Wednesday morning we woke up early and got tickets for the Big Bus Tour around London. It was a saviour, let me tell you. My feet would NOT have been able to take another day of walking. So we got on and off the bus all day, which was MUCH easier and faster than trying to figure out how to get around London (which is MUCH bigger than Dublin).
We stopped in Picadilly Circus (similar to Times Square in NYC), bought some scarves in China Town, and got tickets for Wicked in Leicester Square! We hopped back on the bus and rode it through Trafalgar Square to the Thames River. We got off and took pictures by Big Ben and the London Eye and had lunch at Manga on the River. We took a boat down the Thames, passing St. Paul's Cathedral, the Globe Theatre, and the Tower Bridge. We got off at the Tower of London and took the bus to Buckingham Palace where we caught the Changing of the Guard (which was kind of lame because there was no music that day and the guards weren't even wearing their traditional red uniforms with the big black furry hats). We then scampered over to Westminster Abbey where we got in free because we stayed for the evensong (which was not as cool as the evensong in St. Patrick's in Dublin). We took the bus back to Soho and ate dinner at Soho Pizzeria (because we loved it so much). I had probably the best pizza I've EVER consumed in my life at Soho Pizzeria. And some kind of wonderful dough balls that tasted like brown-and-serves that we have with meatloaf at home! :)
Our last day in London began with a walk across Hyde Park to Kensington Gardens. Hyde Park stretches across 350 acres, while Kensington Gardens covers 275 acres. We finally made it to the Peter Pan statue, which was the one thing I HAD to see while I was in London. The bronze of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens is one of the most popular statues in London. He stands in a leafy glade about half way along the west bank of the Long Water. This site has a special importance for Peter Pan and was chosen for the statue by J M Barrie, the author who created him. Barrie published his first story about Peter Pan in 1902 in The Little White Bird. It was inspired by his relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family that began in Kensington Gardens. In the story, Peter Pan flies out of his nursery and lands beside the Long Water - on the spot where the statue stands. Barrie began thinking about a Peter Pan statue in 1906. He took a series of photographs of the six-year-old Michael Llewelyn Davies wearing a special Peter Pan costume. This was Barrie 's ideal vision of Peter Pan that he planned to give to a prospective sculptor. Six years later, in 1912, Barrie paid Sir George Frampton to create the statue and on May 1 st that year it appeared, as if by magic. There was no pre-publicity or formal unveiling. The statue was erected secretly during the night and Barrie simply placed this announcement in The Times: "There is a surprise in store for the children who go to Kensington Gardens to feed the ducks in the Serpentine this morning. Down by the little bay on the south-western side of the tail of the Serpentine they will find a May-day gift by Mr J.M. Barrie, a figure of Peter Pan blowing his pipe on the stump of a tree, with fairies and mice and squirrels all around. It is the work of Sir George Frampton, and the bronze figure of the boy who would never grow up is delightfully conceived."
We then followed the signs to the Princess Diana Fountain. The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain is a memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales. It was designed to express Diana's spirit and love of children. It is located in the southwest corner of Hyde Park in London. Its cornerstone was laid in September 2003 and it was officially opened on July 6, 2004 by Queen Elizabeth II. The fountain was designed by Kathryn Gustafson, an American landscape artist, and cost £3.6 million.
We also saw the Albert Memorial that was built by Queen Victoria in memory of her husband. The statue is across the street from the Royal Albert Hall, a big theatre opened by Victoria in 1871. Each year it hosts more than 350 performances including classical concerts, rock and pop, ballet and opera, tennis, award ceremonies, school and community events, charity performances and lavish banquets.
After admiring Kensington Gardens, we went to tour Kensington Palace. Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century. Today Kensington Palace is the official residence of The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester; the Duke and Duchess of Kent; and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Until 1997, it was the official residence of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. The palace was beautiful, and the tour had cool phone things that guided you through. We also got to see Princess Diana's dress collection and a collection of giant photographs of her. The display was really cool and really sad all at the same time. Diana was so young and beautiful.
