The Problem with London

Today was a perfect example of the problem with London. I set out a little after 11:00 to head to a park where I would do some reading for school. I figured there was no sense in sitting in my flat to read. So I headed out. I meandered through town. Along the way, I noticed a matinee of a play that I thought sounded interesting. Eventually, I came to the The Green Park, which was not my intended destination, but it worked. I found a bench and sat down when I heard a marching band. Of course, I had to go see what was going on! Boy was I surprised to find that I was right next to Buckingham Palace! Of course, I had to scope things out around there and came back through St. James Park. The picture is Buckingham Palace from the bridge in St. James Park. By this time, it was after 1:00, so I decided to head back towards that theatre I saw. I was surprised that I found it again, even though somehow I came at it a totally different direction. The cool thing is that from where I came, I noticed that this theatre was next to The Queens Theatre where there was a 2:30 matinee of Les Miserables! This was on my must do list, so I bought a student ticket and went to that production!

Les Miserables was amazing. I had never seen a turn-table style stage. I now understand (thanks to Katie, my MFA-Theatre student roommate) that this is one of the signature characteristics of this play. I was amazed by the entire thing! The theatre was virtually packed which is amazing since I believe it is in its 25th year! It was fun to see that there was a group of school kids - probably about fourth or fifth grade there. What an experience!

As I was walking today, I realized that there were some unuque things about London that I want to be sure to remember. First of all, I find it fascinating that there are sandwich shops everywhere. They are kind of like Panera or Atlanta Bread, but the sandwiches are pre-made. These places (PRETs, Eat. Eat. Eat., and Costas) are everywhere! People here don't appear to sit down as much for lunch as we do. They are walking along the streets eating sandwiches!

Another thing, I have now seen two bookstores that, along with medical books, sell scrubs and stethoscopes! One was near a college so that kind of made sense, but the other one had a display in the window! I think that is so odd. It is like you are going to buy a book about being a doctor and then dress the part.



Today for the first time, I was the London version of AAA for Black Cabs, which, by the way are not all black, but they are still called Black Cabs. It was so cool looking. Here I am next to Buckingham Place and there is a guy under a car making repairs! I could easily have imagined Christopher doing this!

There so much more, but I need to call it a night! I actually spent quite a bit of time this evening getting ready for class tomorrow. I never did get to read my book. That's the problem with London; it's so hard to stay on task! It sure did make for a fun day, though!