Disney Spottings All Over London!!

Guess who's writing this one? Yes, Jess is up on her bed reading her book (Life Is Too Short To Frost A Cupcake), so Mel here ready to catch you up on the past week or so! My guess is that I will write this all and then read it out loud to Jess who will then put in her comments. Sorry Stan, I know you wanted her to write, but it was either that or wait another couple of days to hear more from us!

First off, I would like to let my Mom know that I am currently sitting on my bed savoring the last few Honey Nut Cheerios that she sent me as part of my Valentine's Day Package and they are wonderful! Seriously, some of these companies really need to just stick to their American recipes. Speaking of, Jess bought a Milky Way today and actually threw it out because we each took a bite and decided it was just too sweet to eat!

Moving on. I believe we left off two Sundays ago. Honestly, I don't remember the Monday after.  (Holy shit! I just asked Jess what we did the day after the BAFTA Awards and at that exact moment her bracelet from the awards fell off of the top of her closet!) Well, Jess doesn't know either, but maybe there's a ghost in here who remembers...

So we'll start on Tuesday! Bernie took our British Experience class to the Imperial War Museum to see the WWI and WWII exhibits and the Children's War exhibit. It was really a great museum. It's been very interesting here seeing views on major historical events from the eyes of another country. I wrote in my brief response to the trip that I was incredibly moved by all of the personal items that the museum contained. Letters to loved ones, rosary beads, teddy bears, lunch boxes, and photographs. It all really gave you a connection to the people who risked and gave their lives for this world, and for the family and friends who gave so much as well, even on the enemy's side. 

On Wednesday, Jess got left behind. Wilson decided to take our class to the financial district of London and to get there, we had to take the tube. Problem was, Jess's oyster card wasn't topped up and while she was waiting on line to put more money on it, Wilson thought he had everyone and left. I swear it wasn't my fault! Wilson told the class to go to the track so we would be out of the way and he would wait for the few people who were topping up. Poor Jess ran to every platform in the station before finally being able to reach my cell phone (which doesn't get reception underground) so I could give her directions! Don't worry, she eventually found us and continued on with the class, but we were very worried about her!

Thursday was an amazing day! Jess and I went with Kristine, Roe, and Ashley to St. Paul's! It was a beautiful day out so we walked the half hour walk there, stopping on the way in the umbrella store that's been here since 1830! Very cool, very overpriced! St. Paul's was so amazing. Because the sun was shining, light streamed in through the lantern and made this incredible haze at the top of the dome. As we approached the crossing (where the nave/aisle and the transcept meet right below the dome) one of the church leaders began the 12:00 Lord's Prayer. I can't speak for Jess, but I know that as someone who has a lot of problems believing, and someone who is definitely not a Christian, listening to the words of the prayer and gazing up to what truly looked like the heavens made me believe stronger than ever before. It's amazing what Christopher Wren built in that spot. 

We then took a trip up to the Whispering Gallery of the Cathedral. It is 257 steps to get to this part of the Cathedral, but completely worth it! It's a wonderful view of the inside, looking down on the crossing, and because of the shape of that part of the building, if you whisper into the wall, people can hear you on the other side. We of course experimented with this, as Roe and Ashley went to one side, and Jess and I stayed with Kristine and talked to them from the other. Very cool!! When we were done sending secret messages, we made our way further up to the Stone Gallery, which is 376 steps from the ground (I had to stop for my inhaler!) and is located outside of the building at the base of the dome. From here, you get an amazing overview of the city and the Thames. We were so lucky to have such a beautiful day for this! At the end of our trip, we headed down into the crypt to see some amazing tombs. Christopher Wren is buried down there and there is a very interesting plaque saying that if you want to see his memorial to look around. 

On Thursday night, we went out with a bunch of our friends to a club called PUNK. It is owned by Kelly Osborne, and, well... lives up to it's name! It was so much fun though! Within five minutes of being there, I had a guy tell me I was "lovely" and ask for a hug, while at the same time the rest of my friends were being kicked out of a "private booth" by a very scary transvestite! When sharing this story with my brother, he asked exactly what authority transvestites have here. All I could tell him was that she was scary, so they listened! Top moments of the night though included them playing "I Wanna Be Like You" from The Jungle Book, some Paul Simon music (Jess got very excited over this), being given random punctuation symbols by the transvestite, and Frank popping a balloon with his teeth after he gave me a bunch "for Christmas." Wonderful night! We will definitely be going back there. 

