Paris - Culture Coming out the Whazoo

Day 2.

Paris

Today, I forgot to set my phone to Paris time so we shot out of bed after sleeping in an extra hour. Oh well. Free breakfast at the hostel which consisted crazy cleaning lady firing bread rolls and orange juice at us. After recovering we set out to see the Place de la Bastille. Miranda sung me lovely renditions of all the various Les Miserables songs as we then went to see Victor Hugo's actual house! Pretty cool stuff. You can't really tell in the photo but there is a plaque there saying that it is his house - we didn't just find a random house... Or did we? ... No.

We then walked to go and see Notre Dame and visit Quasimodo - I hear he gets lonely given that Esmeralda ditched him for Phoebus. Lame. On the way we spied the Napoleon Bridge, the Conciergerie and Saint Chappelle. Around Notre Dame there was this "Fete du Pain" or bread festival as I decoded and inside these marquees they had all these various breaks cooking - YUM. Oh my goodness bread in Europe is the most amazing thing in the world. You wouldn't think that bread could be perfect - but it really truly can. We took a quick squizz inside Notre Dame and then decided to join the very long queue to go up the tower (which I hadn't done before due to said queue). But we waited! And waited... and got a hot chocolate... and waited... ate a sandwich... met the nice Americans behind us... waited and into the tower! Hooray! The Americans behind us were very nice though I notice that when we do introductions (and this continues throughout the entire trip) that the Americans will swap places and when it comes to my turn and I say "Australia" they quickly switch back to Miranda and go "So where in Arizona?" Alas I will never belong. Anyway the American guy had completed a marathon the day before! And he was climbing up all 400 steps! Madness! The view was really spectacular. Even though I saw the view of Paris yesterday at the Arc it really varies depending where you are. The gargoyles hanging out on the side of the tower greeted us but I think Quasimodo was just popping out to the shops when we went because we didn't see him... Take a look at the gargoyle in the following photo - tee hee!

Back down thousands of stairs and outside we saw a man feeding the birds (tuppence a bag - not really) so I was trying to feed them too with some old bread crumbs I found in my handbag. The birds were far too interested in this old man so he came over and offered whatever he had (I think it was a madeleine biscuit) to Miranda and got her to only hold it with two fingers. The birds were all over her! Then it was my turn and I held it with two fingers, like Miranda, when the Frenchman indicated that I didn't have to because my nails weren't painted. It seemed that Miranda's red nail polish would frighten the birds off or confuse them! Pretty cool. The old man would show off my putting bits of cake on his tongue and having the birds eat them out of his mouth - Bleh! That had to be one our main highlights in Paris - it seems lame just feeding some birds but it was really neat.

Next we set off to walk around St Michel which was so lovely because that's where I stayed last time I was in Paris. It was really awesome knowing where I was... my brain had all these directions stored in my head - what else is it keeping from me? Intelligence apparently...

Next stop - the Pantheon. Once again it was free! Hooray! It was all up hill and, sadly, at some point the map fell out of Miranda's pocket which got her down - though it needn't have because - hey - we were in PARIS. I don't remember if we took the metro or walked but the metro lines are all colour coded so we thought we would make up our own names for the lines which basically consisted of Miranda and I saying "so we take the poop line and change at the urine line and when we get back we take the jungle line to the fanta line? No wait to the asparagus line". It keeps us entertained. Anyway the Pantheon was pretty cool it had Foucault's pendulum in it which swings in a very slow circle everyday and we didn't really get it until there was this educational video explaining it - 7 minutes and 38 seconds later we discovered that the pendulum is swinging in the circle that the earth is making... so it's like the earth is moving and the pendulum is staying still - or something. It was pretty neat.

We stopped in at McDonald's for some free internet and I had a frappe! McDee's is fancy here - you can even get mousse! I ordered my drink in French, thinking I was doing well, only to have the serving individual read back my order and the price in English. Sigh. I am trying. Though all in all I think we did pretty darn well getting through Paris despite the several grumpy frogs telling us "Non non non".

After this we walked back down the street and did some slow and relaxed shopping which was really pleasant. I bought my dress for the Summer Ball! Miranda has excellent finding eyes when shopping so if you ever get the change to shop with her DO IT. Everyone! Now!

