The London Zoo and other such happenings.

Yesterday, I slept in for the first time since getting here, and it was wonderful. I met M.M. at one, and we went to Leicester Square for about two seconds before deciding to catch the 3:00 matinee of Cabaret. It was an awesome production, and I just took it easy for the rest of the night.

This morning, B.L., E.D., and I went to the service at St. Paul's Cathedral. It was a bit different from the Baptist environment I grew up in (and by "a bit" I mean "different in every way possible"), but it was such a connection to history. For at least four hundred years (and more), people have been coming to this church for the same reason, saying the same words and participating in the same rituals. Everyone from the kings to the students (even Southern Baptists and Catholics) was and is welcome, and I can't imagine a more beautiful surrounding. Pretty powerful.

We passed a barber shop and an EAT restaurant on Fleet Street on the way back. Any takers?

Later, we went to the London Zoo!!! It was a beautiful, relaxing day--and a pretty rockawesome time.

The bear wanted a kiss, so I gave him one.

Penguins!!

This was a random dung beetle statue/monument thing. No one seemed thrilled about having their picture taken with it; I don't know why.

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One of their newer exhibits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAaqna5DLU8

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This statue is of the bear that A.A.Milne based Winnie-the-Pooh off of. The man is not Milne, however, it is the man who owned the bear.

One of my favorite pictures of the day.

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A note to my brother:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH51DasxtCc

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I thought we would be seeing mostly animals we were familiar with, but there were some I had never heard of before in my life. Like this. What is this?!? We christened him the panda anteater, but I feel that there is a more technical term for this critter.

This was a statue of......well, we decided a bird embryo. This is yet another family photo of the day.

And finally, the reason for visiting the zoo in the first place: Harry Potter. Yes, sportsfans, this is the sight where young Harry accidentally frees the Brazilian boa constrictor, causing pandemonium. This is also the sight where this scene in the first movie was filmed. History, my friends, history.

Shakespeare Week begins tomorrow!!! More as the story develops.