I see a little silhouette of a man....

Whenever I get home and I enter the house, I always sing my mom this song to see if she is home. It starts “MAMA…..!”  and can turn into one of three songs – a Celine Dion song which continues “you gave life to me,”, a Spring Awakening song which continues, “who bore me” or the classic queen song “I killed a man.” Usually I just get out the sing songy MAMA before she tells me to be quiet, but this is a little thing I do just for her. So it is only appropriate that I would see the musical We Will Rock You, the songs of Queen, with my mama! And I am so glad I did.

 

But that was simply the very end of day two with the parents, so let’s start at the very beginning – because you know me, I like to be thorough…and yesterday we learned that I like to plan. See we are learning so much! Aren’t you glad you read this blog to delve deep into the inner most dimensions of my mind?! J (That sounds creepy, but you understand what I mean).

 

Anyways, I woke up this morning and had a bit of a fiasco trying to get ready in the dark (little Laura was still sleeping J ) which is easier said than done. And then it was off to meet mom and Don at the top of Green Park tube stop. They came to me a little stressed after having their own fiasco on the tube, but we trailed through the beautiful Green Park (hence the appropriately named tube station) and took in the sunny (no rain today – YAY!) but brisk morning. Minutes later we arrived at Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard.

 

This tradition has been going on for decades and is simply a processional of the guards into the palace gates to change duties with the guards that had been standing watch the night before. There is a small parade, some horses and tons of tourists piled along the streets, watching intently. It is a “must do” in London, and since I hadn’t seen it yet, I thought perfect to do with the parents. So we walked there and staked out our spot in the center memorial away from the piles of people (and certainly the pick-pocketers) who smush their heads through the gate – totally pointless to be so close since you can see everything from where we were without strangers pushing up against you – I deal with that enough on the friggin tube. We had a great view, saw the processional, had the “that’s it?!” moment, and then headed to get some lunch at O’ Neil’s, one of my favorite pubs on Oxford Street.

 

Don has had a mission this trip to have some amazing fish and chips, and I thought O’ Neil’s would do the trick. This Irish pub just on the corner of Carnaby Street (the street with all the bars and clubs that we frequent) has really good food and a great atmosphere, and was actually really quiet and calm during our early lunch (a totally different experience than going at 11pm, that is for sure). Mom and I split the delicious roast, and Don, disappointed yet again, had some fish and chips, but is still not getting what all the hype is about – if you ask me, it all just tastes like the frozen fish sticks mom used to make Lynn and I when we were kids, so I am not surprised it is not living up J. Like most things that are hyped – the changing of the guard, fish and chips, and even certain shows and attractions – it all becomes a bit anti-climatic. I find that it is the things you least expect to be great that end up being the most thrilling. We certainly proved that tonight when we, on a whim, decided to see the West End musical We Will Rock You!

 

After lunch, we walked down Oxford Street about ten minutes, made a pit stop for mom to buy a cell phone so she can get in touch with me while in Paris and then made our way to the Dominion Theater right by Tottenham Court tube stop to buy the tickets for the show. We got amazing seats last minute and for a decent price which was a pleasant surprise. We then tubed back to High Street Kensington to take the London Walks: Kensington walking tour.

 

This tour was led by an amazingly intelligent and engaging guide. He was definitely a character. Mom and I agreed that he totally could have been Mufasa from the Lion King his voice was so deep and majestic. He was eloquent and knew what he was talking about – if only he were talking about something I was a little more interested in. You see, the tour description made it sound as though we were going to be exploring cool mansions and shops in Kensington, perhaps have some time to peak in, and be shown inside Kensington Palace and throughout the entirety of Kensington Gardens. Instead, we were walked around neighborhoods and told a lot of stories about poets and writers who used to live there – which has its thrills, but after a while – meaning by hour two – it gets old. We did get to see where Princess Diana used to live and certain places she would take the boys, which was interesting, but I was a bit disappointed we spent so much time seeing such a concentrated area when mom and Don only have a short time here – I think we all thought it was going to be more “wow!” than it was. Plus, the tour was supposed to include the beautiful rooftop gardens, but they were privately booked out this morning (after yesterday, this was not surprising) and end with a tour of the sunken garden, but all of these flowers had just yesterday been up-rooted to be replanted this weekend –awesome (sense the sarcasm…). So once we ended the tour at Kensington Garden, we decided to get off our feet and have some high tea at The Orangery – a beautiful white restaurant specializing in afternoon tea. I had some delicious cake and cappuccino (not really a tea person) before heading back to their hotel to freshen up before dinner and the show.

 

Tonight, we had a bit of a rushed, yet satisfying dinner at a restaurant we darted into so quickly I cannot even remember the name of it. You see, we dilly dallied a little too much at the hotel and once we finally got off the tube (I can tell already the tube and I are not going to be friends by the end of this semester… it is so intense down there….. intense and pushy and HOT!) we only had about 45 minutes to find a restaurant and eat. And of course, there were no restaurants in sight around the theater. How this is possible is beyond me, but we ended up running around and finally finding a very cute and quaint Italian restaurant tucked down the street.

 

We ate a bit quickly, but it filled out tummies nonetheless. Then we quickly headed to the theater to see We Will Rock You! and slipped in our seats just before the curtain rose. How lucky am I? I have been to see a show every night this week! It has been amazing, but I must admit, having tomorrow to relax and not feel rushed by a 7:30 start time will be really nice. Although, I must admit, in this case, shoveling in our food – TOTALLY WORTH IT!

 

We Will Rock You! is a musical set in the far future that uses the songs of Queen and Ben Elton to tell its story. It has been running here for seven years, but we had never heard of it (I think it had a short stint in Vegas, but it not well known in the states beyond that). I had heard of it and last minute we decided why not?! AND IT WAS AMAZING! The energy, the originality, and the familiarity of the songs of Queen brought down the house. It was very much like a Mamma Mia, which involves the crowd and manages to be comedic and clever as it engages the audience with every memorable tune. Seriously, did Queen write every good rock song? I had no idea that Queen sang so many of those upbeat classics I love. Now, the story itself was a little out there – about two people who are trying to bring real rock music back to a robotic world that has been brain-washed and taken over by a crazy big-haired lady who musically paralyzes them by only allowing them to listen to computer generated songs – no instruments allowed – all set decades in the future. It sounds totally off the wall, but it was so entertaining. Imagine your favorite rock concert set to an unexpectedly funny and charming futuristic love story. I know – hard to do, but We Will Rock You! did just that J.

 

So after being rocked, we headed our separate ways to rest up for our last full day together tomorrow. We are going to have a relaxing, less rushed day, down the Regent Canal to see Camden Market (which I loved this weekend, so hopefully the weather is nice). We also want to stop into Harrods and then later, we are going to meet up with Robert and Gordon for drinks.

 

Oh London! It takes time to love you – certainly more than three days – but we are doing the best we can to get a sample of the city in, and well, seeing me might just have to be enough J

 

Love and hugs,

Jenny