Next we went to the Grand Poo Bah of Paris - the Eiffel Tower. Last time I was here I remember walking up most of the way because the queue to the lift was way too long but this time everyone was made to take the lift. Darn that thing is high. We got to the top only to see this massive storm rolling in and devouring the landscape. We were at the very top hoping that the tower didn't topple over though Miranda's Europe book said it only ever leans at a maximum of 7cm. Her book also said there was some tailor who, many years ago, strapped on a cape and threw himself off the top expecting to fly - he flew... down. We stayed on the second level and decided to wait out the storm by having dinner there - pizza and waffles! This is living the high life - literally this thing gives me vertigo. We took the lift down to the bottom and were in the lift with all these little French children who kept staring at us - quite openly - so Miranda and I began to put on our most stereotypical and strong accents to freak them out - it worked though it had them staring more. By the time we got down to the bottom the storm had passed and we got to the tower all lit up and sparkling! It's so magical and romantic - once again Miranda and I only had each other for company... C'est la vie! The magic is sort of tainted by the scary army dudes walking around the bottom of the tower with their huge rifles and... berets...

On the metro ride back along - the regal line? (It's blue) - we wondered if anyone would be in our room that night. We estimated an 80% chance that there would be no one - it was full. One girl from Japan and I don't know where the other one was from - she didn't say much. Hot showers though! What a miracle... I discovered that there was a switch to turn on the hot water - we're learning!

What we have learned:

1. Paris is not London (tube wise the London one is much more efficient and less confusing)

2. You can't do what you want to do in Paris you must do what the Parisians tell you - In Notre Dame we had two people who we assumed worked there who would stop us going up or down the stairs until it was clear or something. We were a little confused as the guy who told us to stop going up just left. He walked out! Did he even work there?

3. There is no way of predicting the weather and how to dress for it

4. Tourists stick together - we all take one anothers' photos knowing that we won't run off with them.

I Have Returned!

I'm back and bursting with stories and photos to share with you all. All three fans. Ahem.

The past sixteen days have been jam packed with history, culture, language and a lot of laughing on Miranda and my part. We had some seriously hard and frustrating times but we got over them and had a really amazing time and I'm getting excited just thinking about writing it all down to remember it all over again. So... here we go!

DAY 1.

London -> Paris

I can't say that I kicked off our trip very easily as our flight left at 7:25am, I had to be up at 4 and my alarm didn't go off. Good times. I couldn't really sleep all that night because I was too excited and nervous about the following day (or rather the few hours that separated this time) so when Miranda knocked at my door at, what I thought was much too early, fully dressed I went "Oh crap!" and somehow managed to rouse myself and get out the door in about three minutes. We got to the reception and the taxi pulled up so everything then went smoothly. It was nice being a car. Just a little extra note there.

For reasons unbeknowst to me when taking an international flight you must be there either two or three hours before the flight to get through security and what not. No one checked our passports and we flew through security. Right. Found some benches and had little naps before boarding the plane to our great adventure!

We arrived! Here is our first photo of the trip and don't we just look... well... tired and red mostly. But cheerful! Might I just say that for one of the most lovely cities in the world... Paris has a really rubbish airport. I mean Charles de Gaulle airport didn't have enough toilets, the tourist information section wasn't actually for tourists as we were shovelled about various desks to get answers and at one point there was this message that kept coming over the intercom saying "would the person who left the package in front of the photobooth please remove it". Later, the police blocked off the area. After much confusion and trying to work out a) how to get out of the airport b) buying tickets at the metro (they don't take notes ANYWHERE - madness) and c) finding our hostel AND listening to this crazy jingle they would play at the stations when there was an announcement which to Miranda sounding like the beginning to a rap song - wow this sentence is getting long - long and short of it - made it to our hostel - YAY. See my happiness? Now off for sight seeing!

