Life in London

So, we've officially been in London for a month, and it's still just as incredible as the first day. But I have gotten so used to it. It's so normal to say, "Oh, the movie is playing in Leicester Square" or "Let's go down to Oxford Street" or "It's past Charing Cross Road."

I'm so used to it here, and I love it. I actually know my way around Central London. Awesome.

We've been doing a ton of writing. Lots of exercises, and outlining our one-act play and our feature. I've had a challenge with the feature, and I've had to switch from my original idea, but I think I'm on to something now. I have a really good plan, I think. I hope.

Last weekend was an amazing one. Thursday we went to see "Wicked," which was so, so incredible. The singing was amazing. The songs are the best, and I haven't stopped listening to them since. The acting was great. We saw the understudy in the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, and she was incredible, so I can't even believe what the normal lead must be like. I'm actually glad we got to see the understudy, because I was just imaging how amazing that must have been for her. How that was probably one of the best nights of her life.

Anyway, "Wicked" was incredible. Great sets, awesome lighting, wires to raise people up in the air. Everything was great.

Friday we went to the London Film Museum, and the walk there took us over this walking bridge with the most beautiful view of Parliament and the London Eye and the Thames. It was just gorgeous, and even more so, because I wasn't expecting it.

The museum was fun. It looked a little sketchy at first, but it turned out to be good. We saw the Batsuit Christian Bale wore, some costumes, the Tardis from Doctor Who, the alien queen from Alien, and more, including some Star Wars stuff.

Sunday was one of the most amazing days ever. We waited in line for wristbands for the BAFTAS red carpet, and we got them. So, then, at noon, we went to the red carpet. We got to be in the second row. The only problem was, we had to wait outside for five hours before any celebrities arrived. And it was possibly the coldest, rainiest, wettest day in London so far. And we were outside.

I would've been fine if I didn't have puddles in my boots. There were actually times when I didn't know if I could wait any longer.

But of course, I did. And it was totally worth it. We saw so many great people: Martin Freeman, Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Lawrence, Henry Cavill, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham-Carter, Joaquin Phoenix, George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Chastain, Simon Pegg, Saorsie Ronan, Judi Dench, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Ervine, Samuel L. Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, Thandie Newton, Christoph Waltz, Marion Cotillard, and more.

I was hoping all weekend that I'd see Damian Lewis, since he's British, and is one of my favorite actors. And then, he was there. Only, I didn't see his face. Jared said, "Hey, Damian Lewis!" And I looked, and I just saw his back. And he's much taller than I imagined. But, anyway, today I was looking at BAFTAS pictures and I saw one of him and his wife, who was wearing a light blue dress. And I kicked myself. Because I remember thinking, "Wow, look at that baby blue dress." And I saw her clearly. And it turns out, she was with him. So I probably looked right at him and didn't even realize.

Oh well. It was still fantastic.

Anyway, Friday we leave for Paris for the weekend, and I'm super excited!!

Here's hoping it's better than Belgium!!

Dover and Belgium

Wow...I'm way behind. Sorry. I just feel like I've been super busy.

A few weekends ago, we went to Dover and Ypres, Belgium.

Dover was incredible. We went to Dover Castle, which is this amazing Medieval castle that's shaped exactly like the castles you would imagine. Stone, and turrets, and castle-shaped peaks, and drawbridges.

It was amazing. Everything there was beautiful. The grass was super green. The stairs in the castle were stone and windy. The roof of the castle had incredible views of the ocean and the rest of the castle grounds. Once again, I felt like I'd gone back in time.

We also took a tour of the war tunnels, which were used during WWII. That was really cool, and I learned a lot about the English soldiers during WWII. And I felt like a soldier, marching through those tunnels.

Dover was just excellent. Everything about it was absolutely incredible. I could've spent the whole weekend there. No lie.

And then we got to Belgium.

Ever see that movie In Bruges? Well, I totally know how Colin Farrell felt.

We went to Ypres, a place where tons of people died during WWI. And that's basically all the town is. War and chocolate. It sounds so poetic.

We went to a WWI monument for fallen soldiers, a bunch of WWI cemeteries, and a WWI trench. It was all very interesting, especially the trench, but it was all a little gloomy. At the WWI monument, we laid a wreath and sang the "Star Spangled Banner," so that was pretty neat.

But it was freezing cold and all we were learning about was death and then we had free time to go to the WWI museum and walk around town, and there was nothing to do.

So, my impression of Ypres was that they are obsessed with war and sweet things. And cherries! They had cherry beer called Mystic, which was absolutely incredible and tasted nothing like beer. And on my Belgian waffle, I had cherries and ice cream. So, like I was saying, sweets and war.

I think my friend, Jared, said it best: I went to Belgium, and all I got was a cavity.

Well said. But at least I can say I've been to Belgium. And at least I have an impression of it.