Well, The Moon It's Pretty

Oh, what a day. Today has been absolutely crazy.

We went to Marks and Spencer (kind of like Safeway meets Target only even better) around lunchtime to see...Emma Watson. That's right, Hermione Granger was there to pose for pictures and sign autographs. They gave us free movie posters (yes!) when we arrived, then we had to deal with being in the middle of a mob in the bottom floor of a department store before she even arrived. Apparently they were launching a new Harry Potter line of clothing (basically Halloween costumes of Harry's Quidditch robe and Hermione's Yule Ball pink thing and more shirts that have pictures of HP kids on them).

She came out and posed with a cute little boy dressed as Harry and a cute little girl dressed as Hermione, then she came over to the crowd to sign autographs and everyone went crazy. It was the most insane thing ever. People were pushing forward and crushing each other, shouting "Emma!" and basically making it the worst thing ever. They were really acting like animals. She actually had to leave so the security people could calm everyone down. Then she came out one more time, signed a few more posters, then left.

Well, my friend Kara and I had finally reached the front of the mob when she left, so we nearly got our stuff signed, but we didn't. So that part really sucked. At least we got to see her, and free movie posters.

Unfortunately, we went to a few other stores on Oxford Street (basically the shopping district in London), and while I was trying on a coat I put down the poster, forgot to pick it up again, and when I remembered in about 10 minutes it had disappeared. So, crushed in a mob and no poster. And feeling like an idiot. But it's okay. I'll survive. Anyway, that was pretty much my day so far. Just another celebrity sighting.

To completely change the subject, I think I'm turning into a Brit. It is the weirdest feeling ever. I'll be on the Tube (Underground) and I'll hear an American talking, and they have the accent. Like, I still speak with an American accent, but I listen like a Brit. We went to the movies the other day (Broken Flowers, good but really slow) and I was like, "They're driving on the right side of the road! What are they doing?" Also, I was extremely conscious of it being an American movie. Oh, those Americans and their movies. Anyway, I hope I made some sense.

Oh, I was going to include some pictures. I'll just choose a random few.

Windiest place I have ever been. We were literally leaning into the wind and it was holding us up. This was along the coast in Northern Ireland.

Same day. This is Giant's Causeway, which is basically just really cool, geologically speaking.

A thatcher at work in Ireland.

Morning in the Lake District. The whole time we were there, I felt like I should be on my honeymoon or something. Probably one of the most romantic places in the world, up there with the Greek Islands and stuff.

First time we had seen a "mountain" in a while, so I think everyone took a picture of it.

Stairway at Christ Church College, Oxford (aka the stairs at Hogwarts - Neville finds Trevor).

Canterbury Cathedral.

Pretty bad picture of the statue in Canterbury Cathedral of Frederick Temple (aka the Archbishop of Canterbury I'm related to somehow).

And Emma Watson this morning. Gotta go!

My Name is Maximus Decimus Meridius

Hello from swinging London. I tried to update the other night, but the internet basically hates me and there was an error or something. The pub on the corner has free wireless, so I had gone down at like 10pm to get online and check email and everything. I was planning to buy a drink, but one of the tables outside (they have about four in a row along the side) had an empty bottle of Smirnoff Ice, so I just got to sit down and look like a paying customer. Oh, how tricksy we are. Anyway, I was typing away on the laptop and updating the post that never was, when this guy comes out and sits down at the last table in the row (there’s no one else outside). Well, my reason for existing became immediately apparent, because he was a little inebriated and started singing to himself. In French. I pretty much loved my life about then. It was priceless. If you’re going to sing when you’re drunk, doing it in French makes it about one million times better.

Oh, want to hear about the best game ever? It really is. Basically, someone picks a song for you and you have to turn up the volume in the headphones up so loud that you can’t hear yourself, then you have to sing along. And everyone sounds relatively…terrible. It’s terrific. You missed a great rendition of Queen’s “Somebody to Love” the other night by yours truly. It was right after our evening at The Eagle and Child (a.k.a. one of the pubs where the Inklings met in Oxford, also called The Bird and Baby), so that probably had some effect on the performance. Didn’t drink quite enough for the song to be in French, though. That would have been something.

