After a wonderful night's sleep in our plush, hotel beds, we left to explore the city around nine in the morning. We hardly sat down again before we hopped on the Tube for Oxford at midnight. But, I was so thrilled to be spending the sunny, blue-skyed day in London that I truly didn't notice how badly my feet hurt in my poorly-supported flats.
We visited Big Ben and the House of Parliament in the daylight, capturing pictures from every possible angle, and walked farther on to Westminster Abbey. Feeling positively Mary-Kate & Ashley circa Winning London, we sort of wished for a cute, British boy to come along and show us around, but we navigated our map well enough and made our way to the National Gallery, stopping by the Churchill statue along the way. We grabbed a quick breakfast at a Costa inside a Barnes & Noble-esque bookstore just across the street. The National Gallery was an artistic dream. I could have stayed in there all day long. Actually, I drifted away from the girls for awhile, in a bit of a culturally-induced stupor, and they had to track me down and plead their case for moving onward. I enjoyed the Medieval and Renaissance art but was most thrilled to spend my time in the Impressionism galleries.
Some of the highlights for me:
"The Umbrellas" by Renoir
Seurat's pointillist "Bathers of Asnières"
Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" (I learned that the color yellow, for Van Gogh, represented hope and friendship; the piece hung in his guest room)
"Russian Dancers" by Degas
"The Water-Lily Bridge" by Monet (incredible blues, browns, greens, purples; shapeless and free but showed the bridge's form and flow through the feelings evoked in the strokes)
Near the gallery, we were able to pick up cheap West End musical tickets. Emily and I snatched tickets to Singin' in the Rain and the other girls got Wicked tickets. We marched on to Buckingham Palace and took pictures at the fountain and the gate, amidst a sea of other tourists. Emily stopped a local who looked like she had done some shopping for directions to a good shopping district. We rode the Underground (I just love the subway) to an incredibly busy part of town where we stopped in TopShop, Zara, and Mango. I somehow managed to pick out the most expensive piece in all of Zara: black, leather pants. Man oh man, they were perfect, but I would have actually had to steal them if I ever dreamed of owning them at four-hundred pounds.
We had a late lunch/early dinner and people watched before parting ways to our musicals. It was nice to have a little date with Emily and to, for once, not move in a pack. We loved the show! (Even though nothing can beat the film + Gene Kelly.) The female lead's voice was perfection and the rain scenes - during which it really poured on stage and the audience was soaked to prove it - were stellar.
We all rendez-voused at the hotel, caught the Underground once more, and made it onto the double-decker Tube just before it departed for Oxford. We walked up the narrow stairs to our dorms just before two, exhausted and satisfied.
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