London Lite

We made today a light day since we are heading to Paris tomorrow.  In Paris, we need to cram in as much in one day, and I know we’ll be tired.  This morning we did a dry run to the Eurostar station where we are catching the train to Paris.

We started the day off late since the day’s activities are light.  We picked up our tickets then ate lunch bought at the local Marks & Spencer.  We tried to see the London Eye from the Waterloo station where we were eating, but couldn’t get our bearings straight.  But the London Eye wasn’t really on the schedule for the day, so we went back on the Tube to our destinations.

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

The Palace isn’t open to visitors during most of the year.  It is only open when the royal family is away on vacation.  But this fact doesn’t stop people from visiting and taking photos in front of Buckingham Palace.  There were plenty of tour buses and roaming tourists, but we managed to get the requisite photo in front.

Our plan afterward was to walk to the two adjacent parks, St. James Park and Green Park.  We first walked through St. James Park. A light rain started coming down as we entered the park.  This didn’t stop people from eating their lunches or feeding the birds in the park.  As we made our way halfway through the park, Farrah noticed it ended near the Churchill War Room.  We were planning on seeing it earlier in our trip, but it dropped from our must see list.

St. James Park

But then Farrah reminded me that Number 10 Downing Street is close.  So we wandered off our course to see the home of the Prime Minister.  If you haven’t been following the news lately, the current Prime Minister is stepping down shortly, so it ‘d be good to see this location.  Unfortunately, it is very well guarded. Oh well.

We continued our walk past a horse guard, then walked up to Trafalgar Square which leads to the National Museum.  Trafalgar Square is beautiful with huge statues to look at all day – or at least during a lunch hour.  We saw many people milling around even though a slight drizzle was present.

Fountain in Trafalgar Square

We didn’t realize we walked so far from Green Park, so we caught the Tube near Trafalgar Square and walked through Green Park.  The lunchtime crowd that occupied at St. James Park across the street seemed to be non-existent in Green Park.  We then headed back to the flat because we were going to see a play tonight.

Green Park

Sunday evening we were able to purchase tickets online for tonight’s showing of The Sound of Music.  It has received many positive reviews.  We didn’t realize the theater was relatively close to the flat – one Tube stop away. We rested for a couple of hours then headed to the show.

We had somewhat nosebleed seats in the upper balcony.  From our theater sets, we lose partial sight to front stage right, but it didn’t affect enjoying the play.  The performers were good, but it ‘s hard to live up to an iconic movie. This is only my third theater experience – the other two being The Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King.  This ranks third, but it was my first London play!

We ended the night anxious to head to Paris.