The Best of Times

And here it is, finally, my blog on the two London trips. This might be my last blog on this site. After all, waarbenjij.nu focuses solely on foreign experiences (like holidays, exchange programs, traineeships all around the world). And, alas, I have (for now) no travel plans (or plans to move to another country lol). In a sense, London will be my “big finish.” And very rightly so, since the two trips to London were absolutely wonderful.

Ok, I will try to make this story as coherent as possible. Here it goes.

Transportation and Hotel
When you live in Brussels (as I said before the city is centrally located), it is very easy to get to London. An Eurostar train takes you to London St. Pancras/Kings Cross (a train station close to the city center) in about two hours. A short ride with the metro (which costed me four pounds, expensive!) took me to the hotel. After some careful research, I picked the Strand Palace Hotel, in the middle of the theatre district West End :D. I enjoyed staying at Strand Palace. Rooms were basic, but clean and spacious.

When I went to London again, in August, I did not live in Brussels anymore. It was more difficult to find good and payable tickets. Train tickets were expensive, train connection was terrible. Eventually, I decided to take a plane from Schiphol (surprisingly also the “cheapest” travel option) to Heathrow. Forty-five minute flight. Then by metro to Covent Garden (metro station closest to hotel), which took about an hour (this time I happily paid the four pounds for the metro ticket, in comparison: a cab to the London city center costs at least fifty-six pounds!). In case you are wondering: I choose the same hotel, Strand Palace.

Weather
The weather gods were very kind. In July, some spots of rain and two bigger showers (but both of those showers took place when I was inside, so no real problem ;)). Fortunately, there was much more sun than rain. No drop of rain in August though. Sun (sometimes a few clouds), and a nice temperature (which is very unusual for London and England). Between twenty and twenty-five degrees. Perfect for sightseeing.

Sights

July
Did a lot of sightseeing in a short period of time (by foot, but also by hop-on hop-off bus).
* Trafalqar Square, with Nelson’s column and the huge National Gallery (museum).
* Piccadilly Circus, which I remembered mostly from high school English. A picture of Piccadilly Circus was on the cover of every book. Now I saw Piccadilly Circus “for real.”
* Close to Piccadilly Circus there is Leceister Square, which has a lot to offer. Various restaurants, movie theaters and ticket booths (where you can buy cheap theater tickets. If you are lucky, you pay about half of the original ticket price and you still get a good seat).
* The Theems, I went running along the river one morning. Also took a boat tour, which provides you with a magnificent view of some of London’s main sights. Tower Bridge, Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Houses of Parliament (huge!!), Big Ben. Very nice!!
* Buckingham Palace. When I reached Buckingham Palace, the changing of the guard was just taking place. Enjoyed witnessing, at least part of, the ceremony! However, there were so many people watching, I could not get an unobstructed view of Buckingham Palace.
* Many, many parcs. Did not realize London was so green. You can spend an entire week in London, just exploring the parcs.
* Harrodd’s. I wasn’t actually planning to go into this gigantic place. But I had to go to the toilet real bad and I figured that the toilets at Harrodd’s would be spacious and clean ;)
* Other sights: Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana used to live. Covent Garden, very charming with its restaurants, terraces, markets.
* Also found an alternative to Starbucks, a place called Costa Coffee. They have Ice Cappuccino!! Hmmm!!

August
Because I had seen quite a lot of London itself in July, I decided to go to Windsor for one day. A very slow train took me there in an hour and ten minutes (Windsor is about 30km from London!). Loved Windsor, the castle is indeed impressive. I walked around the castle a little bit and was awed by the greenness surrounding it. The town of Windsor is also very charming, with its nice, old houses and monuments. I decided to do a boat tour on the Theems, which I really liked (great view of Windsor Castle among others). Such a shame: planes from Heathrow fly over almost continuously.