So, we went to the theatre tonight. It was Shakespeare’s Richard II starring Kevin Spacey. They did a terrific job. Anyway, here’s the crazy part. We were leaving after the show, all filing out of our row, when I glanced over at this small group of people who hadn’t left their seats. There was this very strange moment when I realized that the guy on the end looked exactly like Russell Crowe. So I turned to Becca, who was behind me, and quietly pointed out, “I think that’s Russell Crowe. At least, he looks exactly like him.” And then the blonde woman next to him looked over at us. By then, the word had passed down the line, and everyone from our group behind me was looking over. Then the usher started to, well, usher us out, and it kind of hit me that it really was Russell Crowe. So we all got out to the lobby and were starstruck and giggly together. I felt kind of bad that we were so obviously staring at him, because if I was a celebrity I would hate being gawked at. But it had all happened so fast that there wasn’t really another way to react. Anyway, I was a bit proud of myself for my skills of observation. Definitely have eagle eyes or something.

Anyway, that’s enough for today. Stay out of trouble, kids.

I Really Need to Never Ramble

Hello from Cork. Computer is being frustrating, especially since I paid £2 (a.k.a. almost $4) for 30 minutes of internet, and it's not letting me check my school email or get on AIM (especially sad since it's like 3:15pm where you are and I might actually get to talk to someone). So, with nothing better to do with my money, I'm updating my blog.

Random List of Things for You To Do:
1. Go see "Green Street" at least once (violence warning...yeah okay)
2. Umm...eat some Banoffee?
3. Send me an email
4. Okay, I'm done with this list.

Let's see, what have we been up to lately? We went on about a million bus tours in a row (read: 3 day trips in 3 days) so as soon as we stopped feeling queasy, we got on another coach. Oh well. This was all around Galway, and I thought it was gorgeous. We were right next to Ros Muc (a.k.a. where my great-grandfather the Irish fiddler was from), so I was happy. Our driver on the first day, Desmond Murray (oh Dezzy), was a crazy old Irish man who liked to repeat himself. In a funny way. That made no sense. Anyway, his son is also a coach driver, so he was our driver on the last trip. He had a stuffed sheep named Ugly. Now I'm just rambling.

Oh, I met a cool family from Pennsylvania (if "Transylvania" means "land beyond the forest," what does "Pennsylvania" mean? And no jokes about pencils). I was standing behind them in line for lunch at Kylemore Abbey (a beautiful building that I didn't get to see because the £6.50 entrance fee was no good), so we started talking and they invited me to eat with them. I guess the son, Kyle, is studying in Ireland and his parents came over to visit. Hurray for studying in Ireland. Definitely the thing to do. I've been saying "hurray" a lot lately. Maybe I should stop.

Anyway, I have 5 minutes left and not much else to say. Hope you're all doing great and that it's not raining wherever you are (we've been having a bit of that). Okay then, ciao!

Banoffee is My Favorite Thing

Well, it's our last day in Belfast. I'm really looking forward to going to Galway, because apparently that's the area where my Irish relatives are from. Hurray for ancestry.

Last time I talked about how we were going to help at a youth thing, so I'll let you know how that went. Thousands of kids running all over (well, at least 200 something), lots of noise, me really sucking at playing pool (whatever skills I had totally disappeared, although in my defense I am really out of practice), and a couple people walking around polling the kids on what Jacob Rorem looks like (esp. with the great red beard he's been sporting - some of my favorite answers were Abraham Lincoln, Jesus, a dinosaur, Michael's dad and a giant leprechaun). Anyway, I think most of us had a good time, although it probably exhausted some people.

And now the part where I talk about Banoffee for the rest of forever. I've always wondered what this magical substance was (well, at least ever since I heard Keira Knightley offer the guy "Banoffee pie?" in Love, Actually). And now I have experienced it myself. Three slices later, I can tell you that "Banoffee" comes from the words "banana" and "toffee," and Banoffee pie is a heavenly concoction. And that is all I have time to say. Goodbye.