London and The Phantom of the Opera

My friend, Rachel, is leaving on Friday to work at summer camp for two weeks. If I don't get a job by the end of the day on Friday then I'll be booking a flight home and I'll likely be gone before she gets back from camp. On Tuesday evening I mentioned that I'd like to see The Phantom of the Opera before I leave. She jumped at the chance to see it with me because it's a show she wants to see as well. She receives two-for-one passes for the theatre because she needs someone to assist her with stairs; this means I can attend as her "carer". I checked online but the website said that the show is sold out until early next week. I suspected they may hold seats for people with disabilities, so Rachel called yesterday and bought sixth row tickets for us!

I headed into London earlier in the afternoon in order to see a site still on my "must see before I leave" list. I also wanted to go for a long walk along the Thames, one of my favourite things to do in London. My deadline for finding a job is drawing near, so I'm taking advantage of opportunities for last-minute site-seeing.

London Waterloo train station.

The clock where I've so often checked to see if I'm on time. The signs that so often confuse me.

Pigeons are always flying and hopping around inside the station.

The crowds I've often joined as we watch and wait for our departure gate to be announced.

One of my favourite views in London - the Parliament Buildings along the Thames.

Big Ben chimes from inside this tower and I love the sound!

Video clip of the view from Westminster Bridge.

Looking down the Thames at Parliament on the left and the London Eye on the right. The history this city has witnessed is incredible.

I stopped at the Tate Britain for a little while. One of the few big museums I hadn't seen yet.

Although I haven't seen Bedknobs and Broomsticks since I was a kid, I've always thought it would be great to walk along Portobello Road. (Sadly, no sailors were dancing down the streets.) I wanted to buy something just so I could say I bought it on Portobello road, but the only thing I found was a fun handbag for £35 and I can't really justify that expense. Oh well - the main thing I wanted was a photo of the street sign so I snapped several shots.

Another quirky dream come true! I walked along Portobello Road!

"Portobello road, Portobello road
Street where the riches of ages are stowed.
Anything and everything a chap can unload
Is sold off the barrow in Portebello road.
You’ll find what you want in the Portebello road."
(Click here for complete song lyrics.)

Portobello Road. Nothing like the Disney movie set, but still a fun place.

I met Rachel at Picadilly Circus, we grabbed some dinner, and then headed to the theatre.

As a farewell gift when I left Canada, my brother, David, and sister-in-law Keri said they would pay for tickets so me and my friend, Lindsay, could go too Disney Paris when she comes to visit me. Her visit never materialized and I may not live here much longer so my siblings have agreed to pay for my ticket to The Phantom of the Opera instead. Thanks you two for an amazing evening!

After the intro to the opera, part of the cast grab the gathered curtains on the sides and part of it rips down while another part disappears into the ceiling, revealing gold statues fit for a royal opera house. The sets were incredible!

The sets, costumes, and music were unbelievable. So creative and opulent! Fabric draping everywhere on the sets and costumes. Huge sweeping staircase for one scene - that's it, just one scene! I want to know where they store all this stuff between scenes; that would be one documentary I'd eagerly watch. People say the boat scenes are amazing and it's true. The mist swirls and numerous candelabras rise from the darkness. I've seen a couple of movie versions of The Phantom of the Opera and after seeing the original on stage, it finally make sense - they adjust a lot of things for the movies! The film versions seem to try to make it more realistic, but I found the opera was more of a melodramatic fairytale - it was easier to accept the characters in that light, rather than trying to imagine it could actually happen in real life.

Click here to see a short interview with the two stars we saw tonight (Ramin Karimloo as Phantom and Robyn North as Christine) and hear Ramin sing, "Music of the Night".

Picadilly Circus after the show.

Picadilly Circus on our way back to the tube station.

Crowds in Picadilly Circus.

I asked this girl to stop so I could take a photo of her shoes.
She smiled and said, "Of course!"
Ouch.

Late at night on the way back to Basingstoke. We were too tired to smile for real so we made faces and it worked much better.