Buck-Boro-SStQ

It's a miracle, I actually got 9 hours of sleep last night.  And my day only got better from there.  A group of us headed down to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard.  I was surprised it was as crowded at is was even though it isn't tourist season.  I guess it is a Saturday and today the weather was absolutely wonderful again, so naturally it would be busy.  Next time we go we're leaving two hours early to get a better view.

Anna, Emma, Mikelle, Sarah, me, Matt, and Christi

From Buckingham Palace we went down to Borough Market for lunch.  I love this market.  Even if you don't buy anything it's definitely worth going just to walk around.  Last time for lunch I got a chicken wrap, which was pretty good, but this time I got something even better.  Grilled Cheese.  The bread was perfectly toasted and in addition to cheese they put this good onion mix in it too.  It was super delicious but it made me thirsty and it was oober rich.  I couldn't finish mine.

From there we walked down to the National Theatre for the production of She Stoops to Conquer.  To tell you the truth I wasn't looking forward to this play at all.  The past couple of plays we've been too as a group have been a little questionable.  This one did have a few things that I would change but overall it was my favorite play that I've seen so far and I'd definitely go see it again.  It had music, humor, FABULOUS actors, and was overall just great.  Do you recognize the lady in the picture to the right?  I did when she came on stage but I couldn't figure out what she has been in.  As many of you know, it drives me nuts if I can't remember what other stuff an actor has appeared in.  It drove me nuts the whole two and a half hours.  I had to look her up when I got home and right before I IMDB'd her it clicked, I remembered.  She is on the Gwyneth Paltrow version of Emma.  Figure it out yet?  She plays Miss Bates.  More recently she also appeared in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.  Mafalda Hopkirk, anyone?  Ya, I didn't know who that was either.  So I had to google it (refer to second picture).  She is the lady that Hermione impersonates to get into the Ministry of Magic.  So now this is the 4th Harry Potter actor I have seen since being here.  The other three being Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), and Jamie Campbell Bower (young Grindelwald).  He appears for less than 30 seconds but he also is in The Twilight Saga, and he happens to be Bonnie Wright's fiancé.  I walked behind him a couple weeks ago on Bayswater.  We're convinced he and Bonnie Wright live around here somewhere.

....oh and I forgot to mention that Sophie Thompson, the lady from the play, is also Emma Thompson's kid sister.  Cool, huh?

she's the one with the pinstripe jacket

Even though it is a Saturday night we decided to stay in and soak up the peace and solitude of the center before everyone returns from their travels tonight...plus, I have to read part of A Tale of Two Cities.  Ugh.