a day of culture and stuff

Yesterday we decided to head into London and actually see some exciting things instead of the inside of a bunch of public houses. So we caught the tube to Leicester square and then stood around confused as to which 'official half price ticket stand' was the real 'official half price ticket stand' so that we could buy some theatre tickets. In the end we chose the one with the shortest line- probably not the smartest idea really as a short line generally indicates something. W wanted to see 'Wicked' but it was sold out so we got tickets for Les Miserables. With tickets in hand we decided to warm our hearts with a coffee. It was at this stage of our day that I began to really understand that there are 3 times as many people in England as Australia- In London there was a massive line up for everything- including a simple cup of coffee.

After our coffee we followed a sign saying China town and the sound of banging drums etc. There are still Chinese New Year celebrations happening so we had the opportunity to follow the dancing dragon around China Town as it went to each shop front to retrieve the hanging piece of lettuce from the front door. Again there were masses of people. Here we found a couple of Asian grocers and in true ex Aussie uni student fashion we went on a search and rescue mission for Mi Goreng noodles. Success- we packed our bags full of the little suckers! yay!

We found a chinese restauraunt that did £3.55 lunch meals and seeing as we are totally sick of pub food (which seems to be the only option in most places) we went in and shoved our faces full.

We wandered up to Trafalgar square and popped into The NAtional Portrait Gallery- it was fairly disappointing in all truth. Momentarily it was cool to see all the old Tudor portraits that I;ve seen a million times in books but this wore off as it took forever to get through the throngs of people out and about. The contemporary collection was fairly bland and neither Tim or I could figure out all the fuss over a photo of a few celebrities. We didn't bother with the Annie Leibovitz exhibtion because you had to pay for that and we are stingy.

So off to South Kensington to the NAtural History Museum where we met Greg. This building is absolutely breathtaking - its massive with ancient creature gargoyles and blue tiles everywhere. Inside the rooves are really tall andthere are beautiful stained glass windows. It was worth the trip for the building alone. Anyway we wandered around the free exhibitions- we wanted to go ot this Darwin exhibition but it was sold out. But Tim particularly had a good time looking at weird insects etc. They had a room full of old stuffed birds from the 1800s when this was fashionable- there were dodos etc. There were some crazy things there. We saw big dinosaurs and all the things you would expect at such a museum.

Then it was off for a beer before the show- but apparently thats fairly impossible in the West End on a Saturday night- we wandered for nearly half an hour before finding a pub with a table left. The atmosphere was really cool though- considering there is an economic crisis people were out liviing it up and the theatres were packed. I really like the fact that in England a Saturday night at the theatre is so popular and normal- our show was full of people our age - which is a rare sight in Sydney productions. Its very exciting to be in an area totall dedicated to theatre.

I have been listening to the recording of 'Les Miserables' for the last decade and have always wanted to see a production-which I think was to my detriment because it meant I left feeling a little disappointed. Apparently my imagination dreams too large for the actuality. It was still great and I am glad we went (I dont think it was Tim's cup of tea). I loved the chorus parts because the music is so beautiful and I enjoyed the girl who played Eponine. But every time the show really built up and I thougt finally here's some spirit it returned to a really slow pace. Considering all its grand themes of revolution, love, revenge etc. I left the theatre feeling fairly placid. I was only momentarily stirred to jump out of my seat and start a revolution against my bourgois oppressors- to me this isn't really good enough. But oh well- I've seen it now and I can safely say the music is still great!