On the train ride there we got in the Shakespeare mood!
Then we just started taking candid photos of each other. Or rather we started taking photos of one another taking photos of the other person.
It’s very confusing but hilarity ensued as I do rather hilarious things when I think no one has a camera. Like adjust my hair... 
We arrived, saw St Paul’s much to Miranda’s delight, and then crossed the good ol’ Millennium Bridge whilst eating ice-cream. It’s crazy because I remember crossing this bridge a couple of months ago and I couldn’t feel my toes or face it was so cold and now I’m in a skirt eating ice-cream!Arrived at the Globe – it’s really awesome – I highly recommend seeing it and taking a tour because it’s so interesting plus it has a really great gift shop. A gift shop where Miranda and I bought little badges and hers says “Capulet” and mine says “Montague” – we took sides. We got pretty good seats and I’m so glad I rented a cushion because sitting on the wooden pews for three hours can be a bit of strain on the old bum-bum (not the ice-cream). It was a really amazing performance and I was so glad we went because Shakespeare is SO much better when you see it than read it... makes you feel smart because when they are acting out the lines you actually know what they are trying to say. It’s funny because in the part where Juliet is deciding whether or not to drink the potion she lists off all these pros and cons and by the end of it I
wanted someone to shout out “just drink it!”. Overall, it was a great performance and the best part is all the costumes, set and everything are as they would have been in Shakespeare’s time. The costumes are all made of materials available in that time meaning there was no Velcro to help the actors get them on and off – that’s it. Rather awesome.The next day we took a jaunt to Hampton Court. Miranda, very kindly, took me even though she had already been twice and I hadn’t gone yet. It was a pretty cool palace – but – again – palaces have nothing on Versailles. You can really tell from all the architecture and so on that it’s England. Dark wood panelling and very little light in the rooms – means you’re in England. There was a tour going when we got there and the tour guides were all dressed up in proper costumes. They made us choose which tour guide to go with – either the noble lady (if you were a noble) or the other guy. Obviously, we went with the noble lady and got to do the best thing in the world – wear costumes AS WELL! We each got a long velvet vest. Mine was green and Miranda’s was red. We were lamenting earlier that we didn’t bring warm enough coats and these did just the trick – I miss mine now.
The tour guide gave us a run down of Henry VIIIs life as today was going to be his wedding day to Katherine Parr. It was funny because she told the story as one would in a gossipy manner. She told us that Henry was with Anne Boleyn but also Mary Boleyn to which she added “but who hasn’t”. She told us that Anne of Cleves was shunned by Henry not just because she was ugly but because, apparently, she was really stinky! Ha ha!
Eventually, Henry and Katherine appeared in their finery and we had to all bow and saw “god save the king” when he entered and exited the room. It was really fun! The kind of stuff you get a kick out of when you’re a) a child or b) a lame-o like me. We looked around the palace and had more fun whipping our cloaks about. I still miss my cloak. The people in our tour group must have handed theirs back because we seemed to be the only people wearing them about the place and all these people kept giving us smiles like “aww... what a sad pair”.Miranda and I finally had cream tea! It only took us six months but FINALLY we got around to having it – and it was delicious. We kept looking around and I realised my cloak could look more like a robe... what do you think?
We were going to try and waltz out with them on as if this was our everyday attire but as we went into the gardens a security guy asked us to leave them behind – DAMN! Oh well... That night we went to see “Angels and Demons” with Leonore and her little sister who had returned from their trip through France. Very nice.During the film (it stars Tom Hanks who played the voice of Woody in Toy Story) Miranda and I joked that we should yell out quotes from Toy Story like “Somebody poisoned the water hole!” and “There’s a snake in my boot!”. So it would be like “Robert... the pope is dead”“There’s a snake in my boot!”
“B-but what should we do about this global crisis?”
“Reach for the sky...”
Brilliant. The following day Miranda and I went into London to do some final shopping and I got my hair cut – BOO HOO. It’s AWFUL. I came out of the place – Miranda saw me and I burst into tears! Urgh... I seriously look like Maria Von Trapp... sigh I better start eating cheese I guess...
Nevertheless... tomorrow is the Summer Ball! Yippee!
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