Pip Pip and Cheery-O

It was a 5 day weekend for me but I only spent 3 days in London so I will try to keep this story shorter than the actual trip. I know many of you are facebook fans and don’t have the attention span of more than 2 or 3 sentences at a time.

If this the case for you, then just go ahead and skip to the pix now.

I know many of you are on to me and know that most of my stories are an endless supply of useless info. So with that rather truthful opening, let me start by saying that my trip to London actually started about 17 years ago when my parents went to Dublin, Ireland. They really enjoyed it and mentioned a lot of good things about it that made me really interested in a future trip. Then my good friend Texas Tom T, his brother and his father went to Ireland and they had a great time too. It was planned later on that I would meet my sister and her friend Tami in Dublin as Tami had a big interest in going to Ireland. Before they made concrete plans to fly to Dublin, I was already picking out my Waterford pattern. But at the last minute the plans fell through. So still to this day I have not been to Ireland.

I knew my 5 days off were coming up soon and I decided that now was the time to finally take that trip to Dublin. I started looking around on the net to see where the tourist traps are; where to go and what to see and get an idea of bed and breakfast places. While I was searching Dublin, a pop-up flashed on the screen. It said: Now playing in London – Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Well that really got my attention. Have you ever seen the film? It’s hysterical. It’s an Australian film and it came out in 1994. It’s a comedy.

Now some of you may choose to stop reading here due to the adult nature of this story. But for those of you who have the stomach for it, it’s about 2 drag queens and a transsexual and they cross half the Australian continent in a broken down bus which is named Priscilla.

When I saw the advertisement, I thought to myself: how in the world could they possibly do a stage show with a bus crossing the Australian outback?

Well what an amazing show! Not only did they cross the outback in a bus on stage but it was 100 times better than the movie which won an Oscar and several other awards and nominated for a Golden Globe.

It's actually a sweet story about a father and son trying to make contact with each other as they have been separated for several years.

The color, the costumes, the music, the lighting, the “lypsynking” – it was all just so dazzling ,I was moved to tears. 2 hours after the show was over my cheeks were actually still hurting from smiling and laughing so much.

The web advertisement mentioned something about the abundance of costume changes. And before the show was even half over I thought that there were so many wild crazy costumes that there was no way this show could make any money to pay for all that lamé and sequins; and there was still another half of the show to sit through.

Days later, even after coming home back to Copenhagen I was still in awe. I was telling everybody about what a great show it was.

I sat in the 3^rd row just off center. What was so cool about sitting there was that the orchestra under the stage had a long row – the length of the stage – of windows just under the stage level so that you could actually see right into the orchestra and watch the people play and it was almost as if I was sitting right in with the musicians.

I’ve seen a lot of plays, ballets, concerts both here in Denmark and in the states and this beats everything by far.

A friend of mine asked me if it was better than Phantom of the Opera. I said it was like a 100 times better.

If it ever comes out to Denmark, I will for sure go see it again.

If the play ever comes to your neck of the woods, I can highly recommend it.

OK - so this was actually my third time to London. I’m not a big fan of London but I did enjoy myself quite a bit. The first day that I was there, it was super hot and not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day for taking pictures – which I didn’t do. I have so many pictures of London that I didn’t even bother to take my camera out on my first day.

Oh and speaking of first day….. let me tell you how that came about. Well – you know my blah blah blah stories about airline employee stand-by ticket deals - right? And how I promised that I would never ever tell another one of those stories again? Well……… I was on the company website checking out the possibilities for cheap employee deals....... The first and second flights to London from Copenhagen were filled. Since I was only going to be there for 3 days, I wanted to be sure that I was on the first flight going to London and the last flight coming back.

I was at work when I shouted: “Dang it!” “What’s wrong?” asked my colleague. I told him about the flight being full. “Forget about the stand-by flights, Moris”, he said to me, “check out Norwegian Air - It’s cheaper”. I was thinking to myself, “You must be nuts if you think that a full fare flight to London is cheaper than an employee stand-by ticket.” And as I was thinking that, he added, “…and you don’t have to stand-by.”