On Friday, Jess and I took an easy day. We met some friends for "breakfast" at 12, then just came home and relaxed for a bit. We then grabbed Sarah and Adrienne and went to The National Gallery. They had some fantastic pieces of art there, including Caravaggio, Raphael, Van Gogh, Degas, Van Dyck, Seurat... yea, I could go on forever. If you want to hear more about what we saw, just ask, but I'm not going to go on and on as I would like to!

On Saturday, Jess and I had a great Valentine's Day together!!! First, I must tell everybody about the new addition to our family. His name is Fitzwilliam and he is a wonderful teddy bear that my Daddy sent me for Valentine's Day!! He is a real sweetheart and is getting along wonderfully with Cuddles, Pooh, Abe, and Steve! Back to the day though, we basically just hung around until the night, but then Jess and I went on a very romantic date to a great Thai restaurant near us! After good food and a bottle of wine between the two of us, we headed out to the pub to meet up with a bunch of people for some drinks. After drinks at the pub we went to another pub for some more drinks and friends. It was a good night! Especially because the second pub had Pretty Woman on the tv the whole time!

Sunday was an easy day. Jess and I just had an us day and went for coffee and sat and talked for a few hours, followed by dinner where we sat and talked for a few more hours.

On Monday, Jess, Sarah, Adrienne and I went to Westminster Abbey! It was a really beautiful cathedral with wonderful Gothic architecture! Jess's favorite part was the Poet's corner which contained graves and plaques for some of the greatest British writers. Her favorite one was Lewis Carroll! There is a beautiful memorial to him. It's small, but really wonderful! My favorite part was seeing the tomb of Elizabeth I and Mary I. They are buried in the same tomb with an inscription about them wanting to rise together when the Messiah comes. We were both very disturbed though by the fact that the coffee cart was placed on top of tombs! Very strange...

After exploring the cathedral for a few hours, we decided to go to Evensong. I had read on the website that at 5:00 everyday there is an Evensong service and the choir sings! I of course wanted to see the choir and so we went. Well, somehow we wound up on the right spot on line and were seated in the first row center of the old wooden pews (where the important people sit) right next to the choir! Jess and I decided whilst kneeling during the Lord's Prayer (I swear I almost have it memorized!) that we really need to find a synagogue! I do have to admit though, that I was extremely distracted throughout the entire service. You see, the choir boys were traveling that week and it was only the Lay Vicars (the older, trained men) who were singing that day and the one closest to us was, well, very attractive! He looked like Jim Sturgess to put it in good comparison terms! Let's just say I watched him a lot, and I kept catching him watching me! We locked eyes, it was wonderful, I felt guilty, but not really, and I plan on returning to Evensong very soon!

Tuesday's British Experience class was wonderful! Bernie brought in a friend of his, Maria, who had been an engineer in London during WWII. Her story was fascinating! She was separated from her husband, who was working with the airforce in Egypt, for 4 years! She also had a bomb land in her apartment, which her landlady managed to throw out the window. Her sister was injured in Warsaw, and most of her family were killed by either the Nazi's or the Russians, she's not sure. Bernie suspects that her family was Jewish and converted. She had quite a bit of chutzpa and was wonderful to listen to. Jess and I want to take her home and adopt her as our grandmother!

Not too much interesting since. A good walk through the legal district with Wilson yesterday and a strange performance of Taming of the Shrew. Today was another relaxing day, as we have a busy weekend ahead! Tomorrow, we head to Stratford Upon Avon for the day/night and return on Saturday, and then on Sunday we planned a group trip to Oxford! We will definitely be updating after all of that. In the meantime, go check out facebook because Jess finally put her pictures up!!!! Ok, love to all!!!

P.S. The Disney spottings included the song at PUNK, St. Paul's of course, and I saw multiple hidden Mickeys over the past few days, including one on a tomb at Westminster!