Trying to remember how to breathe

I'm back from London and I don't even know where to start. A warning in advance - this is going to be one hell of a long report.

First: night bus. I am never taking a night bus ever again. I hardly slept at all and was nauseous because of that most of the time. Entering London was amazing, though - seeing the Tower Bridge and the Big Ben the moment I woke up :).

Once in London, we went for breakfast at Starbucks. My friend said her name was Beelzebub, "but everyone calls me B". I said my name was Elphaba. The guy looked at us and asked incredulously, "What country are you guys from?!", and I was like, "Holland :D". It was hilarious.
We visited Foyles, the giant bookshop, where I bought five books and my friend about fifteen. We visited the Forbidden Planet, where my friend bought another bunch of books and merchandise. We then went back to check into our hotel and I left for the theatre while my friend went to visit the Disney store and Madame Tussauds.

Wicked that afternoon was wonderful, of course, as always. I got the opportunity to talk to a few fellow Verkaikings, which was nice, and everyone was really good - especially Savannah. I love this thing she does where she just giggles and goes, "Oh, you!". It's become a running gag between my friend and I.
I got the feeling Kerry wasn't as good as she could be, though, like she was holding back... and I turned out to be right.

Because that night after dinner I went again, with my friend this time. The atmosphere of a final show is just the most epic thing in existence. The way the audience totally freaks at everything is the best feeling in the world. Savannah was amazifying and hilarious, and Kerry... everything she held back during the matinee, she threw out during the final show. For me, she was approaching Willemijn levels (and you might not hear me saying such a thing ever again). She did her signature growl at "Look to the western sky", her riff at the end was epic, and just generally... gah. I can't even talk about it. It was incredible.

Possibly even more incredible was the fact that my friend was seeing it for the first time (she had only ever heard recordings of Defying Gravity, but nothing else) and through her, it was like I was experiencing the entire thing myself for the first time again, too. She didn't know Elphaba was going to fly in DG. She was sobbing her heart out when the lights went on. During the second act, we were both just bawling our eyes out - and then the curtain call speeches came and Willemijn Verkaik came on stage and the crying intensified.

Ever since, my friend and I have been quoting Wicked (she is the lovely kind of person that knows all these things after seeing it once), we re-enacted Popular in our hotel room, and we have this new routine where we go, "It's good to see us, isn't it? No need to respond, that was rhetorical! *toss toss* *giggle* Oh, you!" à la Savannah's G(a)linda. So bad, and so epic at the same time.

Aside from Wicked, we also missed our bus home - we couldn't find the bus station and were given the wrong directions by some Victoria Station employee, so we ended up waiting at the wrong coach station. By the time we found someone who actually knew where we had to be, we had like five minutes left. We stormed over to the right place and we were all happy that the bus was still there... and then the driver said we were too late, closed the luggage thing, kept saying, "No, no," as we tried to explain to him why we were late, and he stepped into the bus and closed the door and drove off right in front of us. So then we called our respective mums and started arranging for the journey back one day later and another night at a hotel. Thankfully, everything worked out in the end and we ended up roaming London some more and buying some more stuff.

Also, we went to Starbucks two times more. The first time I went, "My name is Galinda, with a Ga!". The second time the guy behind the counter thought my name was really pretty (I said it was Nessarose), but he wasn't sure how to write it. All these Starbucks employees now think Dutch people have the weirdest names EVER. It was so childish, but we loved it.

My friend has totally fallen in love with Wicked, which I absolutely love. She wants to see it at least three times more - she's already pretty much planning our next London trip. She quotes with me, she wants in on the Verkaikings, she's going to read my fanfics... I'm so happy.

And now I'm home again, at uni, having to study for an exam next week and work on assignments and stuff, and I just feel like crap and empty and I'm totally having post-Wicked depression. I can't listen to anything Wicked-related right now. I can't look at my own laptop desktop or my own Wicked nails. I cringe whenever someone says 'wonderful' (or any other Wicked-related word, really). I hate nothing more than having to come back home after a Wicked/London trip. It's like having eaten at the finest restaurant in the world and then having to go back to eating dog food. I'll live, though... I hope. I'll just write endless fanfics!

Applause for the ones who are still reading by now - I'm impressed. Now you know my London story. I'll be back with my Days of Happiness tonight or tomorrow, and Wicked fanfic posting shall resume soon, as well!

Maddy