London – 20.5.2010

Today is the big day, London! What a crazy adventure I was not ready for. I had one big backpack on my back and duffel on my left shoulder. Despite all the difficulties that we had we made it to our hostel, Generator. We were too early so we had to leave our bags in the luggage room already bursting at the seams. I did not care I just threw it on the floor and pushed it under a shelf happy to get rid of the load. First stop was lunch at the original Hard Rock Café. A couple of American guys decided they wanted to open up a restaurant that served some good southern American food. Then a famous guitarist became a regular who liked the place so much he donated one of his guitars. Shortly after another sent over his spurring what it has become today and it all began here in London. The food was good well worth the money. Then we went next door to the shop where we got a tour of their vault. Inside were things from Elvis, BB King, the Beatles, Jimmi Hendrix, Madonna and many more. It was fun to see some great instruments and outfits that have changed the music world. Then we walked in the direction of the zoo to help our full tummies. We saw some fun animals. What was better was walking through Hyde Park to get there. It is huge and in a few places you get glimpses of the zoo animals. Then Laura just had to see Blackfriars and Millennium Bridge because they were used in the most recent Harry Potter film. Just on the other side was the Global Theater where we watched one of Shakespeare’s pieces of work, Macbeth. We bought the cheap tickets for the yard not knowing what we got ourselves into. We walked in the great big wooden doors to an open paved area around the small stage where black sheets with holes in them were stretched out forming a tent like in my childhood. They were about neck high. Those holes we found out were for our heads we were to bend over, walk to a spot we wanted and poke our heads through a hole. We took our places as those around us were chatting away enjoying themselves for what an amazing experience we were about to have. Then all of a sudden we heard a ding from a bell and some creepy women dressed in red looking pale and possessed walked in under the black canvas scaring people. Soon the play began. A short hairy fat man came out on the stage stumbling around from his drunkenness all over the stage carrying a metal pale. Then bloody men popped all around us through the same black tent we were in to truly start the play. That is when we realized we, the spectators in the yard, were part of the production. We were the heads (soles) in hell. It took me a little while to get into the play since I had never read Macbeth and it has been a long time since I have read Shakespeare. The actors did a fantastic job of entertaining us for a couple of hours enough to block out most of the pains in our feet and body from our travels. The best part of watching the play for me was experiencing it in a historical and intimate place, especially a play matching the period so closely. Above me the sky replaced the roof. Every so often I would glance up and catch glimpses of the afternoon sky changing to the evening sky. The moon changing places with the sun as time passed. Then Alli’s favorite part was a surprise dance at the end. After they bowed they broke out into song and dance for us. The liveliness helped brighten up our minds by extracting the gruesome aspects of the play. The whole way home we dreaded having to get our bags from the luggage room and carry it up several flights of stairs to the fourth floor. The room was tiny but we had a sink. I was so exhausted I went straight to sleep when my head laid to rest on the pancake thin pillow.