Hamlet the Hobbit among other Adventures.

So here is the deal, on Thursday I went on a boat tour of the Thames with Katie and Ellen, we got to see all the famous sites from the river.  The boat let us off at Greenwich which is where the Prime Meridian is, and we went to Greenwich Market, which is like a mix of a vintage sale and a flea market. I got three pairs of vintage earrings there for 3 pounds!  It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining and we walked along the river bank and took in the scenery.  Interesting fact, people think the Thames is a dirty river because it appears brown, but that is because it is a muddy river, not because it is polluted.  It is actually one of the cleanest rivers in Europe.  Well, Thursday night after our day on the river we went to go see Hamlet in the Globe Theater.  It was being put on by a travelling troupe so it was a little bit different than most shows we have seen in the Globe so far.  The used eight people for the cast of Hamlet, only 8! Each person had three or four different roles, except for Hamlet he only had one.... and good thing too, I don't think his tiny frame could have supported the strain of more than one character.  Imagine Pippen from Lord of the Rings.... that was our Hamlet.  He was TINY! It was actually rather off-putting, and Ophelia was about a head taller than him.  He also ran around in his underwear for the majority of the play... so that was interesting.  I guess he IS supposed to go crazy by the end...  Anyway so on Friday a group of girls, and Patrick, decided to go to the sea-side town of Brighton.  So we got up and went at about 10o'clock.  We went to Victoria Station and bought our round trip tickets (called a return ticket here) to Brighton and then we hopped on the train and we were off!  When we got off the train we had no idea where we were going but we saw the ocean and just started walking towards it.  When we got to the beach, which was full of rocks rather than sand, we all just started prancing and running and jumping we were so happy.  I can now say that I have touched the Atlantic Ocean from the other side of the world.  So we wandered around and there were lots of shops along the beach so we got fish and chips at one of them and it was pretty good.  I smothered mine in malt vinegar and salt and just enjoyed eating fish and chips on the beach.  After that we took a nap on the beach, lying in the sun.  After our rest we went to Brighton Pier which is like a little amusement park and we wandered around there for a while.  Then we went to the Royal Palace in Brighton, it was built by Charles the IV I think and it looks like a palace from India.  Evidently that architecture was "the thing" back then, very fashionable and all that.  Then we went and wandered around down town Brighton and they are having this music festival thing going on right now so we got to listen to this girl perform songs she had written and she was really good! She played guitar and sang and her voice was so unique, it had a rough and rich quality but then when she went up higher it was clear as a bell.  So after that Katie said she would die unless she could have a crepe, so we searched high and low and finally found a little creperie and Ellen and Katie got hot fresh crepes.  We got to watch the lady make them and she was so skilled, crepes are tricky and I've never quite been able to do them right.  So then we went back down to the water's edge and walked some more, then we went back to the train station and got on a train back to London.  I got really red, and everybody thought I was going to be extremely sunburned, but by the next day it had turned into a little tan and that made me happy.
Saturday Ellen, Katie and I went to Portabello Rd market.  It is HUGE, probably 10 blocks long, and it took us forever to see everything but I got a scarf for 50pence so I was happy.  When we got home from Portabello which was at about 4 I hunkered down to do homework.  I read the whole play Much Ado About Nothing, and wrote a paper.  Super exciting Saturday night right? haha
So on Sunday I went to our ward way out in White Chapel and I worked in the Nursery.  It was actually really easy and fun, there were only two little kids in there this time.  That evening we had a fireside from single adults that are LDS and doing theater stuff here in London, and they brought up some really interesting points, and shared their testimonies.  I loved it.  It proved that it is possible to be in theater and be successful and still have standards.
So yesterday, Monday, we had class, and that night we went to this Anton Checkov play at the National Theater called The Cherry Orchard and I thought it was SO GOOOD.  Their set was amazing and they used light to make it seem like natural lighting from outside and the acting was amazing.  Zoe Wanamaker was the lead role, look her up and I'm sure you will recognize her from several movies.
We are now up to date and I'm sorry to say that I won't be bloggin for a couple days because I'm going to Spain in about ten minutes and I will be there for a couple days, but I'll write all about it when I come back! Adios!
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