Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous

     Where to begin? The last few days have been so full of superstars, monuments and famed events that I can hardly separate the days from one another. We entered the realm of the rich and famous here in London, not the least of which include the actors who play Twilight's Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Paul and Riley. The Twilight gang along with Joe Jonas and other British pop sensations attended the UK premier of Eclipse on Thursday night, and we were there to see them! At first, we were only permitted to stand with the public masses around a screened in area which enclosed the stars and the elite members of high society London who were present to greet them as they stepped out of their limos. However, after exchanging some sweet words with the security guard, he decided that these "lovely charmers" should be able to go inside! We were literally feet from the red carpet.

     Duffy, the UK singer was also present and made it quite clear that she was not familiar with the Twilight saga despite claims that she "adored the novel." She said that myths are very common in Wales and that her favorite was one that Stevie Nicks had told her about a "bah (bear) who ate anotha bah who climbed a tree and ate a wahwolf." Everyone booed her off of the stage. The next night, we attended the National Theatre where we were given a tour (so cool, Laurence Olivier is a genius!) and met actress Natalie Dormer (The Tudors) and some guy from Jurassic Park and The Tudors--can't remember his name.

     Today, we ran into Serena Williams and Nadal at Wimbledon of all places. Wimbledon is one of the coolest things I have gotten to do so far...it was quite an experience. First, we got off the Tube to a sign that indicated Wimbledon 30 min away. We began the hike and 30 min later took a left suggested by another 30 minute sign. We began to see buses and we asked where we might enter the stadium, but the driver laughed, pointed in the direction from which we had just come, and told us it would be about a 30 minute walk in that direction. Thus began our first ride on a double decker bus! He took us to the queue which was literally miles long and after a few hours, we made our way into Centre Court. It was such an incredible and humbling feeling, being there in such a world renowned place with tension rising over the imminent sporting event and tons of people milling around drinking champagne with strawberries and cream. We sat on the hill and watched the match on the huge screen behind the court. Again we ended the night with a customary visit to the pub, but as it has been a long day (we met at 5AM to get to Wimbledon...) and everyone is sunburned, we have decided to retire early.