Last Day in the UK

This morning I woke up bright and early, showered, and checked out. I headed directly to Victoria Station. That’s where my bus was going to leave from, and I heard I could store my bags there. Well it costs £8 per bag, and there was a massive line. Totally not worth it. Oh well.

My mother and grandmother wrote to me to say that I should try to see another play. The theater in London is incredible! I’ve never really been to Broadway, but I feel like West London is the same idea. I love theater!

So in order to get in my Westminster Abbey goal, I went to the 11:15 sung Eucharist. I’ve never spent Sunday morning in church before, but I’m not going to lie. I kind of liked it. The inside of the abbey was amazing and awe-inspiringly beautiful. The choir and the organist were fantastic, and the service was much like a Jewish service, except I could understand the words. I really liked that there was sheet music for all the hymns, so if you weren’t familiar with that congregation (or religion), you could still sing along. There was one really nice part where we all got to turn to each other, shake hands, and exchange greetings of peace. Peace, man! Of course there was also all that stuff about Jesus Christ, and the whole communion concept seriously creeps me out. You believe he’s God’s son, so you want to eat him??? Whatever floats your boat! Overall it was a pleasant start to the day, and I feel like I got in touch with my Italian roots. :-p

I couldn’t fit in church, Churchill war rooms, AND a show, but it worked out, because the Churchill museum wouldn’t have let me in with my luggage anyhow. After church, I booked it to the box office and