When Nicki and Co left, I was not, however, bereft of company. A fellow UF grad student from my department, Doris Bremm, was in town that weekend for a conference and had been staying in my room while I was wandering the streets of London with my sister. Knowing how expensive London is all too well, I was more than happy to give a fellow poor grad student a cheap place to stay. Doris is originally from Germany and was very happy to escape the sweltering July heat and humidity of Gainesville for a few days (who wouldn't be?).

After being around people 24/7, it was a good thing that I wasn't suddenly left alone by myself again. I'm sure I would have felt a sudden onset of homesickness had that been the case. Doris and I had hung out periodically in Gainesville, and I figured that she would be a fun person to do stuff with in London and would be fine to cram into my rather small room for a few days. I was very right on both counts:-) It was very nice to return to my room after putting Nicki on her train, and have talk with Doris about her paper and the conference she was attending. She, like most conference presentators (grad and faculty alike), was still putting the final touches on her paper. So, we talk about what she was doing with it while I unpacked a bit. Her paper was about Peter Ackroyd's London: The Biography (a book I made Nicki bring over for me, but haven't even opened yet), and was presenting at a conference being held at the University of London, which is right across the street from Russell Square.

However, the focus of our talk was what fun things we were going to be able to do, while working around her conference and my research. Doris was very interested in seeing the new play at the Donmar, and I was more than willing to go based on my last experience at that theatre (see Installment Seven). We also decided to both be good students for half of the day and then go do something fun after that. So, Friday morning, I called the Donmar and was lucky enough to get returned tickets for that night, and then we parted ways, promising to meet back at the room after lunch.

I worked like a good little grad student until midday, and Doris finished up her paper. Then we went off together to enjoy the beautiful summer weather. On a side note, the weather here has turned warm and sunny ever since Nicki and Co. left - coincidence? Anyway, Doris and I decided to go to the V&A since she had already been, on other visits, to the other big London Museums. Like Nicki, Karen, and Rachel, she wasn't that excited about it to begin with but really enjoyed it once we got there. I was glad to go again because, hey, it's the V&A and also I got a chance to see the twentieth-century galleries which I had missed my other two visits. Doris works on twentieth-century British literature, so she was very interested to see these rooms (we did, of course, also go through the Victorian galleries). These galleries are really weird to me because the stuff they have in the display cases is stuff that I remembered owning at one point or another. For example, they have a whole case of radios from the 1980s, including that lavender tape-deck/radio that almost every girl I knew including myself owned. It's so weird to see one's memories in a museum. Very odd. We, of course, went to the shop on our way out of the museum, and I discovered that Doris buys postcards like I do - which is, to say, she buys a lot in every museum she visits. It's so nice to know that I'm not a freak, just a nerd who knows other like-minded nerds;-) After the V&A, we decided go to Covent Garden and wander around until the show at 7:30 (the Donmar is right near there).

Doris at the entrance to very musty, Goodwill-smelling Twentieth Century Study Gallery

an Arts and Crafts peacock

Queen Victoria - before

Queen Victoria - after

While in Covent Garden, I took Doris by the Transport Museum, and she, like Nicki and Karen, really liked the 1920s Tube posters and bought one for friend. By this time, we were both hungry and ate at this nice Italian café right on the Covent Garden piazza. It was nice to sit in the cool shade and lazily watch the people going by. I had this very yummy feta cheese pizza that I ate every bite of because it was so good and I was so hungry. After dinner, we wandered around a bit more, looking at all the clothes neither of us could afford with the ever more-sucking-ass exchange rate. Then we headed over to the Donmar for the show.

The play we saw was Harold Pinter's Past Times, with Helen McCrory, Gina McKee (Bella in Notting Hill), and Jeremy Northam. The play was very modern, and, as such, it's hard to really describe what it's about. Basically, though, three people in the show all remember a particular time when their lives first intersected in different though complementary ways. I really enjoyed it, but I must say that both of the women gave far better performances than Northam, which was disappointing. Still, the play was good, and it was nice to see such good drama. If I lived in London, I think I would get a season ticket (by not eating for a month) to the Donmar and see every play the put on. It's such a far cry from the questionable productions of Gainesville that I have to remind myself that it's not really fair to compare them.

After the theatre, we walked back to Bloomsbury and stopped to have desert a long the way. We popped into this place we happened by, Savoir Faire, and split two very decadent chocolate deserts. The place was appropriately dimly lit by candlelight, and we had exactly what an after theatre desert should be - richly colored, chocolate, and good conversation. After such indulgences, the cool darkness of London at night was delicious itself and the walk was lovely. I think there's something very magical about an after-theatre night walk. It's as if the experience of the play encourages one to feel things more keenly and really be aware of one's senses. At least for me, a good drama (like some of my favorite paintings at the National Gallery), somehow makes my brain take a different, more passionate tack. All in all, a very lovely evening.