Yesterday I did so many things that I didn't have time to blog, so now I'm catching up.
So firstly. Shakespeare's Globe.
Shakespeare lived and worked in London, and along the Thames there is a faithful re-creation of the type of theatre that Shakespeare's plays would have been performed in. Went for a half hour short tour. It still puts on plays from late April til October, and standing tickets only cost £5, and I'm thinking of going to a show sometime soon to experience what it's like to be a groundling during a play.
Secondly, met up with Maddy at the Tower of London.
We were both late. Again. But that's okay. I was late because after the tour, there was a little exhibition, and I kinda just rushed through it to get to the Tower of London on time. But even then, I was late, mostly because I couldn't find Cannon St or Monument Station. It looked like it was along the river on the map. But actually it's a bit further inland. So I just enjoyed a nice stroll down the riverbank before deciding that I must have passed the stations by now.
We were taken on a tour by a Yeoman Warder, also known as a Beefeater. Beefeaters used to protect the King and the castle, like body guards, so they were allowed to eat as much beef as they wanted from the King's table, so that they could be big and strong.
The Beefeater told us how the Tower of London used to be a prison for important people that had committed treason, the most severe of crimes, and how most of them would be taken up to Tower Hill close by to be beheaded. He told us stories of executions. Maddy loved it, while I nearly fainted. Like actually. When he was telling a story about some important prince guy where the axe had to be swung 5 times before his head finally came off completely, I felt sick, then I couldn't see very well, then I had to sit down for about 30 seconds and have some sugar and a drink. Then I was fine.
Uhhh we went to see the crown jewels which were nice and shiny, then had a wander around the place.
Thirdly, Apsley House.
Apsley House was the former home of Baron Apsley and his family. I actually wasn't all that impressed. It wasn't pretty, just gaudy with lots of gold. And of course paintings hung up on the walls and stuff.
Fourth, tkts booth.
We were taking the Picadilly Line to the Handel House museum, and so we decided to get off at Leceister Square, which was on the way, and see if we could pick up any cheap theatre tickets from the tkts booth.The tkts booth is basically run by a not for profit organisation that sells theatre tickets cheap for shows that night. There seem to be heaps of other similar type booths around, but I'd read about this particular one a few times, so we went there. We got tickets !
Fifth, Handel House Museum.
Handel moved from Germany to London, and lived at 25 Brook St. The row of houses where he lived were all built in the same way. It was a nice, neat, small place. 2 rooms upstairs and 2 downstairs. Plain walls, square marble fireplaces. Simple, but liveable, and really quite cute. Much better than Apsley House. There was a replica of a 17th century harpsichord, and there was a professional performer just fiddling around on it. I was like where are the hammers, then learnt that the strings are plucked by this little thing, and there are no hammers. *Awks I'm a pianist, sorry*. There was a dress ups box in one of the rooms and Maddy and I had some fun. Would defs recommend this one if you have a spare hour at the end of your day and you want to appreciate something simple.
Sixth, Hamleys.
Hamleys is a 5 storey toy store on Regent St, and there are people there just employed to play with the toys and show you cool things. It was really good that they'd show you how something worked and stuff, but then didn't try and sell things or make you feel like you had to buy it. The place made me smile. Paddington bear made me smile. Will be back another day during term, it's just that Maddy hadn't been there yet and she leaves in a few days. We had to rush a little bit, because...
Seventh, dinner!
Before we get to that, let me tell you about Regent St at 5.30 on a weekday. PACKED to the max. So many people. We wanted to catch the train one station to Picadilly Circus, but when we got to the corner where the Underground was, there were people spilling out of the station. There was a line mob of people at street level, and all down the stairs, waiting to get into the station. Craziness. In the end we decided it would be quicker to walk, rather than wait for a train.
DINNER. Dinner was good. We went to Spaghetti House, a few doors down from Her Majesty's Theatre where the show was going to be. Quite a nice place (dim lighting, cosy, candle on the table), good food, decent servings, reasonably priced, good service and no service charge (but I did tip £1 cos I was a happy customer). I had spag bol, and it was tasty but not too rich. I finished my meal *proud*, and Maddy even twisted my arm and we shared a dessert- Tiramisu, a profiterole each, and strawberries and raspberries, served in different little compartments on a plate. YUM. Mains, a coke and half a dessert came up to £15, without the tip. Would defs go back.
Eighth, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.
Yeap, the tickets we got from the tkts booth were for Phantom, my favouritest musical ever. We were actually looking for Les Mis tickets, but when we saw Phantom we I was like *gasp* LET'S GO SEE THAT. So we got £50 tickets for £35, Row P, centre. Which were actually quite good seats. I had a seat one from the centre, and this really tall African guy came and sat in front of me. Not happy jan. Not only that, he quite frequently turned to his wife/girlfriend/female companion next to him and they started whispering to each other. Super annoying. So I had to do a bit of moving my head around to see past his. At the interval, I moved to the row behind, but the aisle seat, so that I could lean over the edge and see everything. Much better.
But apart from that. IT WAS AMAZING. Needless to say, the music is already amazing, thank you Andy L Webberrr. Then the lights, the sets, the transitions of the sets, the effects, the costumes. And the singers. Perfect. In the words of Maddy, "SOOOOO MUCH GOODNESS!!!!"
Ninth, trained home.
Read my previous post.
Tenth, crashed into bed.
(but not before showering and planning the next day and a hot chocolate)
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