Today, I decided that since it was Monica's first full day in England, and I had no classes that we should go to London, and it was also because I'm still celebrating my birthday. We went to Harrods, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, and The Globe. Of course that order is backwards, so let's start at the beginning with The Globe.

From Waterloo, we walked to The Globe, it wasn't a bad walk, and I got to see a different part of London. A nice London, that give me five seconds and I would move into. The walk took us like 20 minutes, but our legs were fresh and all set for an adventure. We passed this one place, that we will be going to before we leave London... and for you Harry Potter fans out there here's a reference. It's called the Hogs Head. Yep, you see why I was excited. We were going to go there for lunch, but when we got to The Globe, we realized that if we did, we wouldn't have enough time to get there, eat, walk back and still get good um standing room for the show. We of course bought groundlings tickets, because that is the only way to see a show at The Globe. We saw Antony and Cleopatra, and OMG the show was sooooo unbelievable. Our standing area was great, we were leaning against the stage! Best place to see the show! The woman who played Cleopatra was so awesome! She was funny when needed, but then she beat everything out of a servant and yelled at the top of her lungs when the script called for it. She flips a lid when she finds out Antony marries Octavia, and she got an ovation for that performance! Poor servant who had to tell her the news! Some of the beating took place right in front of Monica and I, we could have touched their shoes without trying! The actor who played Caesar was great too! He reminds me of Max Pirkis who plays Octavian in HBO Rome! It's in his voice and attitude! Monica agrees with me too, so thank god I'm not crazy! I guess anyone who plays Octavian has to have a certain way about him, a certain attitude. Unfortunately the guy who played Antony was nothing like the actor who played him in HBO Rome, this actor was old, but still really good! The scenes between Antony and Cleopatra were good, and his death scene was funny, but also sad. He had the blade of his sword in his stomach, and then he ran at a pillar, and all a sudden he says, "Not dead! Not dead!" Everyone laughed, and all I could think of was Monty Python! And I almost forgot the drinking scenes! OMG! There was a party, and everyone was pissed (haha British term) and it was just so funny! Caesar kept falling over, but when he was standing it was right in front of us! All the actors were dancing, and it was just soooo funny! Everyone clapped at the end of that scene!!!! I loved how I felt like a groundling, I cheered for the violence, wanted more, and adored the drinking scenes. Of course I always cheer for the groundlings, but here I was clapping for more! Overall, it was a sweet idea to go see it, I really enjoyed the play! Before the show we went to Pizza Express, and that was awesome. It was such a fancy place, but lived up to its name. The pizza was awesome, we split one and a Caesar salad!

After the show, we walked over the bridge, the one just for people, and that was fun. Monica really wanted to do it because its been featured on movies like Love Actually. Someone was filming when we were walking over so that was fun, it was just two people doing like a home video or something for a class. I then took my first ride on the London Underground, and it was cool! Oh I forgot, St. Pauls. Monica took like a hundred pictures of St. Pauls, and though we did not go inside, we stared and gaped at the massive buildings. They were doing repairs to the front of it, but it was nice to see. So back to the Underground, we got on at St. Pauls, and went to Kensington and Hyde Park. I needed to see the Peter Pan statue, and that is where it is. I got lied to though, I was trying to figure out where it was, and online someone had a picture of it and said that it was in Hyde Park. Monica thought it was in Kensington, and Mom had once told me it was in St. James, so I was more than confused. We went to Hyde Park though, figuring that there would be a map, and no matter where it was, it would still be beautiful to see.

We got off the Underground at Marble Arch, because that was a cool name, and yes there is an arch! We couldn't walk under it though, which made us sad but it was pretty to look at! London has these things where you walk underground, it's like a pedestrian highway under the road. We went in one to get across the street to Hyde Park. It was fun, probably a little sketchy at night, but in broad day light it was fine. So we entered Hyde Park, and all I can say is it was BEAUTIFUL! Well okay I can say more, I was amazed at the size of Hyde Park, and the greenness of the grass, and the amount of people just sitting talking to their friends, or playing football (soccer). It was really amazing! On one of the trees there was a sign saying it had been hit by lightening June 2, 1999. It looked like it got beaten by lightening! That was cool to see. We walked down to the water, and it just got more beautiful. There were more trees here, and it looked more natural. As I was walking, I couldn't help but think that this is what my essay was all about, walking in a park just like this. Letting one's mind just rest, walking, seeing all the pretty little things, and without a care in the world. It was a wonderful experience. But for the life of us we could not find the Peter Pan statue. By now it was raining, and we did see a sign for it thankfully. We followed the sign, but there was no more signs so we just kept walking. At some point, Monica thinks we entered Kensington Gardens but who knows. There were a few people out, but none looked official so we didn't ask. The maps they had were pointless, none of them said where the statue was. We walked the banks of the water for a few seconds, went under this bridge and came up on the other side. There was a map there, and on it was a symbol for the Peter Pan statue. Victory, but then it didn''t say where we were. Oh boy. So we walked, and we walked in the rain to the other side of the park, where we found another map and this time it said where we were. The statue was just down the road a little bit. All this walking probably took us more than an hour, and we still hadn't seen it yet. We thought maybe Peter Pan was playing tricks on us and kept moving all over the Gardens. It was a thought anyway.

So we kept walking in the rain, I gave Monica my umbrella, and I put on my USM sweatshirt that has a hood. It was better this way than trying to share an umbrella. After we figured out where we were, the walk wasn't bad, and finally we came upon the statue.

The statue is amazing. There are no other words for it. It has Peter Pan with one hand in the air, the other holding a pipe, and he's standing. Under him are fairies, maybe Wendy (it's a girl), rabbits, and other animals. It was still raining when we reached the statue but it didn't matter, everything was so peaceful, so amazing, and I had finally seen this statue. I've loved Peter Pan since I was little, and seeing this statue was a dream come true. The story behind the statue is was made in 1912, and James M Barrie had them put the statue in at night to keep the mystery and secrecy of Peter Pan alive. Monica went picture crazy as we walked up to it, but I still don't have a camera so I just went up to it and observed. It was so nice, and we took each other's pictures standing with the statue. So awesome.

After we stared for a while, we decided it was time to leave. Our last stop of the day was Harrods which isn't took far from Kensington Gardens. The only problem is... it was on the other side from where we were. So we walked all the way around the gardens. Not a big deal, except it was still raining and we had been standing for three hours at the show, and walking all day long. It started raining even harder, and it was getting dark but still we walked. We made it though, tired and dying to sit down, but we reached the street it was on, and both of us were wondering which way on the street it was when I turned and saw it. It's like a Christmas tree all lit up! White lights just cover the whole building, and it has lights that spell HARROD'S. Yep, we were there. We walked to it, and realized it was only open for another half an hour. We went right for the food court because Monica said I needed to see it. Inside was so unbelievable! Rooms and rooms of things only J.K Rowling could buy! The food court though, OMG! Everything you could ever want to eat, half of which I have never heard of... it's all there! Monica and I got chocolate, we had to for the bags! She got ten little pieces of chocolate, and I got a big piece of fudge! So good! We are savoring the chocolate, only eating a little bit at a time, but the big news is each of us have a bag!!!!!!

We went home after that, we got on the Underground, back to Waterloo and home! It was quite a day, and an awesome way to spend a birthday!