OK so it's been a while since I've updated. And now, at work, is probably not the best time to be doing it. But I am. Ah well. This will be a long post, so you might want to grab a cup of tea and a biscuit or two.

Rewind to Monday. Part of my internship program includes tickets to various events, sights, etc. So we all got tickets to see "Spamalot", although only 5 of us went. And the seats were HORRIBLE. The theatres in London are 4 stories. The stalls are the bottom floor, the dress circle the 2nd, then the grand circle, then the balcony. We were in the balcony and could hardly see. Plus the added vertigo feeling when you stand up is rather unpleasant. I've seen "Spamalot" twice: once with mom in Chicago with the original cast (Tim Curry, Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce) and then again when it came to Cincinnati on tour. This cast was pretty good and I love the show so much that I really didn't care about the seats. Unfortunately, the spot lights are also located in the balcony. It was so illuminated up there that one could have pulled out a book and read for a large portion of the musical. The ice cream at intermission kind of made up for that, though.

Tuesday: Simon, the guy I'm doing most of the work for, took me to a short film screening in Soho. Screenings are generally by invitation and the director, producer, etc are all there. A lot of famous screenings have taken place there, such as "Seven Years in Tibet". The film was excellent, although very similar to another I just watched. Tuesday night was very exciting. I went by myself to see David Storey's "In Celebration" drama with Orlando Bloom. He's on the West End for about 2 months, so of course I had to go. I'm not even that big of a fan of his, but I wanted to see how he was onstage. The play was excellent, although Orlando was pretty overshadowed by the immense talent of one of the other actors. I couldn't tell if he was actually akward onstage or if his character was supposed to be that way. He had to cry at one point, which he did kind of well, but it was slightly uncomfortable to watch. It was that moment where you start moving around in your seat quietly, unsure as to exactly how to respond. A little akward. I wasn't planning on going to the stage door afterwards, but I did. I couldn't resist. He came out and signed autographs (even though what I really wanted was a photo with him). Last minute I decided to hold out my program for him to sign. He kept skipping over it, so finally I said (apparently, loudly) "Could you please sign?". To which he responded and we exchanged about 10 words... AKA I now tell people that I met Orlando Bloom. But he smiled twice at me so I figure that counts. Check out the photo album for a rather upclose shot. I'm sure he appreciated the flash on that one. He's rather short in person. Kind of attractive, cute dimples. I think he's better looking on film though.

Wednesday: Brother dear Matt arrived in the morning. He came into Gatwick, which is a little bit easier to manage that Heathrow. We dropped his stuff off at my flat and then went to get tickets for "Avenue Q" in Leicester Square. I showed him around Piccadilly and Soho. We had lunch at a pub before taking the double decker bus tour around the city. He ended up falling asleep halfway through. We had dinner at a Spanish tapas restaurant across from the theatre and then went to see "Avenue Q". If you're not familiar with the musical, it's hysterical- http://www.avenueqthemusical.co.uk/. I called it an adult knock-off version of Seasme Street. A number of characters (including Gary Coleman- an actor who plays Gary Coleman anyway) live on Avenue Q in Queens. There are the Burt & Ernie characters who are involved in a gay/not gay storyline, a Cookie Monster character who sings about porn all the time, a Japanese woman named Christmas Eve, and so on. The actors were brilliant. Some of them did the voices for 3 puppets, oftentimes having a dialogue between two of those puppets at the same time. Really fantastic.

Thursday: I went to work for a few hours in the morning while Matt slept. We then went to Covent Garden and had lunch, although the massive downpour was unfortunate. We toured Westminster Abbey, which is always pleasant. I've been intending to go to a service there, but they are at rather incovenient times. But I'm glad I got to see it again before I leave. There is so much history there that the church has a chilling presence. Matt was particularly fascinated with the Poets Corner, where a number of famous authors and artists are buried, such as Chaucer. Still pouring outside, we snapped a few pics of Parliament and then took the tube to the Tate Modern. The museum was much more his thing, as I prefer somewhere like the National Gallery or the Tate Britain. There is a Dali exhibit there that he spent quite some time in. He was intending to go back, but didn't have time to return. Maybe next trip. Matt, my flatmate Kacie & I had tickets for the London Eye on Thursday night. The London Eye is that huge carousel looking thing that overlooks the Thames. It is a fairly new addition (the last 5 years, I believe) and is owned by British Airways. The wheel is composed of indoor capsules that fit quite a lot of people. The trip is a half hour, one rotation of the wheel. The views are fantastic and luckily, the sky was pretty clear.

I applaud you if you are still reading at this point. Might want to grab another cup of tea.

Friday: Possibly the earliest morning of my life. The taxi picked us up at 4:25 because the tube doesn't even run that early. We took the Eurostar train (that goes under the channel) from Waterloo station to Paris. The train from London left at 5:30 and we arrived in Paris at 9:15am (Paris is an hour ahead). Fortunately, we could check into our hotel upon arrival. The room appeared to be decent. Very 1970's complete with red velvet curtains and a burlappy material on the walls. We tried to nap, unsuccessfully, so we finally gave up and went to a cafe for lunch. I had a Croque Monsieur (ham and cheese open faced sandwich) with un citron presse, which is their lemonade. Basically they squeeze the lemons and then give you a pitcher of water and a bowl of sugar to make your own. We took the bus tour around Paris, which is such a great way to see that city. There are a lot of sights in Paris that one doesn't necessarily want to visit. Like the L'Arc de Triomphe. Driving around it twice is plenty. After the bus tour we actually did nap and then went to dinner. I had a very french dinner of streak frites (steak & fries) and we had a caraffe of wine. We went to the Eiffel Tower on Friday night, which was beautiful. Unfortunately, the top level was closed. But I actually prefer the 2nd level because there isn't chain link fencing around the overlook. Every hour after dusk the Eiffel Tower is lit up in a light show, which is quite a spectacle and I imagine look amazing from far away. I decided that the Eiffel Tower is far and away the worst place to be surrounded by tourists. For the second time there, I found it humiliating to be American.

