Sami Sorensen : Brush of Greatness

Another brush of greatness. Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Elle Fanning this time! Can you even believe it? I cant. I don’t know why these past two weeks have been so lucky but I have met more famous people in these two weeks then in my whole life! So let me start from the beginning. This is just a hook to get you to read the rest. Tricked ya!

Yesterday was spent touring all day. First stop was the Warwick Castle. This is a medieval castle that was built by William the Conquer in 1068. The castle itself was beautiful and there was so much to do while we were there! We spent hours going around the gardens, watching the cute little shows, and doing all the fun activity booths. Inside the castle there were wax figures of the people that used to live and work there. Some of them creeped me out, not going to lie. One time there were 3 wax figures in the room and then there was this one guy leaning over this table reading something. He wasn’t moving for a while so I guess I just assumed he was a wax figure too. He moved his head and stood up and it made me jump so high! I was so scared for a minute! Everyone was teasing me about it all day. Next stop was Anne Hathaway’s cottage. (William Shakespeare’s wife) It was so gorgeous. This is the cottage where Anne grew up. The cottage itself surprised me. I didn’t think it would be so big. We then went to Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford Upon Avon. I loved all the fun wallpaper that was inside the house. It was all bold prints on the walls. After visiting the house we explored Stratford Upon Avon for a while. We went to the church where William Shakespeare was buried and the church was absolutely stunning. There were beautiful works of art and stained glass windows. After the church we explored more and we found this little fish and chips place called Barnaby’s. We all ordered delicious fish and chips and felt like locals as we ate this authentic English dish. After dinner we went to a theater where we watched one of Shakespeare's plays. We saw Henry IV part 1. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed the play. It was a little long but I was able to follow it and it was actually really funny! Fun fact: this play is where Disney got their idea for Lion King. The story lines are almost identical. The whole day was spent touring and walking around and on our feet. We were all so exhausted by the time we got back to our flat at 1 am!

Now here is the exciting stuff. This morning we had class as usual and then we had a London walk we had to complete. We walked to the British Library and the St. Pancras Railway station. We also walked past London University College. All the buildings we saw had so much history. It was beautiful Victorian architecture. After the walk we heard there was maybe a Maleficent movie Premiere at Kensington Palace. The premiere wasn't very advertised but somehow we found out about it. We thought we might as well go check it out since it is right across the street from our apartment. We walked around for a little while and didn’t find anything. It was pouring rain so we started to get frustrated and wanted to give up. Seriously my feet were aching, I was hungry, and the rain was starting to get to me. One side fence of the palace had some workers standing around so we thought we would ask them about the premiere. They told us that it is very rare to have premieres here but that when they do it is a strict VIP event. They were kind of sassy towards us and were getting bugged. Still we decided to walk around the corner to see if we could see anything. We noticed a small group of about 30 people crowded by this side fence. We walked over there with perfect timing! Just as we got there the guard said, “If you would like to get into the premiere you can follow me and we will get you wristbands.” I was like, “What?!!! This cant be real, Angelina must not be coming to the Maleficent premiere if it is this relaxed.” All the sudden the group started sprinting to the other side of the palace to get wristbands, naturally we followed. Girls were screaming, the rain was pouring, and people were getting whacked in the face by tree branches! We got right in front of the line due to my spectacular sprinting abilities. I must work out or something haha ;) just kidding. The giant security guards gave us special wristbands and they took us right to the premiere. We were standing right behind the rails as the stars walked past us! First came Elle Fanning. She was so adorable. When she walked up I said to her, “Can I take a selfie with you?” Our whole group started laughing at me and in my photo she is laughing with us. She was so nice and came to say hi to all of the fans on the sides. Then all of the sudden a car pulls up and Brad Pitt gets out!! Not only was Elle Fanning and Angelina Jolie at the premiere, but now Brad Pitt was there!! BRAD PITT!! Our whole group didn't believe it was Brad Pitt at first. My stomach dropped as soon as I saw him. Since he wasn’t part of the premiere he didn’t have to go along and talk to all the reporters so he just said hi to all the public. He walked down the line of people signing autographs and taking pictures. He also took a photo with me! I think I am still shaking! Finally Angelina walked down and she didn’t take individual photos with everyone but she came and said hi. She didn't really say anything the whole time. Brad walked down the line and posed for pictures and leaned into people to let them get a picture where Angelina wouldn't even lean in. She seems so edgy and hard to me where Brad was so nice and warm hearted. Still I was super impressed that they all took the time to come say hi to the public even though there were reporters and cameras everywhere. All I can say is wow. There honestly weren’t that many people from the public that they let inside so we got WAY lucky!I don’t think it has even hit me that I met Mick Jagger a few days ago. Now I have to let Brad Pitt sink in! All while trying to realize that I am actually living in London right now! Living the dream! I absolutely love it here.