Home again, home again, jiggity jig...

I figure I should do a wrap-up post of my trip to England.

So the last day was relatively uneventful. We went to Windsor, but the line to the palace was too long and it was too expensive, so we wandered around trying to get rid of the pounds we hadn't spent. We bought random souvenirs and watched some cricket. I didn't get how it was played at all.

Then we attempted to return the car. It was damn hard. Even our GPS, Jane, wasn't sure how to get to the car rental place. It took us maybe an hour of driving around to find it.

The airplane ride was long and boring. I watched cartoons that only rarely held my interest and read Strangers in Paradise. I also wrote a lot. I even slept a bit towards the end.

Now I'm back and working again. I should add that I will still be updating this blog, even though I'm not away! It will probably be more stories and poems than anecdotes about my life now, though. But if you enjoyed my tales of England, you should certainly stick around!

England Day 6!

Wow, I've had internet issues! So expect a long post.

So yesterday! Seems like such a long time ago. We woke up in Bath and ate breakfast at the hotel. Then we wandered around and and bought some clothes. Then we went to the Roman Baths.

This was a very, very cool museum. We could walk all around the Baths and there was a cool audio tour and I really wish there'd been internet in last night's hotel because I just don't have time to cover this in detail with all the other things we've done. But there was really interesting commentary by Bill Bryson. And holographic images on the walls!

It was really cool.

Also there were all these pigs on the streets in Chicago cow style. They were beautiful. There was one that was so entirely a Rocky Horror pig. It was hilarious. It was based on the legend of King Bladud, the founder of Bath. They have such a cool founding legend. Boston has history, Bath has legends.

I want to go back there some day. I think I could live there.

Then it was off to Stratford-upon-Avon for Hamlet!

I'm going to save Hamlet for last because it was so awesome that I don't want to rush through it in an attempt to finish the blog post. So Hamlet, then we went to bed.

In the morning we visited Anne Hathaway's cottage which was very pretty and then went off to Oxford. We ate lunch and looked around then saw this rather silly production of Twelfth Night where Antonio was a puppet and the company had gone through Violas like popcorn. This was Viola 4 and she wasn't off book. But it was very fun anyway!

Then it was off to the hotel in Dorchester where there was (theoretically) no internet except I seem to have managed to find some anyway. This is the least pleasant place we've stayed so far.

So! Hamlet!

Oh my god, it was amazing. What I kind of didn't realize in the excitement of OH MY GOD DAVID TENNANT was that Patrick Stewart was playing Claudius! And let me tell you, he NAILED the role. He was also the Ghost, which I thought was just too cool.

Oh, man, there is no way I'll manage to say everything I loved about this show. There was too much.

The set was completely made out of mirrors. The floor was mirrored tiles and the back wall was made of six mirrors that could move. Occasionally they'd bring out other set pieces, but for the most part, this was it.

In the first scene the two guards kept shining their flashlights on the ground so the beams bounced up and hit the faces of whoever was talking.

The costumes were all pretty much modern dress, and oh man, they looked so good!

Oh, the ghost? Was also Patrick Stewart. He did both. It was just so...guh.

Hamlet made a very clear transition from sane to "mad." He rumpled his hair up after meeting the ghost and the next time we saw him, he wore a red t-shirt and jeans. And no shoes or socks. Also, he looked so young the entire time!

Polonius was hilarious. He was such a doddering old man. During some of his lines he'd just trail into mumbling and there'd be an awkward pause where everyone would lean in to see what he was going to say next and he'd suddenly be like, "Oh, where was I?"

Ophelia and Laertes were also great. Ophelia found condoms in Laertes' suitcase and mocked him when he was telling her not to fool around with Hamlet. And when Ophelia went mad? She was so much more insane than Hamlet. She was not faking it. And Laertes was so pissed. They both were really good.

Gertrude was wonderful. She went from being a glamorous queen in the first scene we see her to a tortured mother and widow in the end.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were awesome. They were, of course, confused for each other, and bawdy and always together, and complete snakes. Brilliant.

And let's not forget Horatio! Now, I really love Horatio. And he was so good in this. He was always the one who laughed at Hamlet's jokes when everyone else clearly wanted him to just shut up. And they didn't cut out the suicide line at the end! Man, I loved this show.

Back to Claudius. He just had such dignity! After the play he just walked up to Hamlet and shone the light in his face clearly wondering what he knew and he was just so calm and collected. And in the end, when Hamlet's already poisoned him, Hamlet just handed him the cup and he drank from it meeting Hamlet's eyes the entire time and died. He wasn't forced. True, he was already dead, but still. It was just...wow.

Hamlet! He was so good! He was just wracked with grief in the beginning, and he did the fake madness so wonderfully! He was clearly having a great time, and after he killed Polonius there was a chase scene and they ended up duct taping him to a chair! And he delivered "To be or not to be" really well. That's a hard speech, since everyone knows it so well. And not really central to the plot, yet completely unable to be cut out. He barely acted it at all. He just rocked back and forth a little, staring at the audience and standing all but still. It was great.

I really loved this. I did.

The intermission came at a really weird point, though. When Claudius is praying and Hamlet comes in and thinks, oh, this is a really convenient time to kill him, and then he raises the dagger and bam, lights went out.

It was so television. I could practically hear the voice over saying, "Don't go away! We'll be back after these messages!"

Another cool thing, remember the mirrored set I told you about? Well, Polonius hides behind the mirrors a lot. And when he's in Gertrude's room and Hamlet hears him, Hamlet shoots, the lights go out, the mirrors spin, and when they stop, they're cracked. They stay that way for the rest of the show.

