3 and 4 May: One Day More
Door: Suzanne
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Suzanne
17 Mei 2010 | Verenigd Koninkrijk, Londen
On Monday morning, I went running again. It was very windy, rather cold, but no rain. I added the Round Pond (close to Kensington Palace) to my running route. The rest of the route was similar to Saturday: Kensington Palace, Royal Albert Hall, Serpetine Galleries, Long Water and Italian Fountain. I could get used to this running route!!
There were still some sights Tonke and I wanted to see. First we went to the Westminster Cathedral (not the Abbey). A mass was going on at the time, nice to see. We took the elevator (much better than the stairs in the St. Paul ;)) to the top of the Cathedral. There was a lot of wind, not good for the hair, but we could see quite a bit of the city of London. When we left the Cathedral, it started raining. We fled into a nearby Starbucks (of course) and had something to drink. Fortunately, the rain stopped within minutes, so we were able to continue our journey to the London city center. We passed the Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben. Tonke then walked to Trafalgar Square to meet up with a friend, I headed toward the Jubilee Bridges. I came to love the Jubilee Bridges (also an architectural highlight) during my London visits in 2009. I liked to just stare down at the Thames. Not to be forgotten, the Jubilee Bridges provide you with a wonderful view of the Houses of Parliament, the Big Ben and the London Eye. And the Bridges are close to the theater I saw La Cage aux Folles at in 2009 ;)
I then decided that my legs (especially my feet) were in need of some rest, so I took the metro to Piccadilly Circus. It was lunchtime, which meant I had to find a place for lunch. I went to a nice bar/restaurant called Tidbits. Yummy sandwich with green aspargus and cream cheese. Now, I was more than ready to start my shopping spree!! Well, not really, but I planned to check out London’s main shopping streets Regent Street and Oxford Street. So many nice stores, Nike, Disney, Pandora, Virgin Records, Esprit etc. I especially liked Hamleys, a gigantic toystore. I was tempted to buy a lovely Steiff Knopf im Ohr bear. But the bear costed about thirty pounds. A little ridiculous for a 28-year-old girl to buy such an expensive bear :D
I went into two major clothes stores, Topshop and Primarck. It was way too busy at both stores, so I left quickly (I always get sort of claustrofobic at stores that are that busy). In front of Primarck, I saw to ladies in a burka. They both were carrying two large Primarck bags filled with clothes. Funny!! The weather was nice and I kept walking and walking (originally I had planned to get on the metro somewhere in the middle of Oxford Street). Suddenly, I was just one metro stop away from the hotel. My feet were still feeling ok, so I decided to make a slight detour through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Quite a walk, I ended up walking from Piccadilly Circus right back to London Guards Hotel. At the hotel, I started packing. I brought a small suitcase, so I had to pack carefully. I was very glad that I did not buy anything while touring Regent Street and Oxford Street!!
Around 5.30 pm, I had to get back to the city center (not by foot this time). Les Misérables would start at 7.30 and I wanted to grab a bite to eat before the show. I ate a burger at Friday’s, a noisy American restaurant with free (soda) re-fills. Then it was on to the Queen’s Theatre and the longest running show in West End history! Les Mis surely is a grand musical, almost like an opera with its 41 (!!) songs. I knew most of the songs, since I watched the 10th Anniversary Concert (featuring Les Mis’ dream cast) quite often ;) Difficult for the current cast to measure up with the dream cast! They might not be the dream cast, but most of them were still impressive. The beautiful ensemble number at the end of the first act, “One Day More,” was performed very convincingly. There were two understudies in the leading roles. Jonathan Williams played Jean Valjean and Antony Hansen played Marius. It must be difficult to take over such a major role, both Williams and Hansen did very well! The leading ladies, Emily Bull (Cosette), Nancy Sullivan (Eponine) and Rebecca Seale (Fantine) were faultless. Loved Seale’s version of “I Dreamed a Dream,” would prefer her over Susan Boyle any day (sorry Susan!!) What I like about Les Misérables is that, apart from all the drama, there also is a comical note. This note was provided by Mr. (Martin Ball) and Mrs (Lorraine Bruce) Thénardier. I found “Master of the House” especially funny. “Kidney of the horse, liver of the cat, filling up the sausages with this and that...” Yuck! Oh, and the little boy who played Gavroche was amazing, his song “Little People”.... just plain cute!!