Of course, I had time to see some more of London, the highlights:
* Portobello Road (Notting Hill), where the movie “Notting Hill” was shot.
* Jubilee Bridges, great weather to just stand on the bridges and admire the view.
* Ben Franklin’s House, in the early 18th century this great American used to live in London. His house was supposed to be close to my hotel. I did not find it during my July stay in London. But this time I was more successful. Hooray for Ben!!
* I got an unobstructed view of Buckingham Palace and also walked past St. James’ Palace.
* Also saw quite a few of the sights I had seen before. Close to Piccadilly Circus, I found a gigantic bookstore called Waterstone’s. A few blocks away there is a big toystore Hamleys.

Musicals
The “icing on the cake” of my two London trips. Saw Hairspray (once) and La Cage aux Folles (twice, in 2005 I saw The Producers twice in one weekend, so seeing a musical twice in three weeks is not that bad :D) Ok, lets start with Hairspray. The story (set in the Baltimore of the sixties) evolves around the chubby Tracy Turnblad, whose dream is to become a singer/dancer in the famous Corny Collins television show. It won’t be easy for Tracy, on her way to fame she has to overcome prejudice, animosity (vijandigheid) AND her overprotective mother Edna. Edna was the character I was most looking forward to. Not without a reason: the role of Edna is always played by a man (in a gigantic dress and an equally impressive fat suit)!! Brian Conley, the guy who played Edna, was wonderful. She, sorry he, was a hilarious Edna. Overall, the musical was quite a treat, the music is infectious and the acting/singing performances were great. Too funny: At one point in the musical Edna and her husband Wilbur bursted out laughing (this surely was not in the script). They just couldn’t stop, somehow they managed to finish their song :D

As much as I enjoyed Hairspray, I would probably not see it twice in three weeks ;) La Cage aux Folles was different. I knew the soundtrack, but I had never actually seen the show. In July, I finally had my chance. La Cage tells the story of the nightclub owner Georges and his longtime partner Albin (the nightclub’s star Zaza). When Georges son (conceived from a one night stand) announces that he is going to marry the daughter of a rightwing politician, well, the trouble starts… I loved the soundtrack so much, that I was almost afraid that the full musical would disappoint. How wrong I was!! A New York Times theater critic once wrote that The Producers, one of my all-time favorite musicals, was “a simply ridiculous spectacle that leaves you delirious.” He could also have been talking about this particular production of La Cage aux Folles! It was sooo funny and sooo politically incorrect :D (but in the same time so very moving as well). Loved the interaction between the actors and the audience. The cast was perfect, even the actors in the smaller roles were very capable singers and actors. I liked the Cagelles (all guys in drag), Zaza’s “supporting cast.” They were amazing, those dance moves, impressive.

But my clear favorites were the two leading men, Roger Allam (Albin/Zaza) and Philip Quast (Georges). Wonderful chemistry between the two, they were a very believable Albin and Georges (especially amazing since they are both very straight in real life). Roger Allam looks so good in drag, haha (see the article http://london.broadway.com/blog/id/3011546/RogerAllam). He is a hilarious Albin/Zaza. Although he is not a natural singer, he easily holds his own during all of the musical’s big numbers. Especially his rendition of “I Am What I Am” (be proud of who/what you are) was impressive. Then Philip Quast, he is equally hilarious as the less flamboyant Georges. He is, like Allam, a great actor (delicious charisma!) with priceless facial expressions. And this guy has a voice, wow, simply sensational. “Song on the Sand” (Georges’ big number) was a show-stopper. Hear for yourself at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb16fg3RxmI (alas a recording from “previews,” the song is even better now). Or from another musical, Les Mis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYHe5thiLgM

The “deliriousness” of La Cage made me decide to see the musical again in August. I found out (just like I did with The Producers in 2005) that musicals can surely be therapeutical, left the theater with a huge smile. Apart from being great actors, both Quast and Allam are very gracious. I met them after the show and they happily signed my La Cage aux Folles poster. Nice souvenir!

There, finally the end of this long, rambling blog. Hope you didn’t fall asleep!! Haha, just found this hilarious clip. Roger Allam looks great in drag, but this guy, well see for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CeqzB4Ukp4 :D

Thanks to everybody who has followed my blog so closely!

Suzanne