By the time I got back to London, I was feeling 100% better. My roommates were planning on going to Paris the next weekend, but I was staying in London so I started making my final checklist of things I wanted to before I left to go back to the states. Fortunately, my Shakespeare class took care of one of my "to dos." We took a field trip to the Globe theater and went on an educational tour where we got to go on and behind the stage!
Here's a view of the Globe stage from close up
I started out my weekend with a trip to Covent Garden- an area of town known for its markets and street performers. They wer
Here's one of the performers from Covent Garden- he danced around with a ladder on his head to Michael Jackson. 
I also went to visit Charles Dickens' house which is only a few blocks away from where my apartment is! It's a really small building- I walked past it three times before I went in! There really isn't all that much to see inside- just his library and a few rooms set up how they would have been when he lived there. It was fun to see the Christmas room though which they only have set up from the end of November until January!
Friday night, I went to the Royal Ballet to see The Sleeping Beauty. I bought my ticket earlier that day- a standing ticket for 10 pounds. I don't really recommend buying a standing ticket for a 3+ hour show, but I had a great view of the stage, and in the end, even though my calves were sore, it was worth it. I was standing behind people whose seats were easily over 100 pounds! Above is a picture of the atrium in the Royal Opera House.
Above is a picture of my arm rest
My view of the stage! The show was absolutely beautiful- costumes were stunning, and it was nice to be able to actually see the dancers- quite a different experience than when I saw the Mayerling. 
Saturday was my biggest adventure of all. I was headed to Bath. by myself! It was a pretty simple trip- a 2ish hour train ride and I was in the center of the city. First stop: The Jane Austen Centre. Set up in a Georgian style house on the same street as one of Austen's residences in Bath, the centre houses exhibits about Jane's life, book, time in Bath and an excellent tea room!
After exploring the exhibits and reading up on the history behind my favorite Austen novel, Persuassion, I hit up the tea room for a quick lunch.
The house where Jane Austen lived! Now it's a dentist's office :(
A street in Bath
After I'd had my fill of Mr. Darcy's afternoon tea, I ventured to the Fashion Museum of Brittain which I really enjoyed. Above is a picture of a display of hats. I tried on an old fashioned corsett and crinoline, but I was too embarassed to ask anyone to take my picture haha!
The coolest exhibit they had was a collection of dresses. A selection committee picks one dress each year that is symbolic of the fashion of that time period. Really interesting. The black dress above was my favorite!
Finally I made my way to the Roman Baths for which the city is named.
Created by a hot spring, the (gross sulfur) water is said to have healing powers. I tasted it after, and really it just tasted like bubly water with a hint of rotten egg. Who knows though, maybe it cured me of some mysterious illness!
Me in front of the bath!
Back at the trainstation ready to go home to London :) While I'm sure I worried my parents, traveling by myself was really enjoyable. It's nice every once in a while to do things at your own pace without having to wait on other people or do things you don't want to just for the sake of compromise. It's nice to do exactly what you want to do every so often.
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