Alas, Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Alas, faithful readers this weekend I will be traveling from my home away from home here in London and will not be able to post again until Monday. Never fear though, I will supply one final installment before this commercial blog break.
To finish my thoughts on Stonehenge, it was indeed an awesome sight. The audio guides said that up to 1/3 of the stones remain anchored underground, so they are actually much larger than what you can see. Also, some of the smaller stones come from a remote place in Wales, and scholars don't really know why they were brought from so far away to be placed in the circle. I was also surprised to learn that the circle of stones actually developed over hundreds of years and was changed and redesigned by many different groups of people. The stones themselves have inspired a number of tales about how Merlin or even the devil were responsible for their location. One interesting thing about the stones is that they sit right next to a highway, which sort of ruins their ancient and mysterious atmosphere, however in the next few years the highway will be routed underground, so that the site will not be disturbed. The surrounding coutnryside is absolutely gorgeous with lots of sheep and rolling green hills.
Before I depart, I also have to tell you about my favorite part of the trip so far . . . visiting the Globe Theatre and seeing Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice performed!!! At first I was not so enthused about the performance because our tickets were for the groundlings section of the theater. During Elizabethan times, and today, the groundlings stand for the entire performance. On top of that, the Globe does not have any sort of roof to protect the audience, and if it rains, the show must go on. Of course it did rain, and of course you are not allowed to use umbrellas and of course I got soaked. So that part was not so good. However, seeing the Globe Theatre as Shakespeare would have seen it, being only five feet away from the stage, and watching The Merchant of Venice as Elizabethan theatregoers would have was unbelieveably cool! My English nerd popped out again. I took pictures of the stage and the theatre, though not of the play because that is not allowed. Standing in a crowd of people, hearing their laughter and sorrow all around you, looking up into the night sky, and hearing Shakespeare's beautiful poetry was a feeling that words can only faintly describe. My feet hurt as they have never hurt before (we also went on a walking tour that day!) but it was all worth it. And, I will get to see two more plays there, Love's Labours Lost, and Othello!!!