Another busy day of cramming sightseeing activities in.
We began the day by wandering through Hyde Park again, but this time on a eastwards journey, strolling past more squirrels, people riding horses, and pigeons, and stopping on Oxford St to pick up more (more!!) souvenirs for people at home (we’re really working hard to keep the economy going here!) Then headed down to Piccadilly Circus to buy tickets to the show we were planning on seeing tonight with L and T: Jersey Boys. On the way we ticked off another must-do: riding on a red double decker bus!
Our next goal was to walk down through Trafalgar Square and along Whitehall to eyeball Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, although the last had to be put off until after lunch, as we met A at a pub nearby for a bite to eat.
After fortifying ourselves with a Caesar salad and meat pie respectively, we headed off to wonder at Westminster Abbey. While I was initially a bit reluctant to pay the sixteen pounds entrance fee, it was really amazing. As well as the tombs of various monarchs, there were memorials to many of Britain’s noteworthy writers and poets, such as Shakespeare and Jane Austen, as well as scientists like Darwin and Newton. Plus the building itself is amazing, with hugely high carved ceilings and stone floors worn down with millions of feet over hundreds of years.
Plus, while we were wandering about, I bumped into two ex-students, M and M who are currently on a post-school junket around Europe from the sounds of things, staying with relatives here and there. A junket that involves coming and seeing cultural history like Westminster Abbey – pretty classy!
Then it was time to meet L and T for dinner and the show. We tried an Indian place near the Prince Edward Theatre, and while the food was good, it took them forever to bring it (we were in a bit of a hurry to get to the show) and then they asked us for a tip after paying for the meal! A bit rich…
The show itself was amazing. I wasn’t terribly familiar with The Four Seasons, but knew a few of their songs. The story itself was interesting, looking at the relationships and relationship breakdowns in the group over the years, and their rise to fame. The singing was fantastic! Apparently the guy playing Frankie Valli has a cd out, so it’d be worthwhile looking him up – a really amazing voice. The rest of the cast were great too – the actor playing Tommy Devito was fabulous and really played the crowd. This was needed, as he was the first of the revolving “narrators” of the story.
The staging really blew me away. They had a pretty simple set, but with various signs and props that came down from the roof or popped up from the floor, and lighting was used effectively, too. One scene we “joined them on stage”, as the back of the stage was lit with flashing bulbs to simulate a crowd, and the actors played to the back, with hot spotlights on us being “back stage”. Really really effective. It was a great show and I was sorry we’d not made it to more shows while we were here!
Back at the hotel we started packing for the trip home tomorrow. Even with an extra small case and Emirates’ generous 30kg/pp allowance we’re going to be squeezing it a bit – we weighed the bags and between us we have 55kg!
Two Weeks Away 