Day 1: After a nine hour plane ride,Took a train from Gatwick Airport to Victoria Station. From there we got a cab. Met our first British "character". The cabbie was friendly,entertaining and talked our ears off about everything under the sun! Arrived at our hotel in Bankside. Kind of late so we just took a little wander around and ended up at a pub at "The Mad Hatter". Ben got fish and chips and I had bangers and mash. Seemed like good comfort food which we enjoyed with our pint of "London's Pride" (beer).
Day 2: Spent the morning at The Tate (Modern Art) Museum. That was great fun. One exhibit was a huge roomful of big white boxes stacked in all kinds of configurations. You wandered around the room and they looked like giant sugar cubes and you start to feel like Alice in Wonderland. They also had a gallery called "Nudes" ...but because it was a modern museum, it was hard to tell...they were paintings of boxes and triangles and cubes etc. Then it was on to the river walk...lovely view of the Thames and St. Paul's Cathedral...ended up at The Globe Theater. This is a recreation of exactly what the theater that Shakespeare performed his plays looked like. It never would have been built if an American actor named Sam Wanamaker hadn't come to the UK in the 40's and been appalled that there was no more than a single brass plaque to mark where Shakespeare's Globe had been. He devoted the rest of his life to seeing this new Globe built.
Funny story: To raise money they sold blocks in the floor where they would put your name. So many people...famous and not.... contributed to these "blocks". John Cleese (of Monty Python fame) bought one for himself and then for his fellow MPer Michael Palin....on condition that they deliberately mis-spell Michael's name! So when Michael rounded up his friends and family to go look at this nice thing his dear friend did for him, they saw "Michael Pallin".
I enjoyed having tea and scones with clotted cream at the Globe cafe
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lady_marinus...m/ph//my_photos
Ended the day at a wonderful Turkish restaurant called "Tas Pide". The food was excellent and exotic and the strong espresso and baklava for dessert really hit the spot.
Day 3: Took a ride on a giant ferris wheel called "The London Eye". As you get higher and higher it gives you the most wonderful view all over London. You can pick out all the famous landmarks. Ben got excited when he saw Big Ben and snapped quite a few photos of that.
Then we walked over a Bridge and headed toward Picadilly Square. We located a Virgin Megastore and got presents for the kids there. We scouted out where James would be doing one of his concerts and stopped off and got tickets to a play. We ate at a pub called "Tiger,Tiger." The waitress there was a photography student and really loved Ben's new camera. On the way back to the hotel we were walking down a quiet,tree-lined street when we heard police sirens. Around the corner came a police escort and a couple of cars. one stopped right next to where I was standing and inside was Prince Charles and his wife,Duchess Camilla!!! It was Trafalgar Day and they were on their way to a concert being held in Trafalgar Square.
Day4: Had our first rainy day. We needed to get up to the Royal Festival Hall to pick up our tickets to all the events we were planning to go to so off we went. That part went smoothly and right next door we found a place called The Hayward Gallery where we spent an afternoon looking at many interesting photo's. One of the exhibits was a study of photographs of Germans who belong to a club where they study American Native Peoples and camp out in teepees and wear feathered head-dresses and beaded buckskins etc. (I would have laughed at the incongruity but it reminded me so much of my own involvement in the SCA (recreating the Middle Ages) that I thought I really understood how they felt. Since we again got soaked walking back,we ducked into our favorite pub at the Mad Hatter for another round of comfort food...this time I had a Cornish pastie and Ben had a Shepherd's pie and a treacle pudding.
Day 5: We walked over Waterloo Bridge up to Covent Garden. This was a lovely shopping area in the heart of the Theater District. Lots of places to sit outside and listen to free entertainment. There was a "Lush" soap shop there. I wandered around inside looking at these big colorful slabs of home-made soap that you could ask them to cut off in any amount you wanted. I had to get some of the balls that are dropped into your bath and they fizz like mad and let flowers or glitter or herbs loose in the water. Then it was on to the British Museum. Now that place is so big you could spend several days,so Ben and I each selected a "must see" area. For me,he went to see the Sutton Hoo Collection. That is a bunch of stuff an early King had...so it's intricate gold work,swords,coins etc. from about 600 AD. I love early Anglo-Saxon and Celtic artifacts. Now Ben was more interested in the Ancient Eygptian exhibit. They sure have mummies galore there and there are many different styles on the caskets so it's really interesting as you go along. The Elgin Marbles are there too...beautiful marble sculptures. Then we walked on to Picadilly again. Visited an Antiques Fair being held in the courtyard at St.James, had "high tea" at Mason & Fortnum,a very elegant store that was just lots of fun to look around. Finally it was time to see Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) in a play from the 70's called "Otherwise Engaged". It was a typical drawing room comedy except for the part where one of the actresses was topless for her scenes...Ben woke right up and I didn't have to poke him once for that pesky snoring thing he does when I take him to "The Theater". Afterwards we went to the Stage Door and got to talk to ASH for a short while. He hugged me and thanked me for coming to his opening night. :lovies:
Day 6: A lifelong dream came true. I saw a play at The Old Vic. It was Kevin Spacey playing Richard ll . It was a good production. They modernized it by having soldiers with machine guns and the noblemen in suits. Again we went to a Turkish restaurant but this time it was a different one.
