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Published: December 23rd 2006
The title of this post refers to the sign in the tube car on the way to our hotel. Cockfosters is the name of the last station at the Eastern end of the Piccadilly line so it's the equivalent of seeing "Orange Line to Vienna" in the DC Metro. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?
The first afternoon, we headed over to the discount ticket booth (TKTS like in Times Square) in Leicester Square to see if we could get tickets to that night's showing of Billy Elliot or Wicked. There are no shows Sunday, so this evening was our only chance. We had met two teenage girls and their grandparents in Venice that told us that Billy Elliot was "brilliant", and also gave us some other tips on what young people like to do in London. Truth be told, we felt closer to the grandparents in our tastes than the kids!
Since the two plays we wanted to see were playing in the two theaters in the Victoria area of London, we decided to try for ticket returns directly at the theater. CM waited in a line of about 10 people for Wicked, and I waited with about 6 for
Billy Elliot. After an hour standing in line, I got tickets for the show, so we got to see the brilliant Billy Elliot from L55.00 seats! The choreography, sets and story were very well done. The second half seemed to drag a bit but overall it was a good show. We made up the unexpected expenditure the night before by skipping dinner and not paying for any sights the next day!
On the subway home, we saw a ton of girls (and guys!) wearing Catholic schoolgirl outfits, a'la Britney Spears. It seems that some of the local bars have a "school night" where you can only get in if you are dressed up as a schoolboy or girl.
We were incredibly lucky to be in London on Remembrance Day, commemorating the end of WWI on 11 November 1918 at 11AM. There was a huge parade, and the royal family was out to lay wreaths. We didn't get to see the Queen, but we did have a great time with all the pomp and circumstance. The two minutes of silence at 11AM was incredibly powerful, and really made us feel the commonality we Americans have with the British.
After the parade, strolled by Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the London Eye. Then we took the tube down to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. The entry prices of everything ($30 per person at the tower) scared us off, so we just looked around the outside of things. We stopped for a snack at Starbucks to warm up - our first trip to the coffee chain since leaving Seattle. From here we went over to Trafalgar Square and then to Notting Hill. We headed back to the hotel to get some laundry done, but the laundromat closed at 4PM on Sat and 5PM on Sun! Ridiculous. Also the Tapas place nearby was closed Sunday, so we settled for some fish and chips at a pub down the street.
J was very uninterested to go to London, and nothing really changed on this trip. It's his most overrated city in the world.
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