London and Scotland

So I haven't written since my first day in London so I have a lot to update. I am going to try and condense it as much as possible to be quite honest I am not really in the mood to update my blog.

So I am currently in a cafe in Edinburgh, Scotland. We arrived here yesterday afternoon after a 5 hour train ride from London. We are going to be in Scotland until next Sunday but only here until tomorrow morning. We will be traveling through a good portion of Scotland over the next week, staying at almost a different place a night. We are currently staying in a youth hostel but it is five star place and actually pretty nice. Much better then the two hostels I stayed at in Canada.

Anyways, I am going to give a brief synopsis of my time in London. On Monday June 7th we first went to the Tower of London and then to see Henry VIII at the Globe. I loved the Tower of London, especially the Crown Jewels. Dani, Diana, Julia, and I went passed the jewels at least three times. They were so shiny and although I have never had any interest in being royalty, being able to wear one of those crowns might change my mind. We spent a good 3 hours exploring the tower and learning about the history before heading out to eat some fish and chips. Then we had to rush back to our hotel (Novotel West) to rest and change before heading out to the Globe. I had been to the Globe once before to just look around (when I was 11) but it was really fun to be able to go to a show. I was not a huge fan of the play at first because I did not really understand it but because of my knowledge of Henry VIII I began to figure it out and by the end I enjoyed it. Although I was unimpressed by then ending.

On Tuesday (MY 21st BIRTHDAY!!!) we went to Oxford. We didn't spend that much time there but we went to Christ Church College where Harry Potter was filmed!! We saw the Great Hall and the hallway from the first movie. I have seen multiple places where it has been filmed, and being a total Harry Potter geek I love it! The rest of the day I spent getting ready for my birthday and of course... drinking. So I won't go into anymore details about my birthday.

Wednesday was unfortunately a very unproductive day. That evening Dani, Sarah, and I went to Chicago though which was amazing. They didn't really use props at all which really placed emphasis on the singing. I was really impressed and so excited. I know that it isn't a British musical but it was still worth seeing.

Thursday we had a very busy day. It started out with a group tour of St. Paul's Cathedral and then we were free for the rest of the day. Dani, Diana, Julia, Sarah, Liz, Jason, and I went to the British Museum where we wandered around for a while. The last time I was there we head to leave after a few short minutes because my darling sister Eve started crying when Aunt Annie had no gum left for her. I made sure to keep extra sticks in my purse this time in case that same unfortunate event was to reoccur. Luckily it did not and so I got to see a lot more of the museum. It was really cool mostly because I absolutely adore history. The two most significant pieces that I saw were the Elgin (Pantheon) Marbles and the Rosetta Stone. After that we went to a cafe for lunch and then headed to Leicester Square to purchase tickets for another show. This time Dani, Liz, and I got tickets to see the Lion King! The performance was amazing! I did not like the singing as much as Chicago, but the set and costumes were crazy. They were giant puppets and it was just incredible how they put it on.

Friday was our last full day in London. I did not do much that day except see Macbeth at the Globe. It was AMAZING! The production itself was really well-done and the set was so fun. We had to stand with our heads sticking out of this giant sheet. They made sure the audience was involved by crawling among our legs, pouring water on certain people (Dani and Diana), and making it as gruesome as possible. It really was gory and bloody, but still worth watching. That afternoon was spent packing and saying good bye to some of the people who were not continuing on to Scotland/Ireland :(

Saturday (yesterday) we took a train to Edinburgh, Scotland! Despite the fact that it was 5 hours it actually went by really fast. We arrived, dropped our stuff off at the hostel, and immediately set back out on the coach to see the city. We were dropped off in the heart of town (which turns out to really only be a 10 minute walk). Our first stop was going to the Elephant Room where JK Rowling first wrote Harry Potter when she was on welfare. I was so excited (did I mention I love Harry Potter!?)! After that we went on a tour called Mary King's Close which is a tour that takes place under Edinburgh. It actually used to be the city but then they built up around it. It was all a true story that included ghost stories and was a really interesting tour. We learned about the Plague (which Kelsey may have caught) and saw where one girl may have been locked up by her family and left to die because they did not want to catch it (this was according to a Japanese Psychic who felt her presence). Overall it was an amazing experience! Then we went to a pub (The Theatre Royal) to watch the England USA game. We also met a couple of Americans from Seattle there who are currently working in Belfast, Ireland (we will be there a week from today!).

Today we went to Edinburgh Castle and wandered around the city. I am getting too tired to write anymore so I will update everyone as soon as I have internet again!

Love and miss you all!