I think we have a Heimann record! Olivia went to bed at 2 pm yesterday and didn’t wake up until noon today! That is a testament hard her junior year in high school was and how little sleep she got. Jonah managed to wake at 10 pm and then couldn’t get back to sleep until about 2 am, but then he too didn’t wake up until noon.

In the meantime, Lara and I got up at 7. I got her coffee while she got ready for a day of teaching two 2-hour long sold out workshops. Each workshop had about 45 people, the second of which included about 14 past European students who had taken one of her yoga teacher trainings. 

While Lara was off teaching, I spent a few hours of this beautiful day exploring the neighborhood. I find one part of London a bit odd - the juxtaposition of so many smokers and so many vegan food options. These unhealthful and healthful habits don’t seem to be compatible but they are both abundant here.

Lara spent most of the day teaching and then reconnecting with her old students. The kids spent a lot of the day sleeping and then eating. And I spent most of the day at the Globe watching the Henry Trilogy (Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 and Henry V). For some this might sound like torture, but for me it is pure heaven! I LOVE the Globe. Can’t beat open air theatre in London.  

But it does have its drawbacks - sounded like we were next to an airstrip! Planes and helicopters were flying over us for a lot of the afternoon shows (Henry IV part 1 and 2). Fortunately, the actors have powerful voices so we could hear them well even without microphones. Overall a great productions. Shows moved quickly, each with running times of about 2.5 hours including intermission. Lots of gender-bending casting with Hal, Hotspur, Falstaff and others played by women and Mistress Quickly, Mistress Doll, the Princess of France and others played by men. I love seeing this as it gives women more of an opportunity to play some Shakespearean power roles, which are typically male roles. Minor quibbles: some of the actors could use some speech classes to work on their sibilant S’s - surprised that they still have that at this level. And I’m not a big fan of stylized stage combat in general and didn’t feel that it worked well in this production specifically, but at least it is better than bad stage combat that is meant to look real. As one who specialized in stage combat back in the day, I’m hyper-aware of this aspect of a production.

After Henry IV Part 2, I met Lara, her friend Michaela, and Noel (Michaela’s boyfriend and the VET festival organizer for dinner nearby at Wagamama. What an incredible couple.

Only downside was that before I knew it, I had to rush back to the Globe to meet the kids for the 8 pm performance of Henry V. I had seen the Henry IV’s solo but had company for the evening performance. Since Olivia had just played Henry in her school production, I knew it would be a great time for her to see another woman play the title role in this production. And all three of us loved it. It’s possibly my favorite Shakespeare play (definitely in my top 3.) And it was an appropriate way to spend our final night before our hike across Wales - watching the story of the most famous Welshman in history!

After the show, we came back to our lodging and spent a little time together as a family before getting a good night sleep before Day 1 of our C2C4C hike!