London for the Day

We left Paris early on Monday, and we made it through customs in London by 9 am, with no problems luckily. We got on a train to central London to meet up with Sharman, who had taken the day off to show us around and hang out with us. We did LOTS of walking. We saw The Globe, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral (where Princess Di and Charles got married), The Parliament Building, Big Ben, 10 Downing Street, The Tower of London and Buckingham Palace (and associated gardens). We took a short tour of the palace, where we saw lots of paintings and furniture and jewelry. Unfortunately, we didn’t read the brochure until after we had bought our tickets. We really wanted to see some actual rooms in the palace, but those don’t open until July, so we were out of luck there.
In the afternoon, we found a café and had some tea and scones. Sharman taught us how to put the jam and cream on the scones the British way, so we can cross that experience off the list. I was beat at this point so I chose to slam back a double espresso as well, which definitely perked my eyelids up a bit. At the café, we met a guy from Sao Paulo (Brazil), who struck up some conversation with us because he was wondering where to find some good English food. In my mind, I was thinking “Does that exist?” but Sharman politely pointed him in the right direction. He turned out to be really interesting. He had come all the way to London for a Paul McCartney concert and he turned out to be a trip himself. He invited us to stay with him in Brazil, if we ever head that way. I wonder if he realizes that we really might :p.
After the café, it was time to head over to the theater district. Nick bought Sharman a ticket to see the play as well, so we went to pick up her ticket. Ah, what to say about the show. I had read mixed reviews about it, but I didn’t care at all. I had to go see it. Visually, it was really impressive. The set was really creative and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. The music was great as well, but I don’t think it was on quite the same level as Phantom. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it, Phantom still gives me goosebumps. I don’t think the sequel has the same effect. There was one incredibly moving scene but that one doesn’t compare to every scene in Phantom. Anyway, if you’re a fan, you should still see it if you can. It’s worth it.
After the show, Sharman drove us around a bit so that we could see London at night. We ended up missing Abby Road, which was too bad. I was really hoping to get a picture walking across it for my Dad. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:30, so we decided to just stay at the airport rather than get a hotel. Apparently, everyone and their mother had the same thought. The airport looked more like a homeless shelter when we walked in. The floor was just covered with bodies. We were exhausted. We tried to hole up in a dark area, which worked for a little while, but we were eventually woken up at 4 am when the information center next to us opened. We sleep-walked our way through security and customs and settled down at the gate. By 5:30 the airport looked like a Metropolis. Insanity. Our flight took off and got in on time. Another end to another amazing weekend.