The Night that Almost Wasn’t
Travel Location: London,United-Kingdom
September 22, 2006
Wow. There is so much to say, I don’t even know where to start. We just got back to my apartment from seeing The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Haymarket Square- just a bit away from Piccadilly Circus. The musical was amazing, but I have so much to say before I can get there.
This morning, I got up at 7 a.m. to get ready for my enrollment. There were already people lined up when I got there an hour and a half early, but I managed to get all of the process over and done with before 10, when I finally got internet access and was able to call my parents and sister (hi, guys!).
After grabbing some quick lunch at the Euston Station, Isaac and I took the Northern Line to Embankment and grabbed the Circle Line to Tower Hill (got all that?). Once we got to ground level, we saw some pretty amazing things.
First of all, there was the Tower Hill Memorial, a site dedicated to the men of the merchant fleets and the British Navy who have died at sea. Everything there is nautically themed, including the gigantic anchor sundial and the even larger statue of Poseidon, god of the sea.
After looking at the Memorial, Isaac and I walked over to look at the Tower of London and its adjoining castle, though we didn’t end up going on the tour- I am going to have to go back some day. It looked pretty neat. But we were pressed for time, with our musical being at 7:30, and the Tower Bridge seeming a better place to go.
The view of and from the tower is absolutely amazing. So many famous and internationally known buildings dot the skyline there- the Parliament, the St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Butler’s Wharf and so on and so on. Isaac and I were asked by this cute old couple to take their picture in front of the bridge, so we agreed- so long as they took ours in exchange. It was a lot of fun- the day had started out pretty rainy and had even been pouring at times, but when we finished the walking tour of the upper part of the Tower Bridge, the sun came out and we got some pictures of the Bridge under blue skies.
After the bridge, we started what turned out to be at least a 2 hour journey, maybe more, in search of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Though we walked a few miles and caught several buses, we managed to walk within a couple blocks and miss it completely. We only had two choices: give up the search or find the theatre and miss our time at the play- so we obviously decided to put the Globe off for another day (tomorrow, hopefully).
I love London so far. I really do- but I need to vent a moment. I cannot believe that of the nearly half a dozen people we asked about the location of the Globe Theatre, only one had any idea whatsoever. These people live in the near vicinity of a global landmark and are clueless.
Anyway, our diversion proved to be pretty cool, because we crossed the Thames River by bridge two more times than we had planned, taking the Blackfriar Bridge in search of the Globe (silly Jessica forgot to remember that the Globe was on the other side of the Thames, so we had to walk the whole way back).
So by 6:30 or so, we had just made it back to the station near my apartment and grabbed (of all things) some Burger King for dinner. Isaac actually had to put some more money on his prepaid Oyster card- that mass transit card I told you guys about a few days ago- so I grabbed the food myself. After it costing a whopping 20 dollars or so American money, I walked with my mini sized drinks and food to look for Isaac. Only then did I realize that there are two Burger Kings pretty close to one another in this huge and totally crowded railway station (I’ll have to take a contrasting picture of the place at rush hour and at night- what a difference). So I walked around in panic for a good while until Isaac finally found me. We then broke out into a run back to get dressed for the musical, stuffing French fries in our mouths all the way.
So if getting lost to find the Globe Theatre wasn’t enough, we only knew that the Piccadilly Circus underground station was the closest to the theatre we and that the building was in Haymarket Square. The trip on the underground was okay, since it was easy enough to take the Northern Line to Leicester Square and jump to the Piccadilly Line from there, but the signs in the rail station gave terrible directions to the theatre and we were soon lost with about fifteen minutes to get into our seats.
Once again, the oh so aware and reliable Londoners had no clue as to where the theatre was- in fact, most of them had apparently never heard of Haymarket Square and told us to head in the opposite direction. One man actually told us that there were no theatres in the direction we were headed, which turned out to be total crap, since our theatre was in that very neighborhood- along with at least 3 others that I saw.
Well it was a happy ending at last. The play was wonderful and I cried so much that I may need to drink extra water for a week. The set, the cast- everything about it gave me goose bumps- especially the fact that I got to share it with Isaac, which I wouldn’t change for anything. The best part was actually some of the pyrotechnics and the way that they dropped the chandelier over the audience’s head. We were sitting in row G, a couple of seats off the center, and the flying chandelier nearly took our heads off- okay, so that’s an exaggeration but it sure felt like it.
With the play over and done with and Isaac and I reluctant to end the night, we dropped off for some food. I actually didn’t want to eat at “My Place”- I think that’s what it was called- because I thought the guys there had given us bad directions earlier (they had actually told us to go the right way). But we decided to anyway, since my stomach was growling- in the rush to get to the theatre, I didn’t have time to eat and ended up throwing away my chicken from Burger King.
After all that, another ride on the underground and we were home. It’s been a tedious kind of journey though, with lots of steps climbed very slowly (I’m still recovering a little from that pinched ligament in my knee). One guy in the subway actually told me that I looked weird walking- his exact words were “That’s a funny walk you’ve got there.” Yeah, thanks. I know.
All in all, it was a great day. And we have plenty planned for tomorrow. Guess you’ll have to find out then.
Jessica
P.S. Further additions to our Brit Speak dictionary!
‘Give Way’: Yield. They actually have the same shaped and colored street signs as we do in the U.S., only they say to politely ‘Give Way’, not to YIELD! 
‘Alight’: Get off of whatever you’re on. Disembark, as Isaac says.
‘Marguerita’ (I don’t think I spelled that right): Okay, this one’s actually Italian, but they use it in the Italian restaurants here and everyone else assumes that you know what it means. It’s actually just a plain piece of pizza.
I know I’m missing something else I heard today, but that will have to be all for now.
Cheers!
Jessica
