On this page, you find only 1 day - a continuation of June 29th(b)
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10th day
London
Friday June 29th
PART TWO
So, I ran out of space on the other page, and filled the remaining space with some of the evening photos....
Now onto what we did today:
Left house at 11am - arrived London 12pm.
We had originally planned to go to the Borough Market, which is famous in London for its fresh food, especially in cheeses and
meats. We ended up sleeping late, taking a leisurely morning, and heading late into London arriving around 12pm. Due to my
annoyance the other night of leaving my charger at Mark's house, we also had to fit getting it back into the schedule, because I
couldn't write this blog or charge any of my electronics without it.
From about 12pm-1pm, we went to Covent Garden to get tickets for the Opera this evening. We were lucky - we walked in to get day
tickets at a reduced rate. The standard ticket price of where we sat, which was on the "Left Balcony" within 10-15 meters from the
stage, is over 50 pounds sterling. We got two tickets for 60 pounds sterling. A real steal!! It was a beautiful day when we went into
the box office...much nicer than the past week. BUT - when we stepped outside, there was a torrential downpour taking
place...which I was quite happy to sit out. Tracy on the other hand was determined to keep going, considering we were several
hours behind schedule...so...she went off to buy an umbrella; I went to Starbucks....and waited out the rain. About 15 minutes later,
after my coffee and relaxing sit by the window, watching all the frantic people running through the rain, the rain stopped and the sun
came out. Ah...England - always happens that way. I went out...and found tracy...walking back with an umbrella....in the sun. Hah!
We were rather close to Fortnum and Mason by this point. So, we took a brief walk...through Leicester Square, toward the Shop.
Fortnum Mason is a famous England shop, rather like Harrodds, but it also sell quality (and expensive) foodstuff. Here, I bought for
myself some loose tea - 6 selections...which I will thoroughly enjoy. The last one
that my mother brought over to me, I still have. So...I'm looking forward to sampling
it upon my return home! On our way back, we ran across several
hundred police officers. Apparently, upon asking one of them, there
was a "Suspicious Vehicle". Had no idea what that meant, but all of
Leicester Square was closed down...all the roads...in and out. I was
able to take a photo of Tracy in the middle of the road. Unheard of any
other given time! Tracy and I speculated as to what a "Suspicious
Vehicle" meant...perhaps a car parked in an illegal space...or a pink car
in a conservative alley...we just assumed that the British were way too
overcautious ever since 9/11. OH were we wrong! It appears that there
were two cars found outside two prominent night clubs, with several mail bombs...enough to do a fair
amount of damage if set off. Lucky us ... !
After all that excitement, we jumped back onto the underground, and headed off to the Tate Modern Gallery and saw the DALI
Exhibition. To get there, we crossed over the Millennium Bridge, and got some wonderful photos of St. Paul's Cathedral. The great
thing about the Gallery, is that it is literally directly across from the Cathedral, so getting over there for evensong later would be a
cinch!
The Dali exhibition - you know - Dali is my favourite artist...completely insane, but brilliant. The exhibition took about 2 hours, but
after about 1 hour, I was going insane. There is only SO MUCH weird shit I can see at one time, and Dali just kept getting
weird....what is it with those burning giraffes, the ants, and the cut eyelids....WEIRD!!!
Thankfully, after the Dali Museum, we headed over to the St. Paul's Cathedral. It was
just over the river...about a 10 minute walk. Mass, we thought, started at 5:30pm.
This time I wanted to arrive to a service actually ON TIME. The past three services
we went to, we arrived at least 10 minutes late. Well, we ran over to the cathedral,
and got there inside at 5:10, hoping to get a nice seat in the choir. Instead, we found
ourselves a bit late - the service had started at 5pm. I was not happy! So, we crawled
in...and were told to sit in the nave...which we did, as close to the choir as we could,
off in one of the side transepts. Tracy participated in the service; I just sat and listened.
St. Paul's Choir: I was very impressed
with the overall sound of this choir.
Although we had missed the first part,
we did hear the Mass (I'll write later who
is was by and what the music was - I'm
not actually around or near the program
from that day). They often sang very
impressive ornamented, loud and grand
choir/unison/congregational bits at the
end of each phrase. They were together-
the boys clear and concise, and the men
had that large grand sound we all try to
get! Tracy...was not as impressed though.
Interesting! At the end of evensong, although we couldn't see the choir much of the time, they all processed out, right past us,
singing the choir. So the distant sound of the choir, came past us, bringing with it their true brilliant sound.
The Mass at St. Paul's finished at 6:15pm. This was perfect, because we were just
across town (about 10 minutes on the underground) from Covent Garden. We had a
quick tea, and made it to the opera, just in time, around 6:50pm. We found our seats
in the Opera House, and the Opera "Thais" started sharply at 7pm. Rene Flemming was
the star! We had seats only 10 metres away from the stage. One of the good things
about arriving late to the show...so to speak...was that we were able to purchase
day tickets. I mentioned this earlier up there - that we popped into town and
bought the tickets in the morning, at a completely lowered rate than usual. To
get two tickets, right next to the stage, at the Royal Opera House in Covent
Garden, for only 62 pounds sterling, or $120...only...is quite amazing! There were
three acts - each lasting about 45 minutes. Each - spectacular - despite the
seats being somewhat uncomfortable, it was worth it. 'Thais' was not
performed as a fully staged opera - instead, it was as a performed concert style - i.e., the men wore tuxes, the women, dresses,
and they all used music. I'm very happy to say that Rene Flemming did not...and did act it out...and rightly so, deserved the of one of
the finest sopranos in the US today.
At half-time, Tracy and I were among the first to the dining area, where we had a nice
pot of tea - the interval lasted 30 minutes, so it was very nice to mingle with
high-society while drinking a nice cup of Earl Grey!
As the opera ended, Rene got a standing ovation - I got some good photos, and we all
piled out onto the streets to take on the London Evening! Here are the other photos
from the evening! Rene Flemming - Andrew Davies. What a team!
So, so far today, we have seen the Dali Museum; We've seen the Choir of St. Paul's
Cathedral; We've walked around London.; Seen old friends; Seen a very impressive
opera. Quite a day....we didn't stop there.
After the show, it was only 10:30 at night. I WANTED MY CHARGER! I got my charger.
I called up Marky Burgess, and he happily met us at Westminster Underground Station
- There, we chatted - it being nice to see him again - and I took a few nice evening photos of Westminster. You saw the majority of
them on the previous page, but I'm going to post them here again as they were so wonderful. I asked Mark how far his house was
from where we were, and he said 5 minutes, so Tracy and I decided that it would only be fair if we walked him home - which we did,
also taking in the sights on the way home. It took us 30 minutes....never listen to someone who says, I'm only 5 minutes away. It
was a nice walk....and a lovely end to the evening. Tracy and I eventually made it back to Kingston and my brother by about
midnight...wow, what a day!
Crisps for snobs: Sundried Tomato Basil. Perfect for me!
