Londres, Oswaldo, and THE WOMAN IN BLACK!!!!! -or- London? Midweek?

Never idle long, Maggie and I left Oxford midweek to take a day trip to London.  Our deicsion was viewed as impetuous enough by certain of Maggie's acquaintances that it prompted the second half of this post's title, but we're independent minded enough that we were able to shake off the mauvaise langue's judgment and fully take advantage of our time in the capital.  

On the Oxford Tube bus.  Maggie and I like to sit on the top floor at the very front--it feels like you're driving the bus and affords a great view!

Our itinerary was packed: After getting off the bus near the Kensington Palace Gardens we visited the Enchanted Palace exhibit, which was sooooooo cool.  The exhibit features installations that focus on the lives of seven princesses that lived there and on their often overlooked stories.  I felt like I was stepping into a children's book; this description from the exhibit's website should explain why: 
Visitors must use their eyes and ears to find clues that reveal the identity of the elusive royal residents. Guided by an enchanted map, the advice of obliging palace guardians and a few helping hands, their search will take them to all the hidden corners of the State Apartments and lead them to a glittering finale where they will at last meet the princesses face to face. 

The gardens in front of the palace were beautiful in in the gray weather we were experiencing.

The cutouts above our head must have been designed by the same person who did the exhibit.  Can you understand why we loved it?

She'd fit right in.

I think I was regally posing with an invisible scepter for my royal portrait.

Sadly, no photos were allowed at the palace so you'll have to go for yourselves to learn the secrets of Peter the Feral Boy.

Next stop for us was the Victoria and Albert Museum after passing by a huge shrine to dear Prince Albert and the Royal Albert Hall (how many holes does it take to fill it?)...

...but first we had to visit Hummingbird Bakery for a snack.  This is Maggie and me we're talking about, after all.  

You know it's a class act when each cupcake comes in its own Chinese takeout box.

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

So.  Delicious.

M with an equally delicious cake...mango I believe? 

Snacktime over, we hustled into the V&A for a tour of the Performance Gallery.  The exhibit here had materials from every stage and aspect of performances, but the coolest were probably the crazy costumes.  

The entry hall, rather than the Performance Gallery, but still really cool.

The British Breakfast outfit from somebody's pantomime.  Amazing.

Modeling my pantaloons in the section (probably for little kids) with dress up clothes.

Isn't she lovely?

Also of note from the Performance Gallery was the part (for little kids) where you could design your own show.  You could draw costumes, use a diorama-like device to create a set, and work the sound board for your show.  Clearly, Margaret and I lost no time in developing the play based on the life of the devilish OSWALDO.  

Oswaldo, man of mystery

M hard at work drawing OSWALDO

After the V&A, Maggie and I began our long trek toward Chipotle and Covent Garden.  As beautiful as the terminus was, we still had some pretty impressive and exciting stops along the way.  First stop was Harrods for a trip to the food halls.  It was exquisite.  Not only could you find every type of food imaginable there, all beautifully displayed, but the building itself was really beautiful.

The outside of Harrods.  Cool, but not as nifty as the inside (which of course, I don't have any photos of).

Display for the Royal Wedding.

After Harrods, Maggie and I made a side trip to The Street Where You Live to pay homage.  Yep, that's right, we visited the area that  (we believe) was used in the filming of My Fair Lady. 

Are there lilac trees in the heart of town?  Can you hear a lark in any other part of town?

Next stop was Fortnum and Mason, which was just as cool as Harrods, though probably a little calmer.  And then, boys and girls, it was suppertime.  Please excuse me as I share with you the most highly anticipated and chronicled meal of all time.

The anticipation is great.  Will London 's Chipotle offerings live up to those of its American cousin?

The Maggie technique

The Erin technique

Miam miam miam.  My mouth is watering as I add these photos.

Arty tortilla shot.

Clearly we had to go all out for this meal.  Tortilla chips, guacamole, and sparkling lemonade.  Perfect accompaniment to the perfect Chipotle burrito.

After dinner we had just enough time to peer into a bookstore and get gelato (we wouldn't want to go hungry, would we?) before settling into our tiny wooden seats and watching The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre.  This spine chilling play has been running for 21 years (wait, that's as long as one of the attendants has been alive...) and for good reason: it's so scary and so well done that you're glued to your seat the entire time.  Here's what the production's website says about the story: 
Proud and solitary, Eel Marsh House surveys the windswept reaches of the salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the house's sole inhabitant, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose. Years later, as an old man, he recounts his experiences to an actor in a desperate attempt to exorcise the ghosts of the past. The play unfolds around the conversations of these two characters as they act out the solicitor's experiences on Eel Marsh all those years ago. 

Sound good?  It is.  Incidentally, it's being adapted for film and Daniel Radcliffe is going to star.  I for one cannot wait.

After the adrenalin caused by all the frights we suffered during the play subsided, Maggie and I rejoined the bus so that we could return to Oxford, but not before taking a few commemorative photos.  What a day!

Yikes!  I just saw the woman in black!

Of colleges, chapels, and gardens

Even though we are talking about Maggie and me, we did other things than eat during my time in Oxford.  The weather was lovely while I was there, so we spent a lot of time outdoors walking and reading in the various colleges' gardens (Maggie did have to get some work done, after all).  I was in luck that Maggie is a student there, because with her ID I was able to visit quite a few of the colleges for free as well as go into the Bodleian.  Plus, besides soaking up the general spirit of Oxford as a tourist, I was also able to meet her real British friends in the lovely Staircase 2- (I'm pulling a Jane Austen here and redacting part of the number to preserve the anonymity of those concerned) and attend two lectures.  The latter was incredibly exciting for me, though the entire time I was afraid that the professor would somehow discover I wasn't a real student and I would be ejected from the room.  Luckily for me, Hermione's spell she cast on me when I was in the areas of Christ Church used in the HP films which would have caused FAKE to pop out on my forehead in pimples didn't work, and I was allowed to remain to learn first about speech and writing and what lies between and then Volcanoes! Earthquakes! etc. in the lecture about energy in Victorian literature.

And here's what you've all been waiting for: the photos.  I will apologize in advance that I don't remember where many of them were taken place (I may have to ask my lovely cousin to help me here). 

I loved how Maggie and I could wander along a meadow and encounter cows while still in the midst of her university.

And what would be a trip to Oxford with some real live punters?

Look familiar?  I'm feeling some HP.

Me on the Great Hall staircase.  Wonder what house I'll be sorted into...

In Christ Church, Lewis Carroll's college.  In the corners of the stained glass windows you can see characters from Alice.

Channeling HP again.  This time I think I'm supervising the first years during break.

Impressive chapel, no?

Allegedly the lamppost that inspired CS Lewis.

Outside of the Bod--I really liked the mens' queues.

In Worcester's chapel.  I thought the animals carved at the end of each of the pews were too cool.

And we're obviously in Oxford--note the dodo.

I thought this sign was hilarious.  (for the record, bollards are those metal things that rise up to block the road) Why?  1) What a name.  2) It seriously take 15 hours for the bollards to rise in Oxford???  Quel horreur!

Worcester was particularly beautiful for my visit.