9. Nerding

Today was, without a doubt, a shining testament to my nerdhood. I wear my membership badge proudly. Last night I picked up a copy of the Evening Standard on my way into the tube, so I knew that it was going to rain on and off today. Side note: Dad you would be so proud of me riding the Tube reading a paper! And walking between lines reading the paper!

So with two days of London left I set off on my nerdiest itinerary yet. Insert your joke questioning how that is possible or how that is a great feat for me here. It was not raining when I left the hostel so I ran some things to the post office. Lordy it was expensive for shipping! I shall make efforts to select lightweight gifts from here on out.

It still was not raining and the sky looked promising so I headed for The Globe knowing full well that it does not have a roof. The tour was kind of lame but they were rehearsing for The Taming of the Shrew so we got to watch a bit of that. Just to be clear, by calling the tour "kind of lame," I mean that I already knew everything that the guide told us. It was dress rehearsal, so they were in costume. They were working out some blocking issues because the stage has stairs that they obviously could not time until rehearsal on the actual stage. They finally worked out the timing of a character moving from an upper deck to main stage, but he go all excited, jumped the gun and skipped someone else's line. He promptly exploded "Fuck! Shit! Shit! Cunt!"

It just started to rain as I entered the Tube so I kipped up to King's Cross. If you know why, you are not allowed to judge me. As I exited the Baker street tube the wall tiles were filled with silhouettes of the Greatest Detective. The Sherlock Holmes Museum was nothing short of magical. They even let you sit in Holmes and Watson's chairs in the parlor. I could go on about this Museum for pages. So. AWESOME!!!!

The Beatles store is next door...it is devoted entirely to this band you might have heard about. They were pretty revolutionary.

I made my way toward Trafalgar Square and ate lunch at The Sherlock Holmes pub. The food is made by Mrs. Hudson there. Very good. I even had a pint of Sherlock Holmes Ale. 

From there I headed into the National Gallery. Kind of subpar as far as galleries go, but what are you going to do? I should not be so critical. It was free. It is just that so much of it was Renaissance art. Not my favorite. They did hae some Monet...who doesn't?...and VanGogh Sunflowers...but generally disappointed. I think I had Chicago expectations and they were not met.

It was getting close to 6pm. AKA when everything closes...but I had a hot lead. I headed for Guildhall Yard. Open a new tab and Google it right now. You need a visal on the size for my story.

...I am serious.

So. Guildhall Yard in London. After some truly painful choirs, a music school's orchestra played the 1812 Overture as the grand opening to the City of Londn culture celebration. Smack in the middle of the city with no river they even used a canon. Look at your map. Very populated area. They had about 35 people playing, but the sound was full and awesome.

So that was my dorktastic day! It is okay though. I hear Brainy is the new sexy.

Skip this paragraph if you do not care to hear my snobby choir critique. First off...what the stuff? Whenever a choir director has wanted a pure vowel sound they have said "Think Brittish choir". Not the case my friends. Holy intonation shenangans. Also, can we dwindle the ssss and ttttt down to three spots instead of a whole measure?? One of the songs was from a Russian piece Chamber Choir did, so unfortunately I heard the precise moment it went wrong: when the sopranos went up an eighth of a step from an already flat F to...not a G. Ugh. Apparently England is in desperate need of Sopranos. Their rendition of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" was a full third lower than the recording. You know a song is low whem I can comfortably sing a female lead vocal two octaves higher.