a visitor from my past

i have to say...living here has given me a great opportunity to connect with friends old and new. i love that people pass through london so readily that if i'm not meeting someone for a quick drink or a dinner, i'll probably put them up on my sofa bed.

chris loach came to visit for 5 days and they were filled with a ton of fun. although again, its so hard to be a tourist and have late nights and then wake up early to put in a full day's work!

my flight from dublin came in on sunday night and on monday morning i made my way to heathrow terminal 3 to pick up loach. he was so excited to be here! the last time he was here he said he was a toddler, so really, it was like he had never been here before. but as his family is from the UK, his knowledge about all things UK was pretty impressive. i gave him some time to freshen up and we head out to get him an oyster card, ride the tube and take a look around. and what a look we took. the most exciting part of the day was when we happened to be at the parliment buildings when gordon brown announced he was going to step down as prime minister. there were paps everywhere! so we also head over to buckingham palace, since we were practically there anyway, and there was lots of activity there too. military, people in tuxes...there were black cars everywhere with dark windows. there was a bit of a doo at the palace that night, so yes, liz and phil were in residence. it was pretty cool.

i was able to keep him up until 10 which was a good thing as the moment glee was done, he was snoring away. poor guy, but he virtually had no jet lag afterward so hey, it all worked out in the end.

tuesday night we went to war horse. this show has been getting rave reviews from the average jo to people we know in the biz...so we sat down to a 2.5 hour play about a boy who falls in love with a horse, and when that horse goes to war (WWI) he follows to find him and bring the horse home. now speilberg has bought the rights to the script and plans to make it into a film. i'll give it this - the puppetry was phenomenal. if you watch the clip on the link that i posted to check out the play, you'll see some of the puppetry. the horses were so realisic (not necessarily in form as you will see in the clip) but in movement and sound...it was amazing. there was a goose too, for some comedic relief in the first act, and he reminded me of ferdinand from babe. he had the best lines (Christmas? Christmas means dinner, dinner means death! Death means carnage; Christmas means carnage!....I suppose the life of an anorexic duck doesn't amount to much in the broad scheme of things.)

i have to say though...in the (predictable) end, i was rolling my eyes having suffered through 2.25 hours of stunning over acting while the women around me were wiping their eyes dry. maybe i had built up too much in terms of expectation, but it didn't wow me.

wednesday was a pub night, which was fun, and on thursday night, we made our way to shakespeare's globe for a performance of a midsummer night's dream. and was i ever pleased with my seat. if you ever go, see if you can get the middle gallery, entering in from the north tower, sitting in bay h, seat D35. i didn't have my camera that night...well my camera phone but its not the same, and when i got to the seat, i found out i was in the queen's seat! the view was STUNNING! not only was i dead centre with an unimpeded view of the stage, i had a back to my seat (where as the other rows were merely bench seats) and it was made extra comfy when i hired a cushion (£1) and a blanket (£2). best £3 i ever spent because i tell you, when the sun goes down, its still mighty cold here!

chris left mid day on friday but no rest for the wicked! that night i went to the udderbelly at southbank centre. so near the foot of the london eye, you will find one of those marquee tents (albeit it, a purple one in the shape of a cow on its back with legs sticking straight up - seeing is believing).

we saw a guy named brendon burns. he i described as an aggressive comic which isn't a problem in the slightest. he said things most people won't and that makes you laugh. thing is, he got preachy at the end...it was about religion...and he started with 'i don't care what you believe in, i'm not here to preach...BUT'. you can watch a clip of him here if you're interested, but be prepared for nasty verbage! no kids allowed tow atch. in all honesty, i love russel peters more.


saturday morning i got ready to spend the day at hampton court palace with my friend hannah and her friend paul. as i was getting ready i packed everything i thought i needed (but forgot an umbrella - silly woman) and i looked at my camera and thought...i wonder if i should get a new camera.

well, becareful what you wish for...we were there not 10 minutes and a dumb ass wasp landed on my hand (my camera hand) and when i went to flick it off, my darling canon a640 flew off my hand and smashed onto the cobbled base court floor. sigh....it was a spectacular smash. so, as it was at the beginning of my day there, i don't have many photos, but luckily hannah took a few.


so we started to do the audio tour but quickly abandoned it because that day, they had actors who at specific times of the day in specific places within the palace were performing the marriage of his majesty king henry viii to kateryn parr. we had way too much fun following them around and being a part of the 'court', but in between scenes we managed to make it through the kitchen's, henry's apartment (including the privy chamber and the the hall way supposedly haunted by catherine howard...no, there's no ghost there), and finally mary ii's apartment. what a suite of rooms! hers were stunning and the view from the drawing room was amazing.

i'll tell you what else was amazing...henry's codpiece.

well and the fact that all the men were wearing them. han had to get a photo and well, we had a right giggle about it all day.

we rounded out our day running around in the maze (i found the centre first) and then for an afternoon cream tea. it was a lovely day.

i was so happy to get home on saturday, and aside from a quick trip to the canon store today, have been a hermit. thank god. i needed some rest!

so, adieu to my canon a640 and hello to the canon SX210 IS. she does the same thing and looks good doing it. only thing is there's no swivel lcd screen. i'll actually have to perfect the self photo now. sigh. i'll leave you all with the last shot my a640 ever took...a pick of hampton court palace.