So just for the heck of it I checked out Norweigan.com and what a surprise. They offered 2 daily departures and the early flight departed a few minutes before SAS and actually cost $1.00 less than what my company could sell a ticket to me for. If I took the afternoon flight it would actually cost $20 less than the employee discount price. So naturally I went with the competition.

From London, Gatwick it’s just a 40 minute train ride to nightmare Victoria Station – the crowds! It’s amazing all those people coming and going – couldn’t believe it.

And then just a 5 minute underground tube ride and 5 minute walk to the hotel.

Jens can’t stand that I will check out every single hotel on the net before making a decision. With that in mind and the fact that I needed only 2 nights, I decided to make my search short. I quickly narrowed it down to 4 bed and breakfasts. The first 2 that I liked best were booked full. The next 2 were available. One was very modern and one was very old fashioned. I decided to go for the mom and pop bed and breakfast. They had a great website and it’s been in the family for years – centuries even. Take a look for yourself at the website and see if you don’t think this place would charm the pants off of you.

OK – so I checked-in, plopped my bags in the room and headed out the door and walked the town until I could walk no more – literally. My legs were so noodled out that I had to take a bus back. I had no idea where I was and I just hopped on a bus and hoped that it would take me back to the center of town. It was a double-decker bus so I was still in my tourist sight seeing mode. The view from the upper level is great.

That was the end of a very hot, clear blue sky, day one and without a camera.

Day 2 – with a camera but very over cast. However it was still very warm. My fist stop was to find out where the Palace Theatre was located. Once I found that, I headed off to the near by British Museum. What a beautiful place. I would have never gone there had it not been for my good friend George who was there just a few years ago. The place is beautiful and huge. You could spend a month easily there and still not see all that it has.

After the museum, it was curtain call. I decided to do a matinee instead of an evening performance. It’s an adult themed play – or so I would say being that the subject is of a sexual nature. What a surprise to read that it was children’s week at all the London theaters. Yeah but who would take their children to see this play? Again I was surprised to see quite a few families at this very “colorful” performance. So far I have noticed that the English and the Germans are nuts for drag whereas most Americans find it distasteful.

OK – so after the show it took me awhile to leave the premises because I wanted more. But it was off to Harrods to buy a few souvenirs. Now if you have not heard of Harrods – it is the King of all department stores. If they don’t have it here, they don’t have it anywhere. The problem is trying to find it – it’s such a humongous building.

Day 3 was planned with a spin on London’s Eye and a cruise on the Thames. The day was cooler and very gray. Today I took my umbrella just in case. I didn’t have a lot of time as this was the day that I was going home and had to leave Victoria Station by 4ish. The eye was huge and the line to get on was even bigger so I decided to buy the fast track ticket and save some time. What a spectacular ride with incredible views. Well worth the money.

Due to lousy weather and lack of time, the boat ride would have to wait until another trip to London. It was time to make my way back to the hotel, pick up my bags and head back to Victoria Station to catch the train to Gatwick airport. There was a double-decker bus that stopped just across the street from my hotel and makes a stop at Victoria Station. It takes about 30 minutes whereas the underground takes only 5 minutes. But underground you miss so much and on the upper level of the bus you can see sooooooo much for only $2. It was a nice was to leave the city.

It was a great weekend and I wish you could have been there with me to experience the color and the excitement.

This is the entrance to the British Museum.






































And here I am inside the museum in the beautiful foyer.
















In the foyer there were only 2 pieces of art work (as far as i can remember) and this is one of them.



Then one of the first rooms that you come to has some of the museums first pieces of the collection. There were several glass cases and I determinedly decided to take a picture of a piece of the collection. It was a large room spanning several centuries with several cases. It was like a magnet that one particular case was calling me. I had no idea what was in it as they lay horizontally and you can only see what is in the case if you walk directly to the case and look down into the glass. I walked this way then that way and made my way to one particular case. I felt as though the case was calling me. It really was rather strange. I could feel it pulling me beyond all the other cases. When I got to the case I looked down and could not believe what I saw.

Click onto the photo to read the sign that was in the case.








































Something totally different in another room - from South and Central America.









