We started our morning with quite the workout! We warmed up and stretched to prepare…. to fight each other. No, this was no gladiator battle, but rather stage combat. For two hours, we got to create the magic behind a slap, punch, strangle, and kick. As someone who does not act, it was super cool to successfully create the illusions. (Plus, who wouldn’t enjoy play fighting with your friends?)
When I was done with stage combat, I headed to a Japanese restaurant near the archway underground station. I enjoyed a bowl of vegetable ramen and a salmon avocado sushi roll. I had never had authentic ramen that did not come out of a bag. It was delicious!
For the afternoon, I spent some down time in the garden of the hotel reading my book and enjoying the weather. We are lucky to have such a nice green space right in our backyard.
Later, we headed to afternoon tea at the Langham hotel near Oxford Circus. We were all blown away by how beautiful the restaurant was inside. I sipped on the strawberry kiwi tea while listening to a very talented piano player. We enjoyed five different types of sandwiches. The only one I did not like was the smoked salmon sandwich. My personal favorite of the tea was the dessert! The plateful of pastries were all unique and delicious. I especially liked the scones that were paired with strawberry and pineapple jam.
To end the night, we went to the play “Salt.” I was surprised to learn that it was a one woman show. I had never been to something like that before. I thought she did an amazing job delivering such a powerful message about the life of a young, European, black woman in today’s world. She created a strong metaphor about salt symbolizing the promise to continue to live. This ended with us receiving a salt rock of our own which I thought was very special.
I think this was one of my favorite days of the trip! I'm still full from the tea last night, but I loved everything I tried. I definitely agree that the pianist was a highlight of the evening! I also thought the stage combat session was really fun. Being an actor who has had to experience a fake choke on stage before, the workshop really broke down the steps and techniques for each movement and made it enjoyable while also keeping us safe. I would do both events again in a heartbeat.
ReplyDeleteYour title threw me off for a second, I was like who was fighting on this trip?! But it's perfect to describe the odd ninja workout we had then moving onto fancy tea! Funny enough I also didn't like the salmon sandwich, which I thought I would have liked it to most. But it was a very filling and slow paced meal where everyone at my table felt just a little out of our element. One person actually said, "I think I need some McDonald's to cleanse my soul", the tea was that good!
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