Day 11

Today was again an absolutely amazing day! Yesterday Robyn, me, Mandy and Marissa decided we wanted to see Hairspray today. We weren’t sure of the best way to go about getting the cheapest tickets possible, so Robyn and I went to Leicester square to check prices at the discount ticket booths and Marissa and Mandy went to the theater box office to see if they sold student tickets. It ended up that it was cheaper and easier to just buy the tickets at the theater and we got some good seats for just 20 pounds. After we got the tickets, we maneuvered ourselves over to the British Museum, which was only about 5 minutes from the theatre. We first went to the Egypt exhibit and Marissa was really excited because she watched a movie a lot as a child that had this exhibit in it. And Robyn was really excited because she wanted to see the Rosetta stone. So we went in, saw the Rosetta stone and eventually got a picture even though this huge Asian man was in my way the whole time staring at his camera, and then we walked around the exhibit. We also went and saw the mummies, which I decided are a little cree-pay. Then we went to some exhibits we were required to see, including the Sutton Hoo/Viking exhibit and an exhibit about the Romans. On our way out we went into this super awesome library-type room, and we found a fake Rosetta stone. This one was nice because there were not throngs of crowds around it and it was not encased in glass. Robyn was once again really excited about it. And it said “please touch” on it, so I obliged.

We left the museum and decided to go get some lunch. We walked back to the tube station and discovered a pasty shop! For you who don’t know what a pasty is, you are missing out. They are basically a pastry crust filled with meat and potatoes and folded over to form a little pocket of goodness. So we got pasties and it was really cute. Then we took the tube over to King’s Cross so we could go to the British Library, but I of course insisted we stop at Platform 9 ¾. It is funny because it is just a random wall that they put a sign up and half of a luggage cart onto the wall (it is not really in between platforms 9 and 10). So we took some pictures and were on our way to the library. The library was amazing! Well, not the actual library part, that I wouldn’t know. I didn’t actually see any books. We went into the exhibit area where they have all sorts of manuscripts and papers on display. These include works and papers by Leonardo DaVinci, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Mozart, Beethoven, Lewis Carroll, The Beatles, etc. They also had copies of the Magna Carta, the Gutenberg bible, and the Anglo-Saxon chronicle. I was awed at how much history and value that room contained.

On our way back to the tube station some man asked us for directions because I guess we look like natives or something. That was actually the 3^rd time a member of our group was asked directions since we got here. Then on the tube riding back to our flat we had a funny experience. We were just standing there as usual doing nothing when the train stopped and two men got on. And they were holding this huge board that was taller than either of them. Obviously you don’t see a huge board travel by tube everyday so we naturally laughed and stared at them. Seeing us, the men laughed and got jokingly-defensive and explained it wasn’t a big deal, that it was “just a bit of wood.” Then they kept repeating that, that it was just a bit of wood and they didn’t see why it was such a big deal. What weirdos. I tried to take a nonchalant picture of Marissa with the board in the background, but of course I only ended up getting Marissa’s face and a sliver of the board on the side. Oh well. We got back to our flats and just chilled for a while, I may or may not have fallen asleep.

At 6 something we left to go to Hairspray! We got to the station and went out a different exit than we had before and sort of got lost for a little bit, but soon realized our mistake and started booking it toward the theater because by then it was almost 7:30. I started pretty much running because I was not about to miss Good Morning Baltimore! But we made it in time and all was well. The show was great! I was surprised it was that good actually especially since I have only ever seen the movie. Edna was played by Michael Ball, who is I guess a famous singer/actor but mostly just in England. My favorite was at the end of the show he talked to the audience for a minute but it was in his actual man voice, and he was still all dressed as a woman. Amazing. After the show I went down to buy a poster (I have decided to buy posters at all the shows I go to) and of course meanwhile Marissa and Mandy got pictures with Seaweed and Link and I missed out. Oh well. Then on the train ride home there were these crazy drunk Italians in the tube station being weird and loud and scaring all the old people. The best was when one of them was walking behind a lady with an umbrella sticking out of her backpack and he grabbed on to it and started talking into it. She turned around and looked at him and he said something like “sorry, it is a microphone” but he said it like mikriphone and it was hilarious.