London, 22 May 2011

Okay, here's the worst news I've ever heard:
Nottingham Castle is closed on Mondays. Of course, the day that I chose to go to Nottingham is tomorrow, which is a Monday. I'm very bitter.
But don't worry, I'm still planning on taking a bus up to Sherwood Forest to see some awesome trees. I spent $70 on this train ticket, so I'm not planning on wasting it. At all.

London has grown on me definitely, and I've discovered that I could live in a big city if I wanted to. Lacock, however, and Oxford, showed me that I would much rather live in a smaller city. There may not be as much to do, but there is a lot less hustle and bustle, and I think I prefer a quieter life. I could work in London, but not live here.

I took a nap today, which was very sad because I'm in London, but I was tired. So I slept. Besides, we didn't really have anything planned. It was nice to just lie on my bed with the window open and let the wind blow in while I dreamed. Though I don't really know what I dreamed about. I've had some pretty strange dreams here, and I really should have written some of them down. The only one I did write down was about a scorned mistress who decided to take the entire estate of her monarch husband under control while he was away at war, and she did so by using her torturing blow darts. "Choose your torture," she said to everyone. It was terrifying.

Anyway, London has been absolutely amazing, but I've reached the point where I'm ready to go back to the states. I've been thrown out of my element long enough, and I definitely like familiar surroundings. I'm used to here enough that I could stay longer if I needed to, but I miss the customs I know. So I don't mind as much as other people that I only have a couple of days left here. I definitely want to come back some day--it is so beautiful here!

Okay, so on Friday we took a bus to Oxford and Lacock to see some Harry Potter filming locations. Just wait until you see my pictures--incredible! We all got to geek out a bit. Or a lot. It was probably one of the greatest Harry Potter moments I've ever had. I've never really been much of a celebrity stalker, but I got extremely excited when I realized that I was standing in the same place that Alan Rickman stood in Snape's classroom, or where Tom Felton was turned into a ferret. And I walked through the same halls as Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. I'm that cool. Ah! I can't forget that Amber pushed me against the wall where Snape pushed Quirrell against the wall. We have that kind of relationship, you know.

I love being so enamored by a series of books, because it gives me something to get excited about. I didn't really have anything here in London that made me super excited--not like Amber at least. She's a big Sherlock Holmes fan, so this was heaven for her.

Well, I probably won't write another blog until I get home, seeing as I'll be in Nottingham all day tomorrow, and then I check out of Regent's College Tuesday morning. I will be basically internet-less until I get home. Which, in case you'd like to know, will be at four in the morning London time. That should be fun.

Until then!