I’m on the bus to Oxford returning from the 4^th of July weekend in London and I have to say this has probably been my favorite city so far; not exactly as quaint as Venice but enchanting nonetheless. I’m not sure if it was the company (Patrick is here!) or the fact that I got to plan my own itinerary, which included waking up at 10 am rather than 7 am.

 

How we packed so much into three days is beyond me. I think my favorite thing we did was probably watching a trial at the Old Bailey, now called the Central Criminal Courts. It was entirely un-touristy but that’s probably because it’s just too boring for most tourists to care to see…regardless, I thought the entertainment abounded. We sat in bleacher like wooden seats above the courtroom, situated to protect the anonymity of the witnesses but with a full view of the judge, attorneys, and defendant. The attorneys, who have to wear sweeping black robes and powdered white wigs, were a little archaic. The case we saw was outrageous to say the least and hearing the old men, in their full get-ups, reading some of the defendant's statements was beyond hilarious, especially with the British accents. 

Friday we took advantage of the theater-deprived youth of London, who have apparently caused the government to implement free theater tickets to anyone under 26. Hoping to entice the boys to join, I chose a WWI play at Hampstead Theater. Little did I know that Act II would take an decisive twist when two of the soldiers suddenly locked into a passionate kiss…..

 

Continuing the weekend’s theme, I forced a couple people to join me in my own “Independence Day” parade on Saturday…London’s Pride 2009. Photos to come.

 

Nerd Alert:

We also crammed in the National Gallery as well as the London Museum and the British Library. The Library is 2^nd in the world only to the Library of Congress in the US and contained two original Gutenberg bibles, the original Alice in Wonderland, Jane Eyre, Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, and Magna Carta. I was in heaven. 

Today, we went to a hidden gem known as Roxy Bar and Screen. I found it online and am so glad we decided to try it out. It turned out to be amazing. It’s a “movie theater” aka posh bar with giant projection screen complete with leather couches, candles, and low coffee tables. They had a free showing of the Wimbledon finals today and we had so much fun watching it with the locals. 

Wishing I had BBQ to top it all off, 

Kaitlyn