Day 7: Took the underground train to Islington for James Marsters first concert. We got there at 4PM and stood in a queue until they let us in around 7pm. That's not as bad as it sounds because James fans are a very friendly and chatty group so time passed very quickly. It was a smoky,dance club for young adults...holds about 800. I needed to be in on the action so I ran for the front of the stage and staked out a good spot over on one side. Ben didn't need to be in on anything so he meandered upstairs where he might have looked over the balcony railing or he might have been listening to sports on his radio.
There was a beautiful, blonde singer who was the opening act. She had a good voice but her songs weren't really my style. James was in great form though. He has improved so much over the last year. He is so confident now,sings out strongly and his guitar work is really,really good. He's also been writing like crazy and did 6 songs which I had never heard before. I loved them all. I especially like a zany little song about his mis-spent youth which just reminds me so much of my son. He played an hour and did 3 encore songs. It was a terrific night.
Day 8:Again over to Piccadilly. Met up with some fellow James fans at the Tiger, Tiger pub(CarolM,Salchi,Tyra & boyfriend,Greenlady,Sheila). signed a birthday card for one of our members. Around 2PM, I queued up for the 7PM show. I was standing with Tyra from Finland. She offerred me something called Salmiakki,a salted licorice. I was also very pleased that I had no trouble finding lovejames who had very kindly offerred her extra ticket up for Ben (I had only bought him a ticket to the first concert because I thought he could take pictures there but it turned out that the St. James was the only place we were going to be allowed to use our cameras.). As we were standing there,a side door opens and this woman(who the others told me was a well-known British commedienne) came passed...looked at all of us waiting and said "This guy you're waiting for...he a little,pixie-looking fellow? She grinned and said...I know where he is right now and what he's doing." There were a few shrieks and she giggled to herself and walked off. Finally,we were let inside. It was a beautiful church with great acoustics where apparently a lot of famous singers have performed. Again,I sat downstairs with the Jamesfans while Ben went upstairs in the balcony...this time to take pictures. While up there he made lots of friends. Lots of girls gave him their e-mail addresses so that he could send them copies of the photos.
So,there was an opening act . A singer named Al Bitten came out and did some very nice songs that everyone seemed to like. I think he seemed pleased to have a group that size to sell his CD to. Then James came out. He did the same songs (in a different order) as the night before. But this time I was aware of his girlfriend Patricia being there so it was sweet to see the way he would look over to her during a few of the most romantic songs. During one of the livelier songs a bunch of girls kept making yelping noises, so James threw his head back and made a loud howling noise of his own.
At one point someone threw a big stuffed animal down from the balcony. It landed right at James feet and he jumped back yelling "Suicide!" (which got a laugh). He didn't talk much between songs but as he was leaving he leaned into the mike and said "I really love you all too." (Sigh...the moments we live for) . :lovies:
Afterwards,Ben and I were lucky enough to be invited to join lovejames and her merry group of fangirls at an Italian restaurant called Al Duca. There were about 20 of us and we just had a fine time. Of course, Ben and I got a surprize when we got to the train station to use our return tickets only to find the stations all close at midnight!!! That wouldn't have been a problem but it started to rain...so all the cabs in sight suddenly disappeared. We walked around for at least a half hour before we got one to stop for us. Oh,well...these are the adventures you look back on and laugh.
Day 9: The big day finally arrived. Off to the Mermaid Theater to see James do "MacBeth". Finally,a place with assigned seating, so no waiting in line necessary. The theater was great. Not a bad seat anywhere. James and the actress he had brought from America with him to play Lady M wore black jeans and black t-shirts. James wrote explanatory bits that really clued you in on what was happening even if you weren't familiar with the play. I had always imagined he would be great but even I was totally blown away by how truly wonderful he is in this role. Chills going down your spine wonderful. He gets it right...his portrayal is spot on. From MacBeth as the most valiant of Thanes to a very sensual reunion with his beloved wife after months away ...to his determination to kill to get what he thinks he deserves...to his estrangement from Lady M. and their mutual descent into madness & death. Wow! It was truly an unbelievable theatrical experience that I will never forget. It was an honor and a priviledge to be there that day.(By the way,the "special gift" turned out to be a Spike card signed by James (the little weasel signed mine right across his face!)
Afterwards there was a brief Q&A and the concert. The last thing I remember James saying as he went to leave was "You make me very happy."
Steve was asked if there would be a DVD of the performance and he said they had taped it and if the quality is decent they might.(someone said to him "We're not picky!. He laughed and said "Yes,but we want to put out a good product." someone else said "We'll buy it anyway!!!" and Steve nodded and said "I get it!" So,I think the chances are pretty good it will be offered on his site someday.
We were thrilled to hear Steve Himber announce James new starring role in "Shadow Puppets" with Jolene Blalock. Afterwards,I had dinner with about 20 others from various James boards at a Malaysian Restaurant called "The Georgetown" at the London Bridge Hotel. Very good & exotic food. Singapore Slings were also enjoyed. ..and there was a cuddly little bear involved. What a night (happy sigh).
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