My favorite was probably the talented young actor who played rebel leader Enjolras, David Thaxton. Granted, he had two of the best songs in the musical, “Do You Hear the People Sing?” and “Red and Black,” but he also had a strong voice and solid acting abilities. And leading men good looks, very important according to the girls sitting next to me. Then, of course, there was the guy who played the role of Inspector Javert (Philip Quast’s role lol :D). He turned out to be a Belgian actor named Hans-Peter Janssens. Ok, I am not going to compare him to Philip Quast too much ;) Janssens had a good and powerful singing voice (a nice baritone). He was at his best during the song “The Confrontation,” a duet between Inspector Javert and his nemesis Jean Valjean. He did quite well with “Stars,” but no shivers down the spine felt (and no ridiculous last note produced lol). “Javert’s Suicide” was sung nicely. But I did not feel Javert’s total despair (Javert kills himself at the end of the song). It seemed like Janssens “forgot” about the acting during this song. Shame.
At the end of the show, I wanted to take a picture of the curtain call. I saw other people taking pictures, so I thought it was ok. Apparently it was not, I was just the one who got caught (of course). I was forced to delete the picture, which turned out terribly anyway, so no big problem. Overall, I really really liked Les Misérables. So many wonderful songs, a true classic!! Again, this visit to London was very musical. I am already thinking about which musical I should see during my next visit to London :D Just kidding!!
Unfortunately, Tonke fell ill on Tuesday, the last day of our stay in London. I stayed close to the hotel, but I did go running for one last time. I also walked through Kensington Gardens and I stood once again on the Jubilee Bridges (I was in the neighborhood). Around three o’clock, Tonke (who was feeling slightly better) and I made our way to the train station. The Eurostar train was (again) packed with Dutch people. One lady was telling about her visit to the cheap clothes store Primarck. She had to stand in line for about an hour! Glad I did not buy anything there!! We arrived at Brussels Midi in a little less than two hours. Hurried to our connecting train and a few hours later I was back home!
What a trip this was, again. I thoroughly enjoyed it and had a very good travel companion in Tonke! So many highlights, not only The Night of 1000 Voices (and Les Misérables). But also the many wonderful sights. I will definitely be back in London someday, sooner rather than later probably....
This was my last blog about London, hope you liked reading it! I am not sure what my next blog is going to be about, but it is definitely not going to focus on me travelling :D
There were still some sights Tonke and I wanted to see. First we went to the Westminster Cathedral (not the Abbey). A mass was going on at the time, nice to see. We took the elevator (much better than the stairs in the St. Paul ;)) to the top of the Cathedral. There was a lot of wind, not good for the hair, but we could see quite a bit of the city of London. When we left the Cathedral, it started raining. We fled into a nearby Starbucks (of course) and had something to drink. Fortunately, the rain stopped within minutes, so we were able to continue our journey to the London city center. We passed the Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben. Tonke then walked to Trafalgar Square to meet up with a friend, I headed toward the Jubilee Bridges. I came to love the Jubilee Bridges (also an architectural highlight) during my London visits in 2009. I liked to just stare down at the Thames. Not to be forgotten, the Jubilee Bridges provide you with a wonderful view of the Houses of Parliament, the Big Ben and the London Eye. And the Bridges are close to the theater I saw La Cage aux Folles at in 2009 ;)
I then decided that my legs (especially my feet) were in need of some rest, so I took the metro to Piccadilly Circus. It was lunchtime, which meant I had to find a place for lunch. I went to a nice bar/restaurant called Tidbits. Yummy sandwich with green aspargus and cream cheese. Now, I was more than ready to start my shopping spree!! Well, not really, but I planned to check out London’s main shopping streets Regent Street and Oxford Street. So many nice stores, Nike, Disney, Pandora, Virgin Records, Esprit etc. I especially liked Hamleys, a gigantic toystore. I was tempted to buy a lovely Steiff Knopf im Ohr bear. But the bear costed about thirty pounds. A little ridiculous for a 28-year-old girl to buy such an expensive bear :D
I went into two major clothes stores, Topshop and Primarck. It was way too busy at both stores, so I left quickly (I always get sort of claustrofobic at stores that are that busy). In front of Primarck, I saw to ladies in a burka. They both were carrying two large Primarck bags filled with clothes. Funny!! The weather was nice and I kept walking and walking (originally I had planned to get on the metro somewhere in the middle of Oxford Street). Suddenly, I was just one metro stop away from the hotel. My feet were still feeling ok, so I decided to make a slight detour through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Quite a walk, I ended up walking from Piccadilly Circus right back to London Guards Hotel. At the hotel, I started packing. I brought a small suitcase, so I had to pack carefully. I was very glad that I did not buy anything while touring Regent Street and Oxford Street!!
Around 5.30 pm, I had to get back to the city center (not by foot this time). Les Misérables would start at 7.30 and I wanted to grab a bite to eat before the show. I ate a burger at Friday’s, a noisy American restaurant with free (soda) re-fills. Then it was on to the Queen’s Theatre and the longest running show in West End history! Les Mis surely is a grand musical, almost like an opera with its 41 (!!) songs. I knew most of the songs, since I watched the 10th Anniversary Concert (featuring Les Mis’ dream cast) quite often ;) Difficult for the current cast to measure up with the dream cast! They might not be the dream cast, but most of them were still impressive. The beautiful ensemble number at the end of the first act, “One Day More,” was performed very convincingly. There were two understudies in the leading roles. Jonathan Williams played Jean Valjean and Antony Hansen played Marius. It must be difficult to take over such a major role, both Williams and Hansen did very well! The leading ladies, Emily Bull (Cosette), Nancy Sullivan (Eponine) and Rebecca Seale (Fantine) were faultless. Loved Seale’s version of “I Dreamed a Dream,” would prefer her over Susan Boyle any day (sorry Susan!!) What I like about Les Misérables is that, apart from all the drama, there also is a comical note. This note was provided by Mr. (Martin Ball) and Mrs (Lorraine Bruce) Thénardier. I found “Master of the House” especially funny. “Kidney of the horse, liver of the cat, filling up the sausages with this and that...” Yuck! Oh, and the little boy who played Gavroche was amazing, his song “Little People”.... just plain cute!!
My favorite was probably the talented young actor who played rebel leader Enjolras, David Thaxton. Granted, he had two of the best songs in the musical, “Do You Hear the People Sing?” and “Red and Black,” but he also had a strong voice and solid acting abilities. And leading men good looks, very important according to the girls sitting next to me. Then, of course, there was the guy who played the role of Inspector Javert (Philip Quast’s role lol :D). He turned out to be a Belgian actor named Hans-Peter Janssens. Ok, I am not going to compare him to Philip Quast too much ;) Janssens had a good and powerful singing voice (a nice baritone). He was at his best during the song “The Confrontation,” a duet between Inspector Javert and his nemesis Jean Valjean. He did quite well with “Stars,” but no shivers down the spine felt (and no ridiculous last note produced lol). “Javert’s Suicide” was sung nicely. But I did not feel Javert’s total despair (Javert kills himself at the end of the song). It seemed like Janssens “forgot” about the acting during this song. Shame.
At the end of the show, I wanted to take a picture of the curtain call. I saw other people taking pictures, so I thought it was ok. Apparently it was not, I was just the one who got caught (of course). I was forced to delete the picture, which turned out terribly anyway, so no big problem. Overall, I really really liked Les Misérables. So many wonderful songs, a true classic!! Again, this visit to London was very musical. I am already thinking about which musical I should see during my next visit to London :D Just kidding!!
Unfortunately, Tonke fell ill on Tuesday, the last day of our stay in London. I stayed close to the hotel, but I did go running for one last time. I also walked through Kensington Gardens and I stood once again on the Jubilee Bridges (I was in the neighborhood). Around three o’clock, Tonke (who was feeling slightly better) and I made our way to the train station. The Eurostar train was (again) packed with Dutch people. One lady was telling about her visit to the cheap clothes store Primarck. She had to stand in line for about an hour! Glad I did not buy anything there!! We arrived at Brussels Midi in a little less than two hours. Hurried to our connecting train and a few hours later I was back home!
What a trip this was, again. I thoroughly enjoyed it and had a very good travel companion in Tonke! So many highlights, not only The Night of 1000 Voices (and Les Misérables). But also the many wonderful sights. I will definitely be back in London someday, sooner rather than later probably....
This was my last blog about London, hope you liked reading it! I am not sure what my next blog is going to be about, but it is definitely not going to focus on me travelling :D
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
