went out to a local pub on St. Patty's Day for a pint (how could we not?) All in all a fun visit for both of us!

Photos included in this entry:
Christine and I in front of Buckingham Palace.
Look who turned up in London! Christine in a London phone booth.