After our tour of the palace we walked over to Notting Hill and had lunch at Champion Pub. The pub was SUPER cute, and the food was good too! Kris left for to take a train to Wimbledon after lunch, and Mary and I went off to explore Notting Hill! We shopped atthe ADORABLE little boutiques and antique and specialty shops. There were so many cute and creative things to look at! Most of it was much to expensive for me, but it was still fun to browse. I did splurge on some really cute mittens from a little shop. One pair is animal puppet mittens and they have a string connecting them so I won't lose them. The other pair have Union Jacks on them. Both pairs are hand-sewn and are SUPER cute. It was my goal of the week to buy mittens (since I'd lost both my mittens and my gloves the previous week), so I didn't feel too bad splurging a bit.
Portabello Road was definitely my favorite! We shopped and walked around taking pictures of the pretty shops and buildings, all the while looking for the travel book shop from the movie. We sadly didn't find it because we had to leave to return to the hotel to get ready to see Wicked that night!
We splurged on a cab to Victoria, since we'd done SO much walking that day. The cab driver was really nice, and he dropped us off at an Italian restaurant called Bella Italia near the theatre where I had the most amazing chicken pesto past I'd ever had.
Wicked was.... well, WICKED!!! I knew it was going to be amazing, and it definitely reached my expectations! I don't really know what else to say about it other than it was incredible. I was in one of the last rows, and it was still awesome!
We took a cab back to the Marble Arch Inn after the show and packed for our 4.30 am departure. And early the next morning we arose to take a cab to the airport and boarded a plane for Dublin.
We took a bus to the city centre and the train back to Maynooth and I walked Kris and Mary to their bed and breakfast so they could check in, drop their stuff off, and shower. I walked my stuff back to my apartment, unpacked, and packed my other suitcases that I was having Kris take home for me. We met up at the Roost for carvery lunch (because EVERYONE has to try it when they come to Ireland). The meal was fantastic! We came back to my room, napped, youtube'd Chris Daughtry videos and facebook stalked until dinner time. We went back to the Roost to check out the dinner menu and sat around chatting for a long time. After that we went to Brady's for a few drinks. We sat around talking for a long time about lots of things including teaching... and AND in those few minutes of chatting with my sister (who's a 4th grade teacher) and my cousin, my life changed. I have wanted to be a teacher since i was in 4th grade. I've never doubted it for a second. kris was talking about how unhappy she is teaching now. she's sick of the politics and the amount of extra work she puts in and doesn't get paid for and the fact that she's still paying back her student loans at 30. She went to lacrosse, and her debt is only a fraction of what mine will be. And in the few minutes that the conversation lasted, something in my brain just snapped-- my mind did a complete 180, and i can't even explain it, but in a matter of moments i had completely lost my passion for teaching. I could no longer imagine myself standing in front of a classroom of 6th graders year after year and telling them to read Maniac McGee or Where the Red Fern Grows. I just couldn't imagine it. If it was just about the money, my mind wouldnt' have been changed. I've known from the beginning that if I were to teach, I would basically be poor forever. So it's not just the debt thing. I can't even explain how it happened, but I just dont think i can be a teacher any more.
So what now? I really have no idea. I think what I need to do is get a degree that will prepare me for an array of jobs so that when I graduate I have some options. I originally considered marketing or graphic design or some combo of the two, but there's no way i can fit them both in with the two years i have left. So then i was leaning more towards just doing business, because i felt like that would give me lots of options. but i've emailed the business advisor at SMC and she said I'm just not going to be able to fit a business degree into 4 semesters. I'd have to take an extra semester at Saint Mary's. Which-- ugh-- I just don't know if financially or mentally I could handle. So now what, people? What do I do? Can you just tell me what to do with my life? That would be grand. brilliant. savage, as they would say here in Ireland. Cuz I'm running out of ideas, and I have no idea if I would even be good at or like business. I'm freaking out... borderline going crazy trying to figure this out. I have to register for classes by next week, so I dont have much time to figure the rest of my life out. I've always been a planner-- I've had my life planned out for... forever. And now I dont' have a plan. Worse than that, i dont even have a direction. And I'm freaking out.
SOOOOO the next morning I dragged my two suitcases to the train station so I could take Mary and Kris to the airport. Unfortunately, one of the suitcases is STUPID and doesn't roll like a normal suitcase... so I had to DRAG it the WHOLE way to the train station. I literally thought my arms were going to fall off. But we finally made it to the airport and I bade my sister and my cousin adieu. I had SO much fun in London! I could definitely live there... and who knows... now that I don't have a plan... maybe I will!
pictures from London:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2143267&l=aefc4&id=5619987
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2143271&l=2edfa&id=5619987
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2143274&l=2dffb&id=5619987
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