We figured since it was raining and cold that we would go to the Louvre and hang about inside for a while. I'll never forget how big that darn place is. I've been there before and I said to Miranda that you can't feel guilty for not seeing everything because the place is TOO BIG. Apparently, it takes two weeks to see everything. Once again - not seeing everything. We managed to get in for FREE as well. Because we are studying in London they considered us to be somewhat European citizens under 26 - Booyah! The Louvre is so lovely. It has everything a nerdy person like me could want - sculpture, paintings and beautiful ceilings! Ceilings have become my strange obsession... yes... indeed. Saw lovely old Mona once more. Glad to see how she's getting on... Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Peter Paul Reubens room, Napoleon's apartments and various other things along the way. Oh and the inverted glass pyramid - have actually read "Da Vinci Code" this time so I get it. Meh. Needless to say after several hours this place is rather exhausting...

Next stop - Champs-Élysées - where Miranda and I were approached by some American girl who thought we were French (despite our obvious cameras) and started babbling to us in French. This is not the last time this will happen. But we felt flattered and very French at this point so let's continue. Walked down there, had a delicious smoked salmon sandwich and came to the Arc De Triomphe. I didn't go up it last time I was here so it was lovely seeing the view from this angle. I read a while ago that the roundabout surrounding the Arc is the one place that no insurance company will cover because there are so many accidents here. I had fun waiting for one to happen - it didn't - but yikes people came close!

This is the photo of me when I grew in size and terrorised the town. Well... I terrorised the model of the Arc... and the other tourists. This is also not the last time this will happen. We went to use the bathroom in this place when this crazy old French woman jumped out of nowhere and stood guard in front of the door and started burbling in French. We took tentative steps towards the door only to have her grab hold of the handle and just block our way. It was weird. We left. Back down thousands of stairs... Once again - not the last time - I must really have thighs of steel now...

We then went to see the Moulin Rouge (I wanted to see a show but they were WAY too expensive) which is surrounding by loads of sex shops - this may not be surprising but the people with kids playing in the area was! Children on little scooters zooming between perverts going into the various sex shops and sex cinemas - argh! Up the giant hill to Sacré-Cœur where the view, again, is most impressive. Blue skies encouraged us to stay there as long as possible though the wind picked up and it started to get a bit chilly.

So we went back to our hostel (no idea how we managed all this in one day given that we were up at the crack of dawn) only to be yelled at my another crazy French woman. This was the cleaning lady who forced us into the waiting room so she could finish mopping the floor. Reasonable enough except that we couldn't find a spot where she wasn't mopping so it became a cat and mouse game about the foyer. Crazy woman. Up to our room (5th floor, no lift) and the lock on the door was broken. Eeep. We figured anyone who wanted to hike themselves up all those stairs was welcome to our belongings... This was the worst hostel we stayed in for the whole trip... though we didn't really know it then. We had had a long day and poor Miranda came out of the shower looking very upset because the water was cold. Spirits were low as we went to sleep but we remained optimistic! At least no one else was in our four bed room.

In conclusion for today!

What we learned about Paris:

1. Paris guys are creepy - we had some guy with rotting teeth ask us something in French on the metro... Bleh

2. Paris women are nuts! In case you hadn't already gathered this.

3. Nowhere accepts notes. It's money isn't it? Yeesh.

4. To find anything in Paris you must take a chance and just go one way without thinking about it

5. Europeans (unlike the English) notice our dancing.

6. Crepes with Nutella are amazing. I am glad to be reacquainted with said crepes.

Wiccy Wiccy Wild Wild West

You would think after all our Hever frivolity that the three of us had had all the fun we could have. That was until the Student Union decided to throw a WILD WILD WEST night! Oh yes. The three of us marched down to Egham and went to the local junk store to buy cheap cowboy hats. We were messing with fate as the hats were made - shock horror - in Mexico.

UPDATE: None of us has swine flu.

We each dressed up as Western cowgirl-ish as we could get given that this kind of took us by surprise. It's funny because this is the first Union night Miranda has been to and it's a Western night - ha ha.

These things start at 10 but no one usually arrives until 11 or so... so we hung around Leonore's and had a delicious dinner of lasagne and mars bars ice-creams for desserts! Then Miranda said something I never thought I would hear "Umm... when are we ... going to ... drink the... ... alcohol?" Whoa! This is going to be one heck of an evening. That day we bought some interesting flavoured cider and some Cactus Jack apple schnapps (quite appropriate). Okay... so when we were buying the drinks the guy in the supermarket asked to see our IDs. So I got mine out and showed it but he didn't accept my international student card - sigh - okay here's my driver's license - he's thinking - he gets his manager and asks if the license is okay. The manager nods before turning to me and going "That's not the most flattering picture of yourself". Or words to that affect. I cannot believe I was shamed by a guy who works in a store called "Ice land"! Of all the injustices - who was he to judge? Damn Ice land man...

