More London: May 8-12

The last week has been more blurry and less eventful and I'm a bit fatigued, so here's a short recap of what I've been up to:

Tues., May 8: Spent the day at the Geffrye Museum looking through their drawings collection of late 18th and early 19th century interiors. Took copious notes which I am still in the process of typing up. Yay work.

Tuesday night I saw a play, Landscape with Weapon, with Nicole and Bowerman at the National Theatre. It's a play about a man who invents a weapon of mass destruction, set in the present-day post-Iraq Britain. I was a little afraid that it would be a polemic but it was very good. The acting was fantastic—the lead was played by Tom Hollander, who played Mr. Collins in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice adaptation. His character is nothing like Collins. Yay theatre!

Wed., May 9: Wandered up Charing Cross Road and bought some books. No worries; my suitcase expands. Yay books!

Thurs., May 10: Wandered around London some more. Went to Samuel Johnson's house,

had late lunch in Chinatown (dim sum), and experienced the interactive tour at Benjamin Franklin's house. Johnson's house isn't a preserved interior, but it was useful to see the architectural layout of an urban house in the 18th century. The neatest thing about it were the huge panels that swung out on the first floor, closing the two side rooms off from the landing. (More photos here.)

The Franklin house is a new attraction to London, having only opened in January of last year. When I say that the tour was "interactive", I mean that an actress was our guide. She stayed in character the entire time, and the rooms we saw had been equipped with state of the art projectors and hidden speakers so that we could hear other people talking (as if they too were in the room) and see relevant images and the walls. There are no furnishings or anything, through structurally the house has some original 18th century features (panelled walls, fireplaces) and is appropriately narrow. The tour itself is fine if you can overcome any antipathy towards historical reenactments; unfortunately, I could not. It was especially disconcerting when the actress had conversations with the voices in the room.

Thursday night I saw a musical, Avenue Q, at the West End, at the Noel Coward Theatre. It was a big, entertaining spectacle with good music and, well, puppets. Think of it as the anti-Seasame Street. When the opening number is titled "It Sucks to Be Me" and one of the highlights is the song "The Internet is for Porn", you know that you can't bring kids into this show. (I just suddenly realized that typing out the title of the previous song might make this post turn up in untoward Google searches. Great.)

Fri., May 11: I went shopping on the main commerical drag, Oxford St. I didn't buy very much (something for my sister, a replacement wallet for me) but I did check out the Kate Moss collection as TopShop. My verdict? It's a little ass. Coloured denim skinny jeans and hot pants? No thank you. However, many Londoners disagree with me; the Kate Moss section was the busiest by far. Upcoming trends for summer, if Oxford Street is to be trusted: big, puffy ankle length summer dresses and mini-dress length tops that must be worn with leggings or skinny jeans, and flat ballet slippers. (Do NOT get me started on the rounded toe).

Sat., May 12: Headed down to Portobello Road Market and wandered along the street. It's been rainy all week, but it didn't really start pouring until I was about to leave. The market is lots of fun; the fresh fruit and vegetable stalls are colourful and very tempting. Afterwards I went to see a Guy Maddin movie Careful at the Institute of Contemporary Art. I know it's a little odd to be watching an avant garde Canadian movie when I'm in London, but this was only the second time I've ever had a chance to see one of Maddin's films on a big screen and I didn't want to pass it up.

Overall, the week has been less photo-heavy because I've been to fewer houses and gardens. It's also been rainy all week, which is a touch depressing. I do miss home, my own space and all, so I'll be happy to go back to Edmonton. If anyone wants me to bring them anything from London, tough. I'm a strict budget (blew it all at the seaside playing VLTs) and what I have left is going to beer. (Just kidding. About the VLTs, I mean.)