Big Day at the Loaf

Yesterday was a big day, so bear with. It's going to be a long (hopefully fun, definitely photo-rific) post!

First, class. The photo above is of my three classmates (how's that for student-faculty ratio?): Caroline, Scott, and Elizabeth, on the steps at Lady Margaret Hall. I'll keep this next part short because it would be cheesy to discuss in more detail: I talked to Christine, my tutor, after class about my "Moby Dick" paper, on which I got an 'A', and she asked me if I planned to pursue a doctorate. Very exciting. That would have been enough for yesterday. But wait... there's more!

Christine took both of her classes punting from the Lady Margaret Hall boathouse. Here are Christine's two classes assembled (with picnic food) for the adventure.

Christine punted one of the punts while Betsy, a member of Christine's other class, punted the other. One of Christine's sons, Toby, is also in our boat, above.

We pulled over and ate a picnic lunch in the park. During lunch, a baguette-seeking duck jumped into the punt. After lunch, I split from the group so I could catch the Bread Loaf-arranged 2:30 charter bus to London to see "King Lear" at the Globe with the Page to Stage class.

We arrived with about three hours to explore. A group of us walked over to St. Paul's Cathedral. Here are the steps made famous in the "Mary Poppins" pigeon-feeding scene.

Ed sent recommendations for some of his favorite historic pubs, so we first found Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street, the street famous for Sweeney Todd's, uh, entrepreneurship. At some point, Thackeray, Twain, Dickens, and Samuel Johnson each visited Y.O.C.C. Samuel Johnson's house is right around the corner.

Alison and I walked next to Blackfriar's Pub, another of Ed's recommendations, for a look inside. This is a gorgeous place, not far from Tate Modern and the Globe.

Walking back, here's Alison crossing the Thames via Millennium Bridge (in front of Tate Modern).

Alison and I bought food earlier in the day so we could picnic before "King Lear" and pocket most of the 14 pounds The Loaf provided for dinner. We relaxed on the plaza in front of Tate Modern, ate our dinner, read, and talked to a sweet-but-cuckoo young art student assembling a tent she made out of found umbrellas.

Next: Ali and me before "King Lear." My mouth looks funny because I'm hiding a giant piece of gummy candy behind my teeth.

As "King Lear" began, musicians performed on stage. I snapped a couple of photos at the beginning and end of the show, during Globe-approved photo time.

The stage looked slightly different for this production (marble-y columns, no floaty moon balloon).

I had never read "King Lear." I had never seen "King Lear." "King Lear" is IN-tense. The mostly solid production ran about 3.5 hours, and moved along at a pretty speedy clip (so speedy, in fact, that the play's great lines were sometimes hard to understand). Like last time, just seeing a play at the Globe is a pretty incredible experience. Here's a shot of Lear himself, during curtain call, surrounded by at least a couple people who were dead on the stage minutes before.

When I got to breakfast this morning, I found a postcard from Mom and Dad! Thanks, you guys! This is the great postcard with a picture of a TV dinner on the front. I love it, and it's on my wall.

In about two hours, I take off with three other Loafers to tour C.S. Lewis' house. Another student arranged the tour, and you know how I am about the literary tourism...

Have a great day!