March 5 through March 9
LONDON, BABY!

My fellow theatre major friend, Sarah, and I went to London! Going to London was the first time I needed to fly out of Prague. To get there, I took the green metro line to the end, where I met Sarah, and then we took the bus to the Prague airport. Our flight wasn't until 9:45 so it was dark getting out of the city, and very cold and rainy. We got to the airport with less than an hour to spare, but the Ruzyne Airport is super simple so we made it to the gate, where they have the only quick security check, with plenty of time. We were very spoiled travelers. My only advice to others flying out of Prague: BRING SNACKS! They only sell the same nasty sandwiches and 5 dollar bags of chips everywhere once you go through check-in.

We flew EasyJet, and the trip was pretty uneventful. We flew into Gatwick Airport, got some pounds out of an atm, and made our way through customs. Because of the late departure and the time difference, it was 1am by the time we reached London. We rushed to buy train tickets and ended up on the Gatwick Express to London Victoria, which was a comfortable ride into the city. Once at London Victoria, we made our way to the bus stop, where we finagled some change for tickets, then took two different buses to Russel's Square. It was so amazing to see every sign in English! We were staying at the Generator Hostel. It was listed with a 5-party hat rating in Sarah's hostel guide, but it was the cheapest and had the best location. We had some problems getting into a room even though we had reserved two beds in a four-person dorm. I guess they didn't want to put us in an empty dorm, but they did in the end and we had a room to ourself. The generator rooms were small and the beds squeaky, but at least it was a place to sleep.

http://www.generatorhostels.com/en/london

We woke up Friday morning to clear, sunny skies! What's up London? We ate our amazing breakfast of bran cereal and toast before making our way on three subway trains to the Tower of London! After buying tickets, we made it just in time for the tour, led by Paul the Yeoman. He claimed the E II R on his uniform stood for "Extremely Romantic for 2 minutes". The Tower tour was really interesting. I loved hearing the stories behind the different parts of the castle such as Traitor's Gate. We also saw Edward's Palace and the Crown Jewels!

After exploring a bit, Sarah and I took the London Chipper boat down the Thames to the Bankside stop. We ate the the Tate Museum Cafe, which was delicious, before buying 1 lb audio guides and heading into the Tate Modern museum, which kind of looks like a factory. The audio guides were great. They were kind of like iPods and included a lot of different information options. I listened to some of Jackson Pollack's favorite jazz and the audio guide screen would show pictures of art that influenced whatever painting I was looking at. I enjoyed seeing Picasso and this sculpture called "Thirty Pieces of Silver"

(http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/CollectionDisplays?venueid=2&roomid=5034)

After the museum we walked across the Millenium Bridge and then went home to change. We had tickets to Woman in Mind, which was an interesting play by Alan Ayckbourn. After the play we found an underground wine bar that was all lit with melting candles.

The next morning we met at Wellington Arch for a walking tour. We walked and saw a lot of the city, including the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (it was so crowded!) and Trafalger Square, where our tour guide told us that there were very few pigeons because they had started controlling the population with birth control-laced birdseed. How weird is that? We finished our tour by Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament. I wanted to see the London Eye from across the river, and then we ate lunch at an Italian restaurant with huge menus with lifesized pictures of the food.

Then we walked over to the Wyndham Theatre where Twelfth Night was playing and I convinced Sarah we should get 10 lb standing room tickets. We walked and shopped around Charing Cross and Covent Gardens. The neighborhood reminded me of a little New York. We found a really great shop that sold fair trade African goods. Then we made our way back to the theatre. The show was AMAZING! It was witty and touching and just wonderful. The actors were so inspiring and the design was perfect. I was truly motivated to come home and start auditioning. And the ladies at the box office were nice enough to let us move our standing spots to the lower balcony so we could see much better for the second half. It was closing night so the applause went on for about 10 minutes! After the show we relished over delicious Indian food. Sag aloo!!

The next day, we took a tour of the Globe. It was amazing to be inside the reconstructed theatre. I would love to go back and see a play there someday. Then we ate fish and chips at a nearby tavern.

Then we made our way to the airport, where we missed our flight due to several things going wrong. It was meant to be though because we decided we needed another day in London anyway! We treated our stressed out tummies to some more Indian food then crashed once more at the Generator.

Monday morning we went to the Somerset House - you would never guess that this gorgeous manor existed off the busy streets of London. We walked through the Courtauld Gallery where they have a great impressionist collection. I loved seeing Gaugin's exotic works and Van Gogh's Portrait with a Bandaged Ear. We took the bus to our hostel (we sat in the front on the top level - it looked like we were going to run over everything!) picked up our bags, and had a much more successful trip to the airport, although this time they made me check my bag. Boo Gatwick!

Overall it was a great trip! I definitely want to go back to London someday and explore some more!

Sorry the blogs are coming so slowly!