Episode 14: An Underground Line Opens Above Ground? Inconceivable! (Plus, I Get Slammed In A Subway Door!)

Wow, Theatre days are looooooooooong. But before I start one what happened today, I'd like to add something I forgot yesterday. A little anecdote I'm sure will amuse you. While in the British Museum yesterday, we had to walk up and down a lot of stairs. I may have mention the seemingly endless number of them. Well, when walking down one set (this is near the end of the trip when I'm rather tired mind you, although that doesn't mean it wouldn't happen had I been less tired) I didn't quite get my foot down on a step and my heel caught on the lip of the one before, causing my foot to make a right triangle with the stairs.

This then caused me to stumbled and trip down about five or six stairs before I had the thought that sitting down would stop my forward momentum (See? I pay attention to things in science that may be relevant to my klutziness). I finally stopped myself and had a rather good chuckle about it. I guess I can't really say I had a complete experience unless I experienced a bout of klutziness in London.

Now, onto today. Since I didn't have class until two, I planned to sleep in a bit. Which may have worked, had my alarm been set to off instead of snooze. Which meant every time I hit the off button, it actually waited five minutes and rang again.

Maybe a good thing considering I was having dreams about Mom and I as a team on the Amazing Race and while I felt smug about knowing all the tube routes, which should have given us an advantage, I actually couldn't figure any of the transportation stuff out. Also, Mom was meandering and not really in the whole competitive spirit. She was helping other teams get ahead of us. Like Dad and Meg, who we totally could have beaten, but Mom didn't seem with it.

So I was up about nine and got stuff ready for school. I also did the dishes since they were piling up in the sink and quite a bit were from cooking my dinner the night before (although I was smart and had washed everything off). And just so you don't think I was too lazy to put them in the dishwasher, we don't have one. I actually took the time out to wash them by hand. Which Carlie has done a couple of time while we're all in class (Thanks Carlie!).

Anyway, I made a half a sandwich for lunch, packed dinner (the other half and a banana) and headed out for the bus. The first bus was, somehow, on time. Which meant I got to watch it drive away as I got close to Balaclava Road. Oh well, there will always be another bus and I allow at least an hour for travel time. Still got to the school a half hour early.

After our class time at the University, Patsy gave us the map to where we were going (once we left the tube station, which you had to switch halfway through your trip) and sent us off to the theatre. Now, before I tell about how amazing I am at the transportation system (but in a modest fashion so I don't get struck down) I want to share the most epic moment of my day: Surbiton station is the outside of the dinner Harry Potter is in at the beginning of the sixth movie! I have been in that coffee shop! (Which doesn't look like the inside of the diner and is not , in fact, part of an Underground tube station). Isn't that freakin' awesome?!

So back to the savvy way I traverse the public transportation system (and I thank my genetics everyday for my wonderful memory. If I've traveled there once, or gone a similar course on the Underground, I have no problem getting there, even without the use of a map). I took the bus from Kingston to Surbiton Station and managed to catch the fast train that went directly from Surbiton to Waterloo! Uh-huh, I've got skills.

At Waterloo, I needed to use the restroom, so I located the ladies loo. Only to find you have to pay 30 pence to get in! How is that fair? Luckily, one woman accidentally paid 60p, thinking she'd get change, and she just let me ride on the rest of that payment. Quick stop and I was off to the Underground.

Which I traversed like a pro, even though I had to change lines to get to the theatre. Jubilee to Green Park stop and then Picadilly way out to Hammersmith. An odd thing happened though. The Underground, came above ground! When I got out at Hammersmith, I could actually see blue sky! That's just weird. But I made it to the theatre without any problems.

And I have to say, that theatre is my new favorite place. It is a place made for writing, reading, and creativity. All around the waiting area, before you go up the stairs to the actually stage, are writing prompts. There are a couple of tables with journals that have things like "What was your favorite childhood toy?" or "Tell one lie about yourself you wish was true". There were three blackboards with different questions and a couple of different pillars had places for questions and answers as well.

Then there's a reading section in the side corner with lovely comfy couches. Plus they have a huge rooftop garden/deck with seating and plants and a wonderful view. And they have a shelf called "Take a book, leave a book". You can bring a book for someone else to love while taking home a new one for your own collection. And a lot of them have little notes from the people who donated them. I'm telling you, this is a writer/reader's haven. I wish we had something like it back home. Plus, gluten-free chocolate covered raisins. With a lot of chocolate. Yum.

The play was odd and fun. And I've come to realize more and more that old people like to chat. I think it's because they have all of these stories accumulated over their lifetime and often have no one to listen to them. Which is sad, because sometimes they can be really fascinating stories. Sometimes, they can be dull, but often they're interesting.

After the play, there was a post play talk scheduled, but I opted to come back to the dorm since I have to be at Waterloo at 10:30 for class tomorrow morning. Tyler decided to come with me so we walked back to the Hammersmith station and found the Picadilly line we needed to take back. Since there was a train there when we got there, we decided to run down and catch it.

I thought we were going to make it (barely, but still), even as the doors started to close. But I kind of got the doors closed on me (which sort of hurt). Luckily, it mostly got my backpack and actually only hit the back of my left arm, and my right wrist (which now hurts when I use it to turn the key in the dorm lock, but oh well. I'll survive).

Tyler seemed very impressed by my navigation skills, since he didn't quite know how to get back to Waterloo. We made it and I checked the fastest train board. There was a train to Surbiton leaving in about five minutes that we could make if we hurried. So we ran across the station to Platform 15. Only to find out I read the board wrong and we needed Platform 12, not 15. So we dashed back over to 12, and hopped on the train, probably the last one that went directly to Surbiton without stopping everywhere.

When we got back I asked Tyler to walk with me back to the dorm before he went to join his friends at the pub. Daytime= okay to be alone. Nighttime (while my favorite time of day)= alone is creepy. And damn, that boy walks fast. Maybe it's just because he has longer legs, but I was sweating and breathing hard by the time he left me at the dorms. Still, probably good exercise.

Today's lesson: you can make the train, but you may end up damaged. Also, Lyric Hammersmith is my new favorite home in London. Ciao