Anyway - despite that hiccup in the day - we watched some TV and added the final touches to our outfits. We decided that we would have Western names and characters for the evening - this included us talking in Southern accents all evening.

Here we have the three Southern sisters - Betty - the sweetheart...

Played by Miranda... Next we have Mary-Lou - the alcoholic ...

Played by Leonore and finally me... playing Sarah-Beth - the skanky one... Yeehaw! And here is their family photo ... Heh heh heh... Cactus Jack helped the creative process... Onto the Union! Because you have to pay to check coats in we all walked through the gale that is England. Rain was whipping us with the aid of a cruel wind and it was rather chilly. Luckily there was no queue as we were there early. So early, in fact, that the dance floor wasn't even open yet! Boo! More drinks needed.

It was past 10 so I didn't think we were that early but they opened the dance floor and it was awesome because there were few people dancing so we could take up as much room as wanted. And we did. The DJ was wearing a vest and a cowboy hat and the whole stage was tarted up with what the English think is appropriate Western-ness. There was a teepee, totem pole, rooters, cacti and a sign that read "Rattlesnake Canyon". Miranda was home! We got our groove on and danced the night away. Or rather danced as long as the people around us would let us. Good grief some of the kids here were behaving in a very silly manner! Listen to me - I couldn't get a single move out because of these rapscallions! I was actually shaking my fist then... so you know. So yeah after a while more people turned up and the dance floor was packed so we started getting tired of being elbowed in every body part or accosted by pairs getting rather physical on the dance floor - yuk. We were just about ready to leave feeling sad because they didn't play "Single Ladies" by Beyonce until... "all the single ladies! All the single ladies..." Yay! The evening was complete as we grooved to this excellent tune. Overall, a very fun evening had by all. Oh I forgot to mention but during the evening some guy came up to me (drunk as) put his arm around me and angled the three of us in a photo with him! Some random took the random photo. Thus the evening was complete... that girl will be flicking through her photos an go "wait - who are those girls you're posing with?". Success!

It saddens me to say that this will be my last blog for a little while because as of Sunday Miranda and I are going on our trip around Europe! Trip number 1. We're going to Paris, Eurodisneyland, Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin, Salzburg and Munich. I'm taking a notepad and will write blogs for my trip when I get back here to Founders on June 1st - in the mean time - ... err ... bye!

Hit Me Hever One More Time!

And now... what you've all been waiting for... Another video of me and my friends behaving like loons in historical places! Ha-zah!

In case you hadn't realised (we actually hadn't until... a little while ago) that our videos take inspiration from various decades... "Waterloo" was 70s, "Total Eclipse" was 80s and "Four Minutes" was 00s... which means that THIS video is inspired by the 90s! And what better song than Britney Spears' great hit "Hit me Baby One More Time"? Once again we take all our inspiration from the actual video clip so watch that to get in the mood... Enjoy!

Just in case the writing is too hard to read:

On the long train to Hever Castle - the childhood home of Anne Boleyn...

... one reflects on the destructive romance between Anne and King Henry VIII ...

... How Anne's obsession with Henry drove her crazy ...

... and cost Anne her head ...

... how was Anne supposed to know ...

... that something wasn't right.

Hever - Hip Hip Hooray!

We FINALLY made it to Hever Castle! My goodness all last week Leonore, Miranda and I were debating when to go - where we up to it today? - what about next week? etc etc. But today we went! The weather forecast was rainy which means miserable. Nevertheless we put on our happy faces, armed with umbrellas and caught the train. A simple statement "caught the train" but this was a major event of the day. Every time and I mean EVERY time we go anywhere we plan to get a train, plan a time to meet and then on the home stretch to the train station it flies past us. But today - for the first time - we got the train we wanted! Happy dance!

