"Paper faces on parade....Masquerade!"

I had an amazing weekend! Spent way too much money, ate some Texas-style food, and saw my favorite musical!

Daniel came down from Leeds on Thursday evening. We made some pasta and garlic bread for dinner and then went out to a fun club. The next day I had to work, so when I got back home Friday night I was pretty exhausted. The roommates had left for (hopefully sunny) Malta, so we had the flat to ourselves! Woohoo!! We actually decided to take it easy, though, since we were going to have a big night on Saturday. We went and saw a movie at the theater nearby, then just chilled and watched TV for the rest of the night.

The next day, we decided we wanted to see a bit of the City before we went to the play that night. We got dressed up early on so that we could go straight to the play later--see album for outfit courtesy of mom/grandma/camden market (the necklace!). Then we headed toward the Thames to see St. Paul's Cathedral, which is close to the Millennium Bridge. St. Paul's was beautiful both inside and out, but unfortunately we could only take pictures of the exterior. Here's one (there are more in the album):



We walked over to the Millennium Bridge, which is parallel with the London and Tower bridges. It's a metal pedestrian bridge that spans the Thames, and when you're halfway across it you can see St. Paul's at one end and the Tate Gallery at the other. There were vendors selling sweet roasted chestnuts, and the sun was hitting the water at a really pretty angle, so we stopped and took a few pictures. That's St. Paul's from the bridge--funny how it looks more like the American concept of a government building.

                                             here's the Thames with the Sun on its way down...


Once on the other side, we saw the Shakespeare Globe theater. It isn't currently theater season, but they are still doing tours. There weren't any going on at the time we showed up, so we just wandered around. It's a cool wattle-and-daub building which, I'm told, has actually been renovated several times. The gift shop and cafe areas inside seemed pretty new. I got a tiny little unabridged copy of Twelfth Night, my favorite Shakespeare play (we're talking really small - like 2 X 3 inches, kind of like a pocket bible). I definitely want to take a tour of the Globe later, just to hear some of the historical background.  Here's the Globe (so-called because of the round theater seating):



The sun was setting and we wanted to grab a quick bite before the play (we had eaten a late lunch, so we were going to wait until after the play to eat at Texas Embassy). We got a sandwich at Pret a Manger, after catching the tube to Charing Cross and walking across Trafalgar Square into the theater district. Wicked, Phantom, and several other musicals and operas were currently in the area. We went inside Her Majesty's Royal Theater and got our tickets (I bought a program, even though it was 3 pounds....hey, you only see Phantom live in London once!). Then we went upstairs to find our seats. We weren't down in front, but we weren't in the highest balcony--right in the middle, and in the center of our row as well. They were really pretty nice seats.

Phantom was everything I thought it would be! This sounds really corny, but I cried a little bit towards the end. Some of the singing gave me goosebumps, and I've always felt so bad for all the characters....it's one of the few stories I like that doesn't have a strictly happy ending (but not strictly sad either)! Photos were not allowed in the theater but I managed to snap one or two of the chandelier used in the play. 

It gets hoisted up during the Overture at the beginning, then cut down later in the play by the Phantom. It's a very plush, richly decorated theater, the kind with old wood and gilt and red velvet. It was a good temperature for us, but I bet it would get extremely stuffy in the summer--like when were sweating through The Importance of Being Earnest in Dublin. The Phantom was hot. He was Persian. Not that I saw his face...but he sounded hot.

After an amazing play, we decided to try out the Texas Embassy Cantina. It was right around the corner, and had been recommended to us by a fellow London Austinite (Bryan). We were NOT disappointed. First of all, there's a massive Lone Star flag outside the place, and a Mexican one inside. We were immediately served chips and salsa, and were assailed by the sounds of the Dixie Chicks. There were Texan road signs and license plates all over the walls, and I had an amazing sirloin steak with mushroom salsa. Daniel had enchiladas and a Dos Equis, and for dessert we got pecan pie. It was heaven, I tell you. It actually makes me miss Texas a lot.... and I didn't even realize it until now. Anyway, our feet were hurting from our dressy but less-than-comfortable-when-walking-for-ten-hours shoes, so we headed home. Here's our food, though! I was so excited I had to call Mom!



We decided to spend Sunday at the Design Museum. I've been wanting to go here for a while, and it was SO worth it!! It's actually pretty small -- just two floors, with two current exhibits. We're assuming they constantly rotate them out. One exhibit was the "Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2009." Apparently the core concept behind all of the design ideas is promotion of sustainability, risk reduction, and efficiency. Not sure how some of the things fit into that scheme, but whatever....

There were furniture designs, print/graphic design, architectural models, inventions, fashion design, and even products like a bike that filters water as the rider pedals it back home from its water source. The Obama campaign logo and the famous depression-style Obama "PROGRESS" poster were a couple of the winning graphic design examples, as was the logo for the British show Big Brother and a popular British Airways ad. Not all of the entries were British, though! They were from all over the world. One of the weirdest displays were these "Life Support" systems, featuring a cloned lamb providing dialysis for humans, and a greyhound on a treadmill powering a respirator. It was....pretty odd.



The other exhibit on the next floor down was a tribute to the last decade of work by this Turkish/Cyprian/British designer named Hussein Chalayan. I'd never heard of him before, but he's a fashion designer who also comes up with concept films and projects and likes to present his work in a historical or cultural-displacement context. It was a bit over my head to be honest, but pretty cool. I really can't explain the pictures except verbally, because they're hard to explain. But check them out anyway....and go to the design museum's website for more info.




After seeing both exhibits, we went to the gift shop and I plunked down too much money.... Oh well, though, only live once! I got a book on typography and a book called "1,000 Greetings" with lots of design examples for invitations and greeting cards. I also got a little deck of cards called "Type Trumps," which you use to compete with other people in figuring out the font, year, designer, and weights of various typefaces. I got a DM t-shirt as well, because the logo was really cool -- it looked like something Brittnee would have drawn a tattoo of, very chaotic and graphic-style. I got a postcard for Brit and they even a free tote bag from the Museum because I spent over a certain amount (I won't let you know how much that is, haha....). Here's a picture of my merch(!):




Yay!! It was pretty great and awesome. Daniel bought an Architecture-themed deck of playing cards that had famous buildings on the faces, and we took a few more pictures on the Thames. There's Mom's favorite building, the "Gherkin" (it's the pickle-shaped one on the right, in case you hadn't guessed):



Later that night Daniel and I began planning our trip to Amsterdam and Paris. We've got our flight from Leeds to Amsterdam and our flight home from Paris to London....we're still trying to figure out that middle leg of getting from Amsterdam to Paris, but I have a few leads. I think I'll see if I can look up Samantha while I'm there, since I reeeeally can't get around at all with my 'orrible French.

Hope everyone's doing well in the States! Love you and miss you all!

p.s. all new pictures are in the "London!" album