Keep Off The Grass

Centre Court!!

    Wow it has been a packed few days!! On Monday, class ended a little early so Anna and I jumped onto the tube and headed out to this little part of London known as Wimbledon to visit the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. This was so cool and I was so excited!! I played tennis in grade school and at the beginning of high school before I became sucked into the world of theatre. I also watch the tournament every single year so actually seeing Wimbledon in real life was pretty incredible. The 2012 London Olympics also held the tennis portions at this location. We began with a tour, where we walked around the facility, seeing highlights such as Court #1, Centre Court, and the site of the longest match  ever between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut.  It lasted for three days with the time of 11 hours and 5 minutes. Crazy! The process for getting the courts ready is really interesting and includes tearing up the grass to plant new seeds. For those reasons, no one is allowed onto the grass.  Naturally this only made me want to touch at least a single blade of grass. Don't worry, I resisted temptation. Getting kicked out of Wimbledon didn't exactly make it onto my  to do list.   We also toured the museum which had some facts about early tennis as well as the history of  the tournament at Wimbledon. There were also various interactive games that were quite fun.  Basically the entire day was great!!

Waiting for the procession

   I had a typical Tuesday night of procrastinating homework. During the afternoon walk we saw the area that next year's London program may be staying at.  Our current location isn't going to be used next year because the company can make more money if they rent rooms for a full year rather than just the few months we are here.  It's weird to think of the London experience without King's Cross so close but I guarantee it will still be amazing! This potential location is close to Liverpool station which is really beautiful. It has grassy areas that you are not allowed to walk on. Dr. Keffer found this out firsthand when he tried.  I guess England's Right to Roam excludes random grassy patches in train stations.

    Wednesday morning Anna, Hope, Deanna, and myself attempted to go to Margaret Thatcher's funeral procession. Unfortunately we misunderstood some information. We thought that the procession started at 11...the funeral started at 11 so the procession began earlier. We were able to see the returning procession of military, bands, and what her coffin was placed on. That part was still really cool. We then found a burrito restaurant (Chipotle is still a million times better even though these were pretty great), then we went to Pret to get coffee to wake up a little. Pret (actual name Pret A Manger) is the most fantastic place ever, a sort of cross between Starbucks and Panera but oh so good!! And reasonable prices! I'm going to miss it so much! We then crossed the river and headed to the Young Vic theatre to meet up with the rest of our group to see A Perfect Mind. One of these days  I'm going to list all the shows I've had the privilege of attending while here! The night was filled with British Politics paper writing so lots of enthusiasm here.

   Today I went with Caitlan, Krissy, Deanna, Anita, and Lily to a fringe play for our Contemporary British Theatre class. It was interesting because we actually went to a cafe. Just a regular old cafe. However, it was also a play because the owners decided it was a fringe play of running a cafe. Basically we were just at a cafe but that was somehow also a play. If you think you get it than you probably do. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it was fringe and it counts for the requirement PLUS the food was delicious! On the way back home it began pouring and hailing and I heard thunder for the first time in two months. It was exciting.

    Although I am far away in good ole London town, my thoughts and prayers have very much been with my homeland these last few days. The explosions at the Boston Marathon on Monday and the recent fertilizer plant explosion in Texas makes me very sad. Thoughts and prayers to all who have been affected by these tragedies.