We had had to change trains twice because this castle is basically in the middle of nowhere. It seems that those who visit this castle are on tour buses because when we got off the train there was no one around and no signs. Great. Luckily, Leonore had packed some directions so off we set into this overgrown town. I use the term "town" loosely given that I saw a few houses on the way there but mostly trees and such. This place (for some unknown reason) has no footpaths so we had to walk on the road and come face to face with death given that the few cars that were around would go roaring around blind corners in this small town - what clever occupants.

But - we made it! Hooray! In case you didn't know Hever Castle was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. The castle was surprisingly small - how modest - but the gardens were pretty big and there was a hedge maze and a water maze - oh this gets good.

First, the hedge maze. Sadly, there was a sign that said the hedge maze was being given "surgery" as the type of hedge takes hundreds of years to grow. This meant that when we walked through the maze we could see straight through it. Oh well it didn't stop us getting lost. Miranda boldly went first - into several cobwebs. We didn't think this maze was so underused given that there were loads of kids on school trips running about but then we realised - school children are quite short and these cobwebs were getting us in the face. Yum. We each took turns and I had taken to walking through the maze as if I was miming wearing cloak with my arm out in front of me. Eventually, we made it to the middle! Thinking there would be an awesome fountain or statue or something in the middle as a reward - we were greatly disappointed as there was a stone block where a statue or something should have been. Brilliant. We improvised.

Jolly good. The trick to getting into the middle of mazes is to put your hand on the left wall and just follow your hand. Seriously, that's how we made it.

Out of the maze and onto the grounds. Very lovely. I can imagine Anne strolling through these gardens with small defined steps plotting how she was going to ensnare Henry VIII in her womanly clutches. The gardens led to a huge lake where you could hire boats. It was all very grand. Take a look.

The funniest thing about this place are the ducks. They were masses of them! And no matter where you go in the place - a duck will surely follow. They came right up to us and quacked for food. We tried tricking them with leaves but they weren't having any of it! Miranda foolishly put her bag on the ground and three ducks waddled up and tried to nibble away the strap of her bag.

Now comes the water maze. This maze is the coolest thing ever. There's a big rock in the middle with waterfalls coming out on all sides which is where you have to get to. To get to it there are stone paths all around it (in maze form). The stones have water in between so you have to watch where you step - they even had an attendant on hand in case you managed to slip off and knock your head - he was reading and didn't look up the entire time we were there. Given that the maze had loads of signs around it saying "be prepared to get wet" we thought - surely it can't be that bad. We even though that after seeing many soggy children. We didn't know what to expect until (thank goodness) there was a group of people in front of us who rushed onto the maze which was when we all realised that when you step on certain stones the weight of your body sets of jets of water to spray on you - tricky! After following the certain path of the other people we made it to the middle, learning that if you walk really slowly onto the stones you can trick them into not squirting you. We still got somewhat wet though. Nevertheless - VICTORY!

Wow - I haven't even got to the castle yet! Well that comes now so let's go. Into the castle. Here's what it looks like...

Yep there's a drawbridge. And a moat! With really really big fish in it. I mean these fish could eat a duck in one go - that's how big they were. Inside we went and - boo - no photography allowed inside. Well... we'll see. The castle was pretty neat inside except that the Astor family (rich peeps who own the Waldorf Astoria and so on) renovated the castle in 1905! Why do they do this? I got to go into Anne's bedroom - yep - it's a bedroom. Then we got to go into the room that Henry VIII would have stayed in when he stayed in Hever. Don't get me wrong I'm not liking Henry over Anne I think it was AMAZING that I got to be in the place where they were hundreds and hundreds of years ago - breathing the same particles that they would have breathed. It's pretty cool. There was another room where behind the panelling in the wall there was a catholic chapel so the occupants of the house (not entirely sure who this was at the time) could pray without fear of getting bumped off by Henry VIII. By this time Leonore and I were lost in a flood of small boys and girls who all clomped into the room shouting things like "CORRRR look at this SWORD!" "No, no look at that BED" before leaning over things and smelling them - ? Strange. This one woman who ran the place kept telling the children to use their inside voices. We went upstairs (despite looking small this place had a lot of rooms) and found that they had got wax models of Henry and all his wives. Miranda knows this clever rhyme about his wives which is "divorced, killed, died, divorced, killed, survived" - how true. Miranda really wanted a photo with Henry so we waited until the lady ran off to remind the children about their indoor voices once more and took the shot! Ha ha! Take that Hever.

