A Right Royal Day
The morning started off bright, crisp and clear so JoAnn and I decided to talk a walk from our hotel over to Buckingham Palace. We were at the Palace rather early so there were no crowds and the guards looked rather sad and lonely at their posts. We were the only tourists in evidence and took our time snapping photos of the palace and the Queen Victoria monument. Then we took a stroll through St. James Park, encountering frosted leaves, all manner of wild fowl and glorious views along the way.
We continued walking over to Westminster Abbey, past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament across Westminster Bridge to the London Eye. Our early start paid off; we did not have to wait in line to buy our tickets for the Eye and were able to hop on right away for a wonderful view over Londontown. There were only four other people in our capsule and one of them must have been a born-and-bred Londoner; he was pointing out all the landmarks to his girlfriend while the rest of us eavesdropped. When we departed the London Eye there was quite a crowd of people queueing at the ticket booth and to get onboard. We had certainly been fortunate in our timing.
From the London Eye we made our way over to Waterloo Station and hopped on the tube for the British Museum. We spent a couple of hours at the British Museum picking and choosing what we wanted to see of its monumental collection: The Rosetta Stone, Lindow Man, the Elgin Marbles and a hugely interesting exhibit on Life and Death that featured intriguing native art from all over the world. We had lunch at the British Museum and then hopped back on the tube for Oxford Street. First stop was Selfridges where we admired the window displays and then headed for the Christmas shop where we each made some purchases. It was getting late in the afternoon and what I'd hoped would be a leisurely stroll down Oxford Street to Regent Street became a mad dash for Fortnum and Mason's. We wanted to allow time for shopping there before having afternoon tea in Fortnum and Mason's St. James restaurant. We were seated on a sofa and tea was served elegantly to us at coffee table. We felt so posh as we nibbled on our cucumber sandwiches with the crusts trimmed off. Everything was so very tasty.
We finished with plenty of time to return to our hotel, drop our bags off and head out again in great anticipation for the Old Vic theatre. We had tickets to see Richard II starring Keving Spacey! As it turned out we arrived rather early -- even before the bar opened. We hung out in the lobby for awhile and once the bar opened reserved our drinks for the intermission. We had really good seats for the show -- second row of the dress circle near the center. We were some of the first to be seated so we got a good chance to do some people watching as the theatre slowly filled almost to capacity. We noticed how casually people dress for the theatre in London and several people were there on their own. Finally the show began and we were treated to an intriguing interpretation of Shakespeare. The actors wore modern dress and used modern accoutrements such as cell phones but the dialogue was pure Elizabethan Shakespeare. Kevin Spacey had a commanding presence on stage (appropriately enough) and all the acting was superb. We thoroughly enjoyed the show. We made our way to the stage door and did not have to wait long before Ben Miles, who had portrayed Henry Bolingbroke, appeared to sign autographs. He had an affable personality and asked JoAnn if she'd ever seen the play before. Only a few minutes later, and to our great delight, Kevin Spacey made an appearance. He looked thoroughly exhausted and drawn -- understandable when you consider the energetic performance he had just made. We each got his autograph. JoAnn told him she had come all the way from Baltimore to see him perform. All I could muster was something about what a fantastic performance it was. His reply to both of us was a plain and simple, "Thank you very much." JoAnn was on cloud nine, having spoken to Kevin Spacey and gotten his autograph, and if it were possible would have floated back to our hotel for sheer bliss. She'd hoped to stop off at the internet cafe to email friends back home about the event but they were already closed.
We continued walking over to Westminster Abbey, past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament across Westminster Bridge to the London Eye. Our early start paid off; we did not have to wait in line to buy our tickets for the Eye and were able to hop on right away for a wonderful view over Londontown. There were only four other people in our capsule and one of them must have been a born-and-bred Londoner; he was pointing out all the landmarks to his girlfriend while the rest of us eavesdropped. When we departed the London Eye there was quite a crowd of people queueing at the ticket booth and to get onboard. We had certainly been fortunate in our timing.
From the London Eye we made our way over to Waterloo Station and hopped on the tube for the British Museum. We spent a couple of hours at the British Museum picking and choosing what we wanted to see of its monumental collection: The Rosetta Stone, Lindow Man, the Elgin Marbles and a hugely interesting exhibit on Life and Death that featured intriguing native art from all over the world. We had lunch at the British Museum and then hopped back on the tube for Oxford Street. First stop was Selfridges where we admired the window displays and then headed for the Christmas shop where we each made some purchases. It was getting late in the afternoon and what I'd hoped would be a leisurely stroll down Oxford Street to Regent Street became a mad dash for Fortnum and Mason's. We wanted to allow time for shopping there before having afternoon tea in Fortnum and Mason's St. James restaurant. We were seated on a sofa and tea was served elegantly to us at coffee table. We felt so posh as we nibbled on our cucumber sandwiches with the crusts trimmed off. Everything was so very tasty.
We finished with plenty of time to return to our hotel, drop our bags off and head out again in great anticipation for the Old Vic theatre. We had tickets to see Richard II starring Keving Spacey! As it turned out we arrived rather early -- even before the bar opened. We hung out in the lobby for awhile and once the bar opened reserved our drinks for the intermission. We had really good seats for the show -- second row of the dress circle near the center. We were some of the first to be seated so we got a good chance to do some people watching as the theatre slowly filled almost to capacity. We noticed how casually people dress for the theatre in London and several people were there on their own. Finally the show began and we were treated to an intriguing interpretation of Shakespeare. The actors wore modern dress and used modern accoutrements such as cell phones but the dialogue was pure Elizabethan Shakespeare. Kevin Spacey had a commanding presence on stage (appropriately enough) and all the acting was superb. We thoroughly enjoyed the show. We made our way to the stage door and did not have to wait long before Ben Miles, who had portrayed Henry Bolingbroke, appeared to sign autographs. He had an affable personality and asked JoAnn if she'd ever seen the play before. Only a few minutes later, and to our great delight, Kevin Spacey made an appearance. He looked thoroughly exhausted and drawn -- understandable when you consider the energetic performance he had just made. We each got his autograph. JoAnn told him she had come all the way from Baltimore to see him perform. All I could muster was something about what a fantastic performance it was. His reply to both of us was a plain and simple, "Thank you very much." JoAnn was on cloud nine, having spoken to Kevin Spacey and gotten his autograph, and if it were possible would have floated back to our hotel for sheer bliss. She'd hoped to stop off at the internet cafe to email friends back home about the event but they were already closed.
posted by lenora at 3:43 PM
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