It was just so cool. I cannot get over how awesome it was. I'm sure I'll think in a few minutes of something I can't believe I'd ever forget to mention, but honestly? I could go on forever about this show. But I won't.

England Day 4!

Well, today was quite an adventure! We left Linnea's house at far too early in the morning and drove to the airport to get the car. Mother was terribly nervous about driving on the opposite side of the road. I was too tired to care, so I fell asleep. We got a GPS system to help navigate, though. Her name is Jane. She's not as talkative as Sylvia, the GPS system at home, but she does get the job done.

Then we went to see Stonehenge! Now, people have told us that Stonehenge isn't worth it. They said, don't bother, it's highly overrated.

Those people were dead wrong.

Nothing is cooler than driving over a hill and being like OH MY GOD, THAT'S IT! THAT'S STONEHENGE! And we couldn't go right up and touch the stones, but we could get close enough to see it well. Plus, because of our unfortunate early rising, we got there before the crowds.

It's beautiful. And so awesome and old. Really, really, really worth it.

Then we went to Amesbury for breakfast. Mother got this weird meat pasty that she didn't much like. And by not much like, I mean she hated it. I got this tomato cheese thing that I enjoyed.

We saw Woodhenge too, but it was kind of boring. They had these cement posts in the ground to show where the wooden posts used to be and this shrine that was sort of cool. Meh.

Then we started driving to Avesbury to see the stone circles. Mom was doing very well on the left side of the road, but hugging the curb a little too much. She hit it and our tire blew out. Luckily, we were near a lumber yard where these nice guys helped us change the tire to the spare. We continued on our journey.

The Stone Circles were sort of cool because we could actually touch the stones. We could also touch the sheep. And, unfortunately, the sheep shit. I got some on my foot, which I didn't discover until I showered a few hours ago. Ah, the curses of a stuffy nose! Or maybe blessings, come to think of it.

We continued on to Bath, where we were met by TONS of traffic and a hard-to-get-into parking space. Our hostess at the Oldsfield Bed and Breakfast is the nicest lady ever, though. Her name is Julia. She offered us water and gave us a map and showed us how to get to places and helped deal with the car company for replacing the tire. Seriously, nicest lady ever.

After a quick email check, we left to explore Bath. I've yet to find a comic book store, but that's okay. There's always waiting until we get home. We had a delicious dinner at this french place and went home to watch Shakespeare in Love.

Tomorrow is Hamlet Day!

England Day 3!

Last night we saw Spamalot. It was awesome! Mother thought she'd hate it, but she was wrong. Shockingly. Hate Spamalot? Ha! But yes, it was hilarious.

Today we went to Notting Hill, which is this cute little neighborhood with a street and flea market-ish place called Portabello Road. Julia would have loved it. So many shoes! And earrings! And random weird stuff! I finally got a new necklace, which is lovely. And we bought some raspberries for a pound! From a woman who really seemed like the witch from Hansel and Gretel. She was old with very white hair and a crooked nose and she said "darling" after every word. "It's a pound, darling. Thank you darling. That's not enough, darling." Mother got confused and gave her ten pence at first. It was amusing. Then we ate lunch and people watched.

We left the raspberries at the hotel when we went back to get our luggage. And the shirt I sleep in, which is sad since I've had it since fifth grade, but honestly, not a tragedy. We took the wrong train and ended up in South Chesington or something. It was okay, though. We managed to get to Linnea's after a while.

Her little girls are the most adorable children ever! We talked about Harry Potter and played soccer football and frisbee. And chatted about food and writing and everything! Emma, the older one, gave me this poster of the Doctor and Donna she had that she didn't want. It was so sweet. And Emma also complimented my horrible attempt at an English accent!

Now we're reading (or in my case, writing) because mom can't sleep and I can't sleep when someone else is awake. At least it was productive!

England Day 2!

Hello everyone who's reading this blog! You may be wondering, what exactly is Shana up to? The answer is, she is traveling around the UK. And talking in third person, apparently. Anyway, we flew in Sunday night/Monday morning. We didn't actually sleep on the plane. And the hotel didn't have our rooms ready at first. So we gave them our stuff and wandered around London half-asleep. We hung out at the National Gallery and I entertained Mother with the stories that inspired the paintings. She hadn't known most of them. She says she's never had that much fun in a museum before. Clearly, they should hire me to write those audio tour thingies.

We attempted to explore the Tate Modern and the Globe Theater, but the first didn't have anything in the big room to look at and we were too tired to go up to look at the photo exhibits and such, and the second we could only go into with a tour. Or a play, but nothing was showing that wasn't sold out on the days we were in town. So we ate lunch and went back to the hotel. I read for a while, managing not to fall asleep mainly because Artemis Fowl is utterly AWESOME. I've said it before and I will not stop saying it. I love that series. I'm not sure how critically good it is, but damn, I can't get enough of it!

Then we went to the Mac store to get a converter for my power chord and ate dinner. At this point I was pretty much in a daze. We went home and I fell asleep pretty quickly at 8:30ish.

Then we slept for twelve hours. Well, on and off.

Today we wandered around Leichester Square and hung out in Forbidden Planets comic store. My mother wouldn't let me buy anything because it's cheaper in the US. Hmph, I say. Hmph! I wanted to buy a comic book in England! Blah. Then we walked back to St. James' Park and read and ate lunch in the grass. So many people were picnicing! I thought about Good Omens. We had ice cream. I'm leaving very soon to hang out in a flea market and hopefully get a new necklace. Then we're going to Spamalot! Hooray!