More London Sights
Dec. 14th, 2007 10:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
furtechThere are two foreign cities that I quickly feel completely at-ease in: Tokyo and London. I'm not exactly sure why, but it could be because they're both fairly safe, clean cities with familiar things (products, ads, etc.) and super-efficient transportation systems. Also, I am passionate about things found primarily in these places. With London, it's theater and books.
Outside of the convention, we had plenty of time to see the sights. Usually we just pal'd around the Leicester Square area since that's where the bookstores were. One day we split up: Steve wanted to see the RAF museum at the north end of town. Not knowing how long he'd want to stay, Steve suggested that I go off and get my material at the National Theater while he made the trek north.
I had been dazzled by descriptions about " Warhorse " by Fatkraken and others. The National Theater was producing--they're the same group that earlier produced the stage adaptation of Pullman's " His Dark Materials " book (ie, "The Golden Compass"). This sounded exactly like the kind of children's theater that I'm interested in: the stylized, all-out productions like Julie Taymore and Michael Curry are known for ("The Lion King on Broadway"). We're talking life-sized war horse puppets, vivid imagery, incredible designs. And...it turns out the production is on hiatus for the week we'll be in London. Smeck.
Still, I was able to get books at the theater bookshop and it gave me an excuse to see the London Eye (giant ferris wheel) and Jubilee Gardens and the Hungerford Bridge. The weather was blustery and refreshingly chilly.
On Friday, Steve and I had a free day: we had thought about taking the super-fast train to Paris for an overnight jaunt to France, but the cost was just too much (lots). So we did a walking tour of the area that included Piccadilly Circus and the British Museum where we saw the Rosetta stone and a bronze cat. The big exhibit was those terra cotta warriors from China, but neither of us had any real interest. I have to admit, when I think "museum", the British Museum is -exactly- what I picture: imposing, huge.
As mentioned before, I love all of the myth (like random dragons) and history that pops up around any corner. We walked into a shop that had ancient coins and saw a mosaic that exposed me to an obscure myth I hadn't known about ( Icarios --includes a loyal dog, no less!).
Later that night, unable to afford more shows, we decided to hit the cinema! I saw that "Stardust" was still playing in London (poof! gone! in L.A.) and I'd wanted to see it so off we went. Some London movie theaters (don't know if it's all of them) sell you assigned seats (like stage-theaters do) and you pay appropriately. As much as movies cost to see these days, they're a bargain compared to London theaters! Even allowing for the lousy exchange rate! (Oh, and "Stardust" was a great movie-- very like "Princess Bride" in flavor/story/characters/humor.)
Outside the theater (Leicester Square, proper), a small local carnival had set up, with rides and games nearly identical to those at an American carny.
Thank goodness for internet cafes or I would have been totally cut off from work! My cell doesn't work overseas and calling from England to the US is $$$! I will say that I didn't trust most of the cafes (the one in the pic was huge, clean and trust-able)-- often they are in basements and back rooms run by unsavory characters.
For the rest of the pics, check out the full Flickr photo set. Annotations and pics of stuff not worth linking to, like chewable toothbrushes, peacock-feather wreaths and more dragons!
Outside of the convention, we had plenty of time to see the sights. Usually we just pal'd around the Leicester Square area since that's where the bookstores were. One day we split up: Steve wanted to see the RAF museum at the north end of town. Not knowing how long he'd want to stay, Steve suggested that I go off and get my material at the National Theater while he made the trek north.
I had been dazzled by descriptions about " Warhorse " by Fatkraken and others. The National Theater was producing--they're the same group that earlier produced the stage adaptation of Pullman's " His Dark Materials " book (ie, "The Golden Compass"). This sounded exactly like the kind of children's theater that I'm interested in: the stylized, all-out productions like Julie Taymore and Michael Curry are known for ("The Lion King on Broadway"). We're talking life-sized war horse puppets, vivid imagery, incredible designs. And...it turns out the production is on hiatus for the week we'll be in London. Smeck.
Still, I was able to get books at the theater bookshop and it gave me an excuse to see the London Eye (giant ferris wheel) and Jubilee Gardens and the Hungerford Bridge. The weather was blustery and refreshingly chilly.
On Friday, Steve and I had a free day: we had thought about taking the super-fast train to Paris for an overnight jaunt to France, but the cost was just too much (lots). So we did a walking tour of the area that included Piccadilly Circus and the British Museum where we saw the Rosetta stone and a bronze cat. The big exhibit was those terra cotta warriors from China, but neither of us had any real interest. I have to admit, when I think "museum", the British Museum is -exactly- what I picture: imposing, huge.
As mentioned before, I love all of the myth (like random dragons) and history that pops up around any corner. We walked into a shop that had ancient coins and saw a mosaic that exposed me to an obscure myth I hadn't known about ( Icarios --includes a loyal dog, no less!).
Later that night, unable to afford more shows, we decided to hit the cinema! I saw that "Stardust" was still playing in London (poof! gone! in L.A.) and I'd wanted to see it so off we went. Some London movie theaters (don't know if it's all of them) sell you assigned seats (like stage-theaters do) and you pay appropriately. As much as movies cost to see these days, they're a bargain compared to London theaters! Even allowing for the lousy exchange rate! (Oh, and "Stardust" was a great movie-- very like "Princess Bride" in flavor/story/characters/humor.)
Outside the theater (Leicester Square, proper), a small local carnival had set up, with rides and games nearly identical to those at an American carny.
Thank goodness for internet cafes or I would have been totally cut off from work! My cell doesn't work overseas and calling from England to the US is $$$! I will say that I didn't trust most of the cafes (the one in the pic was huge, clean and trust-able)-- often they are in basements and back rooms run by unsavory characters.
For the rest of the pics, check out the full Flickr photo set. Annotations and pics of stuff not worth linking to, like chewable toothbrushes, peacock-feather wreaths and more dragons!
