Goodbye for now, dear friend.

Last breakfast at Villandry’s. How in the world did that happen? My roommate and I are now considered regulars and are put at the best table. Hilarious.

My mind is still abuzz from seeing Earnest. Like with Shakespeare, that language is saturating. Its richness fills me up. Yet leaves my mind and heart aching for more. It feels almost brutish to talk so loquaciously in our sloppy American accents. If only Will and Oscar were here…

Off to class one more time. Today for a backstage tour of the National. Too cool-there’s really no other way to put it. We got to watch the crew switch the Olivier back to Everyman’s set and go to the dressing rooms and tiptoe past the diligent prop makers. The theatre majors in the group could hardly contain themselves, while I simply watched. I observed each and every one of them. Each classmate, each cast member, every nook and every hidden gem.

We then tried to go to the Natural History Museum. Well, actually, we succeeded. But it was mad. Apparently everyone on earth decided today was the day to visit the museum. The Tube was filled to capacity, the tunnels hot and stuffy, and the museum itself overwhelmed. We stood in line to get in everywhere. So, we saw a dinosaur and a whale and left. None of us were upset.

We all headed back to the theatre, eyes glazed over and sweat coating our faces. Shuffling into EAT, we mumbled an order and collapsed into a booth. We sucked down some smoothies and parted ways. My roommate and I escaped to Victoria Embankment Garden and spend the rest of the evening in the grass.

Our last London show was The Red Lion at the Dorfman Theater. It was hard to emotionally connect to a play about sports, but it was extremely well done. The three characters were beautifully acted. And my girlfriends and I were particularly impressed with the young lead…In fact, it was a bit difficult to pay attention to much else. Oops. We were blown away by the technical aspects, but just didn’t love it. Can’t win them all, I suppose.

We begrudgingly cleaned up the flat before leaving tomorrow. One last London sleep. As sad as we all are, I am quite confident that this will not be my last visit to this spectacular city. Not all of my map is worn, not all of my heart is satisfied.