Does the inscribing in this stone really say what the museum is telling us it says or are they just making it up?











Some sculptures from the Parthenon in Greece.




























More Parthenon sculptures. There is of course a story to each piece but I was there for only 3 days.

























There were so many beautiful ornate pubs in the city.
















































This one of course sits on the corner.


















A beautiful timber house.















































































There are numerous theaters throughout the city.
I saw the movie Billy Eliott - it was very good.
I bet the play is great.





















Of course here is one about one of Englands greatest rock singers.

















This is the Palace Theater where I saw Priscillia.


















The little small dots in the heel are actually lights.



This link will take you to the page of the production where you can see a youtube clip of the show. From there you can click your way around to see more pix of the show and other Priscillia performances on TV, in England and in Australia




At the door they say no photos are allowed. I was sure they meant only of the stage production. So I asked if I could take a picture of the bar room. It was a beautiful room. They said no photography was allowed at all. Then 2 young girls - remember it was children's theater week - came in and snapped a 100 flash photos right in front of the bar tender whot told me no photography was allowed. But I thought if these girls can take photos then so can I. Just as I was setting up my camera, the bartender came and told the girls that no photography was allowed. But I managed to snap at least one pix anyway.




As far as I know, this is the only street in London that is named after another country.





This is not a taxi stand but it is where the taxi drivers take a break and stretch their legs.

















The world famous call box.









The escalator-well at Harrods in an Egyptian/Las Vegas style.










London's Eye








Waiting in line (or queue, as the British say) I am amazed by such an unusual glass capsule. I felt like a colorful bead in a giant Contact. This capsule is approaching the landing pad.









This one has just left the landing pad.







Now I am standing in a capsule that has just left the landing pad. I am taking a photo of another capsule that is loading up passengers. The eye is in constant movement and does not stop so you are ushered to quickly get on board.








This is the capsule that left the landing pad before us.








We have just barely left the landing pad and I am already amazed by the view.








It gets better and better the higher we go.






















































Here we are at the very top of the eye. The capsule in front of ours has a private champagne party going on.







Ironically, as we approached the top of the eye we could see that a storm cloud was covering most of the city and approaching our way. Our vision is fogged and impaired, limiting the very expensive view. The rain came and luckily left in just minutes.























































My travel partners - one of them should have been you.

















Now we are approaching the landing pad and the ride is almost over.







The fast track joke is on me. Because of the quick but heavy rain storm, the long line of people have been washed away. I had to laugh to avoid the puddles (coming from my eyes). Now I'm at ground level and still enjoying the sights.















































Take a look at the time! I gotta get back to my hotel and pick up my bags.











Speaking of hotel - did I mention how sweet it is? Well.... it is on the internet. But it turns out that the place is a real dump.
Here the door hing was once in order. At least the room was no longer that horrible green.








The art work wouldn't even sell at a yard sale.








The carpet welcomed me with open arms.

















This bathroom shelf holds nothing.







I actually had to pull back the sheets to see what I was sleeping on. I didn't think it was a real mattress because I could actually feel the round circles of each spring.






This room had 2 closets. The space between the 2 closets was smaller than the length of the bed. Therefore the bed stuck out away from the wall and into the room. What the heck does a single person need with all that closet space?!








The lovely unraveling seam in front of the gooey shower.









The lamp above the sink and mirror was missing. I'm sure the wires were hot because they were taped. Again, I was glad the room was not puke green. Notice I am standing looking directly at the mirror. Luckily I didn't need to shave under my nose because I could only see from my lip and down. And I am not particularly tall.







The website implies the hotel is family owned and has been in the family for centuries. I was sure I was going to be pleasantly surprised with charming owners paying close attention to their guest, welcoming them with tea and crumpets. My room was in the basement. There was no garden as the website says. The family that now owned the hotel were Chinese and not welcoming at all. They were kind enough though to give me lessons on how to use the key to my room. It had been copied so many times that you had to wiggle and jiggle the key in a special way before actually turning the knob open.

But the morning greeting in the breakfast room was priceless, "You lika Engwish bweakfass?"