Saturday morning we went to the Louvre. There are just so many tourists there that it is almost unbearable. I couldn't believe all of the people taking flash photos. I don't know why the staff wasn't stopping them, because that certainly wasn't allowed last time I was there. These tourists were so consumed with taking as many photos as possible that they are ignorant to everything and everyone around them. The people videotaping are the worst. What exactly are they going to do with 5 minutes of Mona Lisa footage? One would be better off buying a book with high resolution photos. Enough venting. I did get to see a portion of the museum that I didn't see last time... in particular the collection of Watteau & Fragonard, two of my favorites. We walked around 3 areas and then walked to Notre Dame, although we spent little time there. We found a cute little cafe for lunch and then took a bus tour of the Left Bank, which went along St. Germain Avenue and Montparnasse. I've not spent much time on the Left Bank (Le Rive Gauche) but I highly suggest that anyone visiting Paris stays there. It's quieter and more artsy, more picturesque than the Right Bank. We had dinner at an Italian place and then called it a night.

Just as I was lying on my bed thinking about how pleasant the hotel was (literally, exactly what I was thinking), I look to the left and see a mouse running along the wall. And yes, I panicked. Both Matt & mom (as he was on the phone with her) can vouch for this. I completely refused to get off of the bed, so Matt tried to find the hole. He thought he figured it out, so he blocked it with a towel. This settled my mind a little. For about 3 minutes until I saw the mouse AGAIN. Which means that there was either more than one hole or more than one mouse. Probably both. I went down the front desk to tell the night manager. To which he said to me "I don't know what you want me to do about it". He proceeded to call the mice "rats" (which really didn't put my mind at ease) and told me that they are all over because the cafes that are there used to be empty. He gave me this little electrical machine that supposedly set off ultrasonic noises or something. Except that 10 minutes later, the mice ran right up to it. Oh but it gets better. I decided to just not look at the floor. Remember the burlappy material on the walls? Yeah, it was perfect for mice to climb up. What concerned me was that meant the mice could then climb over my head and if it wished, onto the bed. Uggghhh... needless to say I got very little sleep that night.

On Sunday we went to the Musee D'Orsay and waited in line for at least an hour. But it was completely worth it. That museum has by far the best collection of Pre-Impressionist through Post-Impressionist work that I have ever seen. There was enough Monet and Renoir to make your head spin. They also had a nice collection of Van Gogh, Manet, Gauguin, Degas, Cezanne, Seurat, Millet, & Signac. I got to see one of my all-time favorites from Monet "The Saint-Lazare Station". I actually picked up a book here because buying individual postcards of all my favorites was getting to be expensive. There was a Cezanne & Picasso exhibit going on, but there just wasn't enough time to see everything. I read that "Starry Night" is there, but I didn't see it. And I'm not sure it's the famous version. I was pretty art museum-ed out, but we went to the Centre Pompidou as our last stop. The building is fairly famous because it was built inside out. Check out the photo album- I'm pretty sure I included one in there. Inside Le Centre Pompidou is a modern art museum. Again, the work was much more Matt's thing. They had the "cliche" 3 blank canvases on a wall. I wish I was the genius who thought of that. Regardless, Matt enjoyed it. We took the 8:30 pm out of Paris. It was a pretty interesting train ride back. Between the gap of the two seats in front of me, I could see one of the guys computer. He was with a group of maybe 5 others who had just done a fashion shoot for Vogue, I believe. I watched them Photoshop the pictures for over an hour. They would take the models arm in one photo and put it in a different picture, then try out different versions of her leg positions from various photos into a master. Really fascinating. I am now determined to buy every version of Vogue for the next 3 months in an effort to find the pictures.

I went to work Monday morning while Matt visit the Tower of London and then we had a rather uneventful afternoon shopping on Oxford Street. Matt was enlightened to the world of H&M and was quite excited when I told him that there is one in Ann Arbor. We also hit up TopShop. I made the family size box of Kraft Mac & Cheese for dinner... what I've been craving for weeks.

Yesterday I worked in the morning and we went to the London Aquarium in the afternoon. The problem that he and I have with aquariums is that we were spoiled living in Florida. If there isn't a large coral reef exhibit, a dolphin show, manatees & the beloved penguins, it just isn't an aquarium worth going to. For $40 we expected more. Not even any crocodiles, the standard. They did have a petting tank with sting rays (barb-free, of course) but the masses of small children prevented us from participating. We did have some excellent pink grapefruit ice cream on the way out, which was delicious. Last night my flatmate Zach, Matt & I went to a pub down the street for a few drinks. They talked soccer and I just drank... standard.

And so begins my last few days in London. Tomorrow I have a tour of the BBC, then work. I have a ticket tomorrow night to go to an awards show, which is apparently a big deal. It's at the Cafe de Paris (super nice) and is sponsored by some huge companies, like Stoli Vodka. My boss is on holiday, so I'm going alone, which I didn't realize. It would be a great chance to network... just not sure if I'm going to go. Friday is my last day of work. Carter, the head guy, is taking everyone out to lunch to celebrate Alice & my leaving. Ok maybe not celebrate, to say goodbye. I have to check out of the flat by 10am Saturday. I'm staying at a Holiday Inn near the airport and then I'm off to Munich on Sunday afternoon.

Extremely long blog... hopefully you break it up over a few hours.

The water at our flat wasn't working this morning. Rather inconvenient.