Another room contained all these war things like suits of armour and old swords and stuff. There was one thing that caught my eye. This thing. And do you know what the plaque read? "Man trap" Ahh it's what every girl needs... Maybe that's how Anne got Henry... Watch out boys of Oz! I'm bringing this knowledge home...

Out we went and started our walk back to the train station and long journey back to Egham. It's funny because all throughout our trip home we kept getting further and further in our idea for a new children's show called "Kitties on Bins". Seriously. That morning we saw two cats sitting on two different rubbish bins and throughout the space of the day we came up with - names, new characters, obstacles, place, accents and plot development. Brilliant. So whenever there was a silence, really, we would just cry "Kitties on bins!" Patent pending! Not long til Miranda and I jet off to Paris! But there will be more blogs before we go... maybe a video even? Hmm? Anyone interested?

A Day of Royalty ... and cup cakes.

Hello one and all!

Today (Saturday) Miranda, Leonore and I trained our way to London once more. Miranda hasn't seen the changing of the guards before and neither has Leonore so off we set. I've seen it before but the guards were in their grey winter coats and that's no fun. We arrived half an hour early thinking that this might give us a slight advantage. No. We were forced through the crowds like mince in a mincer. This is bringing up images of Pink Floyd... Hmm...

Anyway Miranda found us a really good spot where we were only a couple of people from the front of the gate. At first we couldn't see anything but eventually (once people became sick of standing up) we wangled our way in. The three of us were making jokes about how to get to the front by coughing loudly and saying "Oh man... I never should have gone to Mexico" and "I've got swine flu? - Again?" The woman next to us had a chuckle. The guards marched in with the band in tow. I never realised before that it is actually a changing of guards from the guards who look like ice-cream men to the ones with the fuzzy hats. The different posses stand opposite one another and I said to Miranda "they're going to start dance fighting any second".

They marched about, saluted, stamped - the whole nine yards - and then the band started to play once more. Band playing - meh - we don't even know this boring song-- wait -- the band started to play "that's the way, uh huh uh huh, she likes it, uh huh uh huh" I kid you not. We looked at one another and began to boogie along to this hip medley of songs. It was so random. The Queen wasn't in today (her flag wasn't up) so I guess the band pretty much just do whatever they want.

An hour later the 'show' finished with a whole lot of guys in metal, roman style armour and helmets with swishy bits clip clopping down the street (they were on horses by the way - not in high heels). It was very elaborate and I'm glad I got to see it again to actually make sense of it all.

Then Miranda led Leonore and I through Kensington Gardens where we saw the Peter Pan statue which was actually financed by J.M. Barrie. It's pretty cool. We continued on, grumbling at the weather, to Kensington Palace. In case you were wondering the weather all day would be freezing as soon as a cloud blocked the sun and then boiling once it emerged. The whole day was spent in a state of uncertainty as to whether or not the jacket came off or stayed on.

Kensington Palace! The childhood home of Queen Victoria and also home to Princess Diana. They had this whole exhibition about the last debutantes as well as a bunch of Diana's dresses. Pretty random match up but I think they're designed to keep old bitties interested - I was. The tour starts by explaining the debutantes. So basically the elite were so good that when their daughters reached a certain age they would put them in a fancy frock, stick some ostrich feathers on their head and boot them in front of the Queen so that all the other blue blooded boys could choose their future wives. Sadly, this cattle exchange stopped in 1958. It was mostly because WWII was over and women were more independent but I think it was mostly because the Queen couldn't handle seeing anymore of these curtsying fools.

They had a bunch of hands-on activities like walking with a book on your head as a debutante must be poised. Way too easy. I would like to say that it was easy because I'm so graceful but more likely because the top of my head is flat. On the floor they marked out the steps for a waltz and the important of never making eye contact with your partner (romantic much?). Some old couple in front of us were arguing and stepping on one anothers' feet so Miranda and I stepped in and picked it up right away! I've never waltzed before so I must be a natural. All the old dears behind us were complimenting our sweet skills. They also taught you how to curtsy properly as that was the main part of the ritual. They were stories of girls being so nervous they fell over or got their heel caught on their dress and one girl even dacked herself! Ba ha ha! That'd be the girl I'd chose... the one with no skirt.

