6 more days left to dream of a white christmas

so just when i was all caught up with the blogging, i didnt end up writing about yesterday! but it will be much easier using a computer this time! so yesterday we got up early and were able to leave our luggage in the staff room, as wrestler guy promised. we went to the theatre royal again and did that backstage tour. that was real good, our guide was funny. and he recognized my moms accent as different so he asked me if she called him last night and i said no that was me! and he asked where we came from and i said ny and he asked if we believe in robin hood, so i said of course =) and he said kevin costner was not a good representation of him! but during the tour he told us the history of the theatre and he took us on the stage and a bit behind the scenes. i saw some of the costumes from the sleeping beauty show in the quick changing areas. he also told us where the origin of some theater terms came from - box office because back before tickets, people had to put money in a box and that was their fee for going to the show. break a leg because the lever that used to pull up and drop the main curtain was called a leg and if the star of the show did a really good job, (s)he would go out for an encore applause, and so people were afraid that the lever would break if it kept pulling the curtain up and down so much, since the curtain weighed nearly a ton. then we went over to the concert hall and compared the architecture and design (the former being built in like the 1860s and the latter the 1980s). after the tour we went to the ye olde trip to jerusalem and had lunch. that is the oldest pub/inn in england (apparently..still confused about the ye olde salutation inn). we ate in the haunted snug, which, as the name suggests, was haunted! we didnt have any encounters though =( after food, we went to the brewyard house museum which was a museum on victorian life in notts, so they had replication houses and shops. they also had rooms of toys spanning the last 100 years, i saw my old gray gameboy! so after that, grandma seemed to be in a rush to leave (it was only just after 3 pm), but i had booked them on a 5:35 pm bus back to london and myself on a 6:35 pm bus to leicester, but i figured if we headed to the bus station then maybe we can change our tickets for an earlier bus. so we went back to the travelodge and picked up our stuff, went to the station and mom tried to get on the 4 pm bus to london. the ticket info guy said it would cost P40 to change! but for me since leicester was only 1 stop away, he said it probably wouldnt be a problem. so there was a 3:55 pm bus and i was able to hop on that so i was happy, otherwise i would have had a boring time waiting for like 3 hours in the station (and mom and gma had to wait for their original bus). plus mike and his mom were going to the curve theatre to see 42nd st which started at 7:30 pm so i decided i might as well try and go see it too, and the 6:35 pm bus would have got me in at 7:20 (assuming no delays..i wouldnt hold my breath!) so i probably wouldnt have had enough time to get to the theatre and buy a ticket. so i arrived around 4:50 pm and went straight to the threatre, bought a ticket and got on a bus to mikes, just in time for dinner! then we had to head back to the theatre and meet up with his mom. i wasnt too crazy about the play, the plot wasnt for me, but there was a  lot of tap dancing, which i never really saw before so that was cool, and the title song was good. so after the play, we hopped on the bus again (for me) and went home. so to recap the week that my mom and gma were here, it was pretty action packed, we fit a lot in and had to rush a bit, but they wanted to see as much as possible, so we made it work. i almost felt like a native because they kept asking me questions about english things, and i had to explain certain laws (for instance, i explained that at a zebra crossing, pedestrians have the right of way) and as i already mentioned, they couldnt understand the english accent from certain people, so i had to act as interpreter. it made me realize how much ive learnt about this culture in just over a year. i mean compared to the english comedians that i saw around this time last year in leeds, and i didnt get the jokes at all, to nearly getting every joke at the aladdin panto in leeds, and even understanding most in nottingham, i am quite proud of myself! lets just hope when i go back to NY ill understand those jokes still! so let me continue onto today: when we woke up at like 8:30 am it was snowing!! but unfortunately, it rained shortly after and then was sunny, so the snow did not last at all! what a shame! mike and his dad went to church to play guitar at the mass, and i stayed home and wrapped gifts. when they got back we decorated the tree. then we went to halfords and picked up lance. the front tire was fine! there was a nail stuck inside which was causing the punctures, but once that was removed, the tire was working normal again, so it was good i didnt have to replace it! so lance was working good as new again =) then mike and his dad had to go back to the same church to play for a church carol service, so i went with them for support. there were children dressed up as shepherds and angels and took turns doing the readings, and most of them were absolutely terrible. nice idea on paper, but in reality, kids suck at public speaking! so after the service there were refreshments and i had nearly every piece of cookie/cake on the table!! then we came back and had dinner, i barely was able to finish it all! so needless to say, there was no dessert for me. then i finally posted pics on facebook to supplement this blog, in an album called travels after uni. and that brings me to this very minute! we are watching some show with james may and he is trying to artificially create snow with dry ice and liquid nitrogen, and also making a christmas cracker with a big bang! so this is where im going to end writing, probably for a few days until we actually do something exciting, or i continue my travels again after christmas! dont miss me too much!