A Castle that is still very much in use

August 4, 2007

London and Windsor, England

Did I say the weather was perfect yesterday, because today’s may have been just a tad bit better. The sky was cloudless again today, but it was a few degrees warmer. I think it probably hit 77 or 78 degrees Fahrenheit. I woke up at 8:30 to try to go get Mary Poppins tickets with Rebecca, and we were successful. We got student tickets, so seats that were usually 42 pounds were only 25. After getting tickets, we went to the British Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone. The Museum was really cool, one I will definitely have to go back to.

I went back to the dorm to meet Julia and Alex for Windsor Castle. We took the bus to Windsor, and the ride was really pleasant. Windsor was a nice town, and the Castle was so neat. Once again, we had free audio guides (free after paying a fifteen pound entrance fee), and they were really good. We saw everything except for the Queen’s Dollhouse, because the line was forty-five minutes long, but we were able to sneak a peak at it through a corner of one exhibit anyway. Windsor is a Castle I would definitely recommend, far better than most I have seen (and I have liked them all). The chapel is beautiful as well. The Queen was not at Windsor this weekend so we were able to walk around to see a bit of her private gardens, which are apparently not open much, so that was pretty special.

After touring the castle, we grabbed ice cream at a local sweet shop that looked marvelous, and it was. I ordered Poor Bears’ Delight (which is vanilla and honeycomb), and it is now one of my new favorite flavors. The cone was great as well.

Once we were back in London, I cooked up some pasta with a really hot chili pasta sauce, and then headed off to the Prince Edward Theatre to meet Rebecca…

Unfortunately, my expectations for Mary Poppins were far too high. Not only was it the worst show I saw in London, but one of the worst musicals I have ever seen. Now it wasn’t absolutely horrid, but it was definitely not worth the money. The music wasn’t that great, and some of the characters (including Mary Poppins herself) were really annoying. Bert was good, and the little children were not too bad. Other than that, the show was far less than spectacular. No wonder why it is Mary Poppins’ last summer in London.

After Mary Poppins, I was very tired and planned on going to bed, but was coaxed into going out by Freya and the Ushakova twins. So the three of them, Geiler, and I all went back to Camden Town, where we had celebrated Julia’s 21^st birthday. I am glad I went out because it was really my last chance and I definitely had a good time, but I was pretty tired in the morning.