One day upon the Avon...

Hello my dears!
So I love London.  And not just for the accents... Sadly I've had to watch the money a bit, seeing as how it's the end of our little journey and not the beginning.  Still a blast though.  There are tons of awesome things to see.  It just takes a bit with the traffic (during rush hour in the morning I swear you go backwards).  It's also glorious to understand everything I read and hear.  I didn't realize how much I missed that. 
Today we took a day trip down to Stratford upon Avon.  It took ages it seemed on the bus to get there and back, but it was completely worth it for me.  Bit of a pilgrimage actually to be completely honest... you all know how I am about Shakespeare... so I got to see his birthplace and the remains of his retirement house, his church, and his grave (all roped off of course).  Sadly there were no matinees playing at the Royal Shakespeare Company theater and our bus was leaving way before any of the night performances so I'll have to catch them on my next trip to London (Someday...). 
Stratford feels a lot like Warrensburg, crazy as it sounds.  The people were so similar.  All the families and high school rejects wandering about the park.  Everything all claustrophobic yet charming in its way.  We spent a bit of time by the Avon river, me writing, Sarah reading Agatha Christie.  It was really nice.  Like a scene out of a Kristi literary fantasy.  We just relaxed.  I did some decent work, don't know if a poem will come of it or not.  I like where it's going so far though. 
Oh, and just so everyone knows, there are pigeons in heat in Oxford, Stratford, and London.  Yes-- the pattern holds true everywhere.  Closure.  Tomorrow I'm hitting Portobello market (like the song in Bed knobs and Broomsticks!) in the morning and then spending the afternoon in Westminster.  I plan to see the Abbey, walk by Buckingham, and see Big Ben (yay!).
I've met lots of cool people on this trip, I just wanted to say hey to all the new friends reading this-- you've made my experience richer and far more memorable than I ever could have managed on my own.  I hope to visit all of your countries someday (and you best get your butts to the US- you hear me?).  I'll do my very best to make it to Canada, Northern Italy, Ireland, and South Africa.  Love you all heaps and bunches! We're in London until Monday, we take the Chunnul back to Paris at 8 and we'll be back in the states Wednesday I believe.  Whew, that's crazy.  It's been an incredible 6 weeks.
Kristi
PS- Everyone in London is super nice.  It feels a lot more like home here as well, they run on a much more American time schedule.  It'll be a good stepping stone back down to reality for me I think.