After arriving in London in the evening of 26th July, we went straight to our hotel called the Wembley Plaza. It's right next to Wembley stadium and is designed for people attending events there, but on off-nights the prices are a quarter of the usual rate. So for once we were able to stay in a 4-star hotel at backpacker prices. Very sweet.
We stayed four nights in London. Ellie mostly caught up on sleep and homework, although she did venure out on two occasions. We visited Covent Garden and Ellie got herself a henna tatto that says 'Nick Jonas' all the way down her forearm. For a photo of the tattoo, see her blog. Apart from body art, we enjoyed all the street entertainment. We saw (and heard) some string quartets (picure above) and also men in tutus throwing knives at each other (picture right). There was also a man who wrapped himself entirely in cling film and them clawed his way out of it in under a minute, which was really just silly, so no pictures of him. And of course, it being London, there were loads of 'living statues'. In New York if you are an unemployed actor you become a waiter; in London you become a 'living statue'.
Not wanting to become a living statue, I went into the office of Pure Solutions, for whom I will be working at the Greenbelt Festival in a few weeks. I found out a bit more about the job that I'll be doing, the pay from which will fund the next leg of this oddysey. I'll be controlling access to the site in the weeks before and after the festival, from a delightful building known as Madonna's Bra. I'm expecting lots of clever questions like 'how do I get into Madonna's Bra?'.
I also visited Westminster Abbey, which Ellie declined. Despite having lived in England before, and visited on many other occasions, I had never been inside the Abbey, so I thought I'd better tick that one off the tourist list. I was actually surprised at how small it was inside. Very rich and very interesting, but I guess that I was expecting something a bit more like Salisbury Cathedral or Winchester Cathedral. I found Charles Darwin's grave, which was one of my objects, and was pleased about that. He was a fierce atheist and would have been horrified to be buried in Westminster Abbey I would imagine. I found a chapel for private prayer, which I used. It was small and very quiet, with a big, heavy door. In most English cathedrals, the private prayer chapels are just part of the main body of the building, with a little sign saying 'private prayer only - no photos' or something like that. When one sits or kneels to pray, tourists ignore the signs and just wander in babbling away and snapping pictures. It was nice to find a little haven of peace in Westminster Abbey, because the rest of it was just heaving with people. Near the tomb of Elizabeth I and Mary I, an old New Yorker was loudly reading out inscriptions wherever his eyes fell, much to the annoyance of the afore-mentioned throngs of tourists. He was 'shushed' by his wife and by other tourists, but this elicited a louder tone and greater indignation. He refused to be 'shushed' and was saying things like 'I can talk if I damn well want to' and 'let's get the hell outta here', then he was told not to swear. This brought on further paroxysms of indignation with him announcing that he could do what he wanted, when he wanted, until he was finally dragged away by his long-suffering wife. And they wonder why American tourists get such a bad name abroad?
The highlight of London for us was going to see a West End show, and Ellie picked the musical Wicked. It was absolutely brilliant, with the most amazing sets that I have ever seen. There were great costumes, great dancing and great singing, but it was the set that really made it fantastic for me. Go see it if you can!
I continued my Vermeer quest and went to the National Gallery, which has two. Sadly, only one was on display, and it was one that I had seen before. The last time I had visited, 'A Lady Seated at the Virginal' had been loaned to Spain. Now it's apparently back in London, but not on display. Blast.
Finally, on 30th July, Ellie and I left London and headed south to Burgess Hill in West Sussex. More on that later.
No comments:
Post a Comment