Day 17 - Zac Unleashed In London

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Have a day all on my ownsie today, Mum and Dad have buggered off to Paris for the day, but I wanted to see a bit more of London, and be in a foreign city by myself, so after a hearty English breakfast I set off. Took the tube to Mansion House, walked over the Milennium Bridge, saw and took photos of The Globe Theatre, where all of Shakespeares' plays were held in his time. Then went to the HMS Belfast, a preserved WWII battleship. I was very excited to see this, as I have never been on board a battleship before, and this thing is huge. Unfortunately, it was not to be, as they are refurbishing the walkway to get onto it, and it is closed, so hanging my head, I went to the pub. The pub was The Mudlark, a pub that has been there for over 150 years. I had a pint of London Pride, a beer that James May endorses, and it was excellent. Walked over the Tower Bridge and took the tube back to Soho to have a look around the theatres, which were grand, and I had to restrain myself from spending the day going and seeing all the amazing shows. The Phantom of the Opera, We Will Rock You, and Les Miserables. I nearly went to see Les Miserables, but the tickets were over 100 pounds, so I didn't. Went instead to Ripleys' Believe It Or Not, which is a museum of oddities, like a collection of shrunken heads, a necklace made of human bones, a cow with 5 legs, all that kind of great stuff. There was also a selection of ancient torture devices, a skeleton that had the story of Jesus etched into its bones, a freak show and the Titanic and Tower Bridge made of matchsticks, and all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Met a busker on the way back to the hotel, and as he took a break I chatted to him for a while, and he graciously lent me his microphone for a few songs. Took me a while to get into the swing of things, but after the first song (Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright, the song in the first Shrek) I really got into it, and sang 3 more songs, The Saga Begins by Weird Al Yankovic, a song to the tune of American Pie by Don Maclean, but about Star Wars, Daydream Believer and I'm A Believer by The Monkees. Had an absolute blast down there, singing my heart out to the random passers by in Tottenham Court subway station. One of the most fun things I have done on the trip so far I reckon.

So, back in the hotel now, mum and dad won't be back for a while, so I'm off to the pub for a pint and bangers and mash.

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