Travel Diary

It was time to relax. We had a lie-in (sleeping in) on Monday. The weather was great and when we were rested enough, we headed to the Royal Opera House. This meant stopping at Covent Garden and seeing the neat street buskers. We caught a magician who did a great job and then a limbo guy, who was vastly talented at limbo, but seemed to rely far too much on being crass and mildly offensive with people--somewhat breaking the rules of being a busker. Hopefully, his crowd skills will mature over time.

For the show, we were seeing "Manon," performed by the Royal Ballet and orchestra by the house orchestra*. These would be the cheapest seats they had--roughly $6 per ticket. It also meant being at the very top of the balcony and standing. Yup. Cheap seats indeed. We settled in (stood in?) and watched the ballet.

*The orchestra was simply outstanding. They even had two harps. But not a mistake was made that I could perceive. They definitely have perfected their craft.

They did fine work. Great performers all around. I had my binoculars and they helped immensely. But after time, we were very tired of standing. Happily, intermission came. We then decided if we were going to continue, we needed to sit down. So we just located some empty seats and plooped down in them. No one batted an eyelash. I guess it is just an okay thing, provided one doesn't become a problem for others. It would not be fair to usurp a seat for free if it blocked the view of a paying customer. At least now we were able to better enjoy the show.

I have no real clue about the story. It's ballet after all, but I did read the program a bit. One commenter on Facebook suggested I could have researched it beforehand, though I don't like to do that much. I like having stories come as a complete surprise. If I don't follow them, no big loss. It's still enjoyable either way. I just don't like knowing what comes next. The unknown can be far more interesting.

This was an afternoon show, so we were done around 5pm. We took the Tube to Southwark Cathedral, though oddly, the Tube passes that station and arrives at London Bridge station (if one is wanting to visit the cathedral).

We circled around the church looking for the main door. Then circled back since we apparently missed it. The reason for the mistake was simple: it was closed. This wasn't noted on the website. Monday's were supposed to have Evensong. However, a worker there said it was Bank Holiday and it was closed for that.

Ah, that bloody holiday weekend. We had not anticipated the church being closed for that. No problem. New plan.

Nearby was the Golden Hinde. It was worth checking out. I saw it last in 2002, and it hadn't changed a bit. But it was closed to tours. We took photos and then headed north. Just 100 feet down the road was Wagamama, and that would be our spot for dinner. With the weather being great, we dined outside. I had a nice ramen dish, though it was somewhat bland. Turns out I'm not a huge ramen fan. Who knew?

Afterwards, we walked to Tower Bridge and took photos. Crossing the bridge, we shot it from the other side. I spent about 30 minutes waiting for people to clear out so I could capture a statue of a dolphin and naked lady in front of the bridge. It was a shot worth waiting for, though again, a long delay. At one point, after I had waited for two groups of people to leave, a lone guy on his phone just stood near the statue, right in the middle of the shot. I couldn't take any more, so I approached and politely asked if he would move so I could get my shot.

Yup. No problem. He promptly moved aside.

Sometimes, it's just that easy.

After getting my photo, we headed to the North London area and found a pub called Callooh Callay, which specializes in some very fancy and intricate cocktails. It was a neat eclectic pub where one went through a wardrobe to reach the restrooms and back room. Cool stuff.

After enjoying drinks a spell, we found a close Tube station and traveled home.

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