London

The rain stopped just for a few minutes to catch a photo of Big Ben and Parliament

I spent 2 1/2 days in London.   What a fun city. Though it rained most of the trip, I still had a great time.  

We took in all the sights on a Double Decker “Hop on, Hop off” bus.  The Queen was away, so we were able to visit the state rooms in Buckingham Palace.  No Photos allowed, however.  Due to the rain the first day, we mainly stayed on the bottom level of the bus.  But we were able to see Parliament and Big Ben as well as Westminster Abby.  That evening it was off to The Globe Theatre for a show.  Sadly, there wasn’t a Shakespearian Play while we were in town.  The Globe was premiering a play called “A New World: The Story of Thomas Paine”.  Though I was hoping for “As You Like It” (which was scheduled to start 2 days later), we decided to stay and enjoyed the show.  It rained the whole evening (those poor actors).   

 

Playing in the Red Phone Booths in London

Day number 2, we hopped back on the Double Decker Bus.  It was much nicer the 2nd day.  It was actually partly sunny, but windy and cold.  Needless to say,  I did not bring enough warm clothes (It was 100 when I left LA) so  I was very cold.  Good thing I brought my rain jacket, a last minute addition!

 

After taking the Double Decker Bus throughout London, over the Tower Bridge, past Trafalgar Square, we decided to stop at TKTS to purchase tickets for “Les Miserable” .  I have been dreaming about seeing “Les Mis” again for 10 years.  “Les Mis” was the first musical I ever saw and I fell in love with the show (though we were sitting in the nosebleed seats at the Cleveland Playhouse).   After a little shopping in the Piccadilly Circus and a yummy Fish and Chips Dinner at a local pub, it was finally time to see “Les Mis” at the Queen’s Theatre.  It was too cold to wear my cocktail dress, but luckily I had packed a pair of black pants.  I felt very underdressed, but thrilled to be there.  What a wonderful production. I cried throughout the show:  I cried because I was so happy to be there, I cried because the cast was so talented, I cried at the end…yeah, I’m a crier. 

 

I wish we had another day to spend in London.  My how our time flew by.  But our next stop was Paris, so I managed to perk up!