spectacular

Before I start, I would like to say: HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! And a very Happy Birthday to my wonderful Grandpa! I hope he has a wonderful day and enjoys every moment of it!

So, not to sound cheesy but it was an amazing week.  I did quite a bit of homework in the first few days and managed to get it all done so I was at liberty to do whatever I wanted the rest of the week.  Tuesday night we saw "War Horse" which was incredible.  The movie is based off the play and so I was excited to see how they changed the play for the movie.  As the title suggests, the story is about a horse named Joey and to play him, they had three guys, each in charge of a different part of the horse, to move him like a puppet.  At times I forgot that it was a puppet, it acted like a real horse thanks to the maneuverings of the actors.  The entire cast did an amazing job and I was blown away by how perfect it was.  I also had a good seat so that helped!

Wednesday afternoon I went to the Orangery in Kensington Gardens with some friends and we got some tea as well as a cheese plate.  I got lemon and ginger tea which tasted amazing with a little sugar. The cheeses were pretty good though we had a blue cheese that I did not like at all.  Afterwards I did some shopping and finally found a pair of oxfords that I love as well as some new nail polish.  That night I watched "Midnight in Paris" with some girls in preparation for our trip to Paris.  I am SO excited for Paris, I just know I will love it.

There's the icky blue cheese (just behind the chutney)

The other exciting events this week were a guided tour of St. Paul's which was fun but rather disappointing as the very top gallery was closed and so we could not take photos of the London skyline as I had planned and a concert.  That night we went to the Royal Albert Hall for their "Classical Spectacular."  They were celebrating 25 years of the show and it involved lasers, light shows, fireworks (sparklers), rifle shots and cannon.  It was incredible!  The cannons were a bit surprising, one girl in our group shrieked/screamed when they first went off.  It probably didn't help that one of the cannons was literally just above us.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the music; because it was all popular classical music, I actually recognized nearly all the pieces.

I finally got more souvenir shopping done on Saturday when I decided to brave the crowds and the drizzle at Portobello Road.  It was crazy busy but it was also kind of fun once I accepted the fact that I would have to walk slowly and keep an eye out for the stop-and-go tourists and their umbrellas.  I found some lovely stalls of old books, vintage tea china and antique jewelry.  I ended up buying a few tea plates and saucers as well as a three-tiered tea tray.  I can't wait to host a tea party when I get home! Now all I need are the tea cups...

 P.S.  On Thursday I popped over to the V&A to see some art nouveau which we had just finished studying in class.  I found I really love that style and so had quite some fun looking at some posters by Mucha.