2nd and 3rd day in LONDON
Wednesday Sept. 25th 2019
Yesterday, Tuesday, I decided to get brave and figure out the tube(subway) system. I bought a ticket that gave me access to the tube and city buses all day. I walked to the nearest tube station and it was temporarily closed due to signal failure. So I went to another station almost as close called Queensway. Once you actually go down into the subway and cram yourself through the door of the train amidst all kinds of people and remember which station you want to get off at, it's not too bad. I'm sure it's just like any other subway system. I just don't have too much experience there. So a trusty map is a must to keep on you.
I wanted to take a ride on the London Eye. It's the really big ferris wheel that on a clear day at the top you can see for 24 miles. It was very cloudy this day but I took it anyway. It takes 20 minutes to make one complete revolution. It moves really slow.
Then I went for a river (Thames) ride for 45 minutes under the London and Tower Bridges. It was raining lightly so couldn't sit up top in the open.
Then I walked along the embankment a ways, down 3 bridges and across to the area in the theater district. But they don't call it the theater district. They don't really call it anything. I walked into where MaMa Mia was playing that night and got a front row ticket. Only needing one ticket affords yourself many available choices. I went into a store not knowing it would pour very heavily 5 minutes later. The rain lasted only about 5 minutes but the streets were flooded and everyone was scrambling to get under cover. The weather is very strange here. It changes all day long. At one point I had to shield my eyes from the sun with my hand, while I was getting rained on.
The show MaMa Mia was fabulous as I knew it would be seeing I've seen it several times in the U.S.. But seeing it in London......
well it's London!
One thing I was a little nervous about was how I was going to get back to my hotel after the show at 10:30 at night.
Yes I got lost before asking someone how to get to the subway station I wanted. So it all worked out. The person I asked had just gotten out of the show TINA and said it was absolutely spectacular. It was the true story and music of Tina Turner. I had heard it was out on Broadway but didn't think I'd be able to see it until it came to New Haven maybe in a year or so.
So today, Wednesday, my last full day in London I decided to head back downtown to see if I could get a ticket to TINA. I did and it was a very high energy amazing depiction of Tina herself; looks and voice. Truly loved this show. I got lost trying to get to the right subway station from memory but ended up at another station and figured out which way to go from there to get to another train to get back to the hotel.
But before all that I went to St. Paul's Cathedral where each day they have an Evensong where Susie's 11 yr. old grandson is a choirer. It's a prestigous position you have to be chosen for. Each chosen choirer besides having a voice must play at least one musical instrument. Lucas plays the violin and the piano. Each choirer attends boarding school near the church for free. The Evensong was attended today by the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George and HRH Duke of Kent. It was a high Mass without the Eucharist.
After the Mass I had an hour to get to the show. I walked really fast and made it in 25 minutes. This was probably faster than taking a bus being that buses get stuck in traffic this time of day for a really long time. I know. I was stuck getting to the Cathedral for about 20 minutes at one point without moving at all.
Tomorrow I leave for Manchester.
Yesterday, Tuesday, I decided to get brave and figure out the tube(subway) system. I bought a ticket that gave me access to the tube and city buses all day. I walked to the nearest tube station and it was temporarily closed due to signal failure. So I went to another station almost as close called Queensway. Once you actually go down into the subway and cram yourself through the door of the train amidst all kinds of people and remember which station you want to get off at, it's not too bad. I'm sure it's just like any other subway system. I just don't have too much experience there. So a trusty map is a must to keep on you.
I wanted to take a ride on the London Eye. It's the really big ferris wheel that on a clear day at the top you can see for 24 miles. It was very cloudy this day but I took it anyway. It takes 20 minutes to make one complete revolution. It moves really slow.
Then I went for a river (Thames) ride for 45 minutes under the London and Tower Bridges. It was raining lightly so couldn't sit up top in the open.
Then I walked along the embankment a ways, down 3 bridges and across to the area in the theater district. But they don't call it the theater district. They don't really call it anything. I walked into where MaMa Mia was playing that night and got a front row ticket. Only needing one ticket affords yourself many available choices. I went into a store not knowing it would pour very heavily 5 minutes later. The rain lasted only about 5 minutes but the streets were flooded and everyone was scrambling to get under cover. The weather is very strange here. It changes all day long. At one point I had to shield my eyes from the sun with my hand, while I was getting rained on.
The show MaMa Mia was fabulous as I knew it would be seeing I've seen it several times in the U.S.. But seeing it in London......
well it's London!
One thing I was a little nervous about was how I was going to get back to my hotel after the show at 10:30 at night.
Yes I got lost before asking someone how to get to the subway station I wanted. So it all worked out. The person I asked had just gotten out of the show TINA and said it was absolutely spectacular. It was the true story and music of Tina Turner. I had heard it was out on Broadway but didn't think I'd be able to see it until it came to New Haven maybe in a year or so.
So today, Wednesday, my last full day in London I decided to head back downtown to see if I could get a ticket to TINA. I did and it was a very high energy amazing depiction of Tina herself; looks and voice. Truly loved this show. I got lost trying to get to the right subway station from memory but ended up at another station and figured out which way to go from there to get to another train to get back to the hotel.
But before all that I went to St. Paul's Cathedral where each day they have an Evensong where Susie's 11 yr. old grandson is a choirer. It's a prestigous position you have to be chosen for. Each chosen choirer besides having a voice must play at least one musical instrument. Lucas plays the violin and the piano. Each choirer attends boarding school near the church for free. The Evensong was attended today by the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George and HRH Duke of Kent. It was a high Mass without the Eucharist.
After the Mass I had an hour to get to the show. I walked really fast and made it in 25 minutes. This was probably faster than taking a bus being that buses get stuck in traffic this time of day for a really long time. I know. I was stuck getting to the Cathedral for about 20 minutes at one point without moving at all.
Tomorrow I leave for Manchester.
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