London Day 9 Landmarks and Evita

London Day 9 Landmarks and Evita

Well, my luck had to change and today it was raining! Not big heavy Perth rain, but light drizzle Malbourne type rain.
 
My first plan for today was to go and see a show in the West End, and as it was raining and it was Wednesday that seemed a good plan! One slight problem it's half term so the kids are on holidays, but that didn't stop me.

So  when I was up and dressed and ready I set  out for Leicester Square so that I could buy a ticket for the  afternoon Matinee. Earls  Court is on the Piccadilly line, so it was a direcct journey on the Tube. So I just rocked up to the half price tickets to see what was available... Sad but true many shows were already booked out, but I was able to get into Evita  ( I have always loved the music  from this show) and I was able to get a great seat half way up the stalls on the aisle in the middle for 25 pounds.  More about the show later...

So... what to do with  the morning...??? I had a list of things I still wanted to see...

• St Paul's Cathedral
• The Monument
• Westminster Abbey (Grrr....!)

So while I  was standing just out of the rain while I  was thinking about it (having just bought my theatre tickets) a very persistent tour bus operator offered me discounts on their bus tour, so after looking at the sky, I succumbed and  bought a 2 day ticket which allows me to go back tomorrow. I'm back on my Oyster Card now which charges me for each journey so I figured all the places i wanted to go on my checklist were on this bus route, and it was raining... and I might as well go for convenience....

So it was not the Original bus tour, but a blue bus, but I didn't care as long as it got me there.

So first stop to hop off was St Paul's Cathedral..

St Paul's Cathedral

It was going to cost me something like 18 pounds to get in so I just looked in through the door then moved on...

The next section of the journey took me through the places involved in the Great  Fire of London and we passed through many streets of signifiance including Pudding Lane where it  all started in 1666 and Fetter Lane where they eventually blew up the houses to stop the spread of the fire.

The next stop  was The Monument which was built to commemorate the Great Fire of London. If it was laid down horizontally it would actually touch the place where the Fire started

I got back on my blue bus, but the driver informed us that it was going to Royal Victoria - where we went yesterday for the Cable Car. So, had to change buses again and force my way through the throngs of people around the Tower of London. Couldn't  believe  how many people there were. They were literally at a standstill because there were so  many.

Eventually found my right bus and ended up at Westminster Abbey. Had a quick bite of lunch at Pret a Manger then took the plunge and eventually did that tour of Westminster Abbey. Was wondering if I had enough time, because my Show started at 3 pm, but I figured if I didn't do it today, I might never get to do it...

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

As I was lining up I noticed they had a senior rate, so thought I might as well ask, and she said if I had some ID I was good to go... so out comes the passport and I saved myself 3 pounds... yee haa.. first time ever I think!

I loved the Abbey and it was worth waiting for. There are soooo many tombs of famous people inside. Once again we had an audio guide, and once again we were not allowed to take pics inside...

I loved listening to all the history  about various people who were buried there. My one regret was that I was a tiny bit rushed as I had one eye on the clock for my show.

As we moved out of the Abbey I was able to take a few more pics...

The Chapter House

Outside area

Outside area again

Cloister

I was cutting it a bit fine time wise, and although I had a map where my theatre was I didn't really know and it was raining, so I figured the easiest way to get there was a cab. So  it got me to the Theatre with 15 mins to spare.

As I mentioned earlier, I had chosen Evita. Even though my choices were restricted  I was very happy to go that Show, because I have had the tapes for  ages and often used to sing along with it.

I really enjoyed the Show. Here's yet another opportunity for me to rise above my Pleb status and enjoy the culture that London has to offer... The music was wonderful and the lead character (Che)  was played by Marti Pellow who was the lead singer of Wet Wet Wet.

It was a fantastic  experience and an excellent way to spend a wet (wet wet) Wednesday afternoon.

Then to finish a very pleasant day I had arranged to meet Karys for dinner. We had originally planned to go to Camden Markets, but they closed at 6pm.  So we went for a walk to see Piccadilly Circus at night...

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

As were walking, walking, walking. Karys said "You're going to put this into your blog, aren't you, about all this walking??"

So, yes you're right Karys... we walked and walked and walked, and it is in the blog!

My last day in London tomorrow... where have those 10 days gone..???