After learning about the elite meat trade we continued on into the State rooms of the palace. Wow. Pretty ritzy place - I'd live there. I saw actual bedroom of Queen Victoria which was restored with all her original stuff! Pretty amazing. The audio guide reminded me that Kensington Palace wasn't a lovely and happy home for all those who resided within it. Queen Mary died of smallpox there after having 18 children - none surviving. Yikes.

All in all Kensington Palace was pretty cool. After this we had a look at the Albert memorial. Man Queen Victoria sure did love her husband...

After that we went to this AMAZING cupcake shop that Leonore knew about and I had a Nutella cup cake. I've tasted heaven - who knew it was in cup cake form? We're planning another visit... a day of cake. Mmm...

We managed to work out how to get home because pretty much all the tube lines were down in various ways. Some were closed altogether whereas others were only running between various stops or only going west or some such nonsense. We made it home though! Stay tuned because Miranda only has one more exam to go and then it's party time! And by party I mean we're going to Hever Castle. We are such nerds.

Life Without Exams

The title of this blog, alone, will be angering some people I know. Heh heh.

As you can guess I've had a pretty relaxed week of sleeping in until all hours and eating too much as I watch TV on my laptop. On Tuesday, however, I had the great honour of finally being put in a Holloway Players show! Yippee!

All Tuesday I wasn't feeling very well with nervousness. I kept trying to relax, then remembering and worrying that I wasn't funny enough and I would be booed off the small, yet daunting, stage. Managed to get some dinner in and set off to set-up and warm-up. There isn't really anything you can do to prepare for a show of improvisation - considering that that would defeat the purpose. So we played some warm-up games and set-up the stage ready for people to come and watch. Not many people showed up. I mean it wasn't nearly as full as it usually is when I'm watching - but that didn't matter. Miranda and Leonore even took time from their busy study schedules to come and watch me! I was very pleased. Especially when the MC read out each of our names in turn and when they said "Phoebe Black" I heard very loud "WOOOOOO"s coming from their direction. : ) That's right. I typed a smiley face emoticon. It's how pleased it made me.

The show began and I was put into various games. I got up to do puppets where other people move my body and I have to try and justify the actions they are doing while carrying on a scene. It's funny (for everyone but me) that whenever I play this game the other person in the scene with me is this guy, Josh, and we always end up touching one another - thank you puppeteers. The audience loves it so... there you go. Felt pretty good after that. I also played genre replay where I play out a scene and throughout the scene the MC yells "freeze" and gives us a new genre to continue the scene. It was quite amusing when we got called to do Cirque du Soleil which involved me waving my limbs about, wailing and saying random made up words in a whispery voice like "carpaggio".

All in all it went rather well and people were praising me afterwards so I had a very good evening!

As for the rest of the week... Miranda and I went to Staines and I bought a carry-on size suitcase to take on our Europe travels. We finished booking our first European arch and it's very exciting! We keep saying things like "this time in two weeks we'll be in Paris" or whatever. It's very exciting. Another day Leonore, Miranda and I went to Staines to see a movie. I dare not speak its name but I won't lie in saying we knew it would be rubbish and we enjoyed it just the same. It was "17 Again". Don't judge.

The three of us also went into London yesterday so Miranda and Leonore could see the Victoria and Albert museum. It was lovely as ever and I got to see more of it this time so that was good. We also ended up going to (my favourite place) Primark. The cheapest and therefore best store in London. I needed a belt and, well, let's just say I left with more than a belt.

Today, Miranda had lunch with her friend Carla and then we finished booking our second European arch! We're going on a Greek cruise! I cannot wait. It will be AMAZING. It was also really sad though because we get back from Athens on the 21st of June and Miranda leaves for Phoenix on the 22nd! I don't want to say goodbye. We almost had a little teary thinking about that over dinner. People probably thought we were upset about the quality of the food and thought nothing of it.

Tomorrow we are going into London to see Kensington Palace and the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace - I want to see them in their red coats this time! Last time they were in grey coats for winter. Maybe I'll pop in and see the Queen as well. I hear Her Madge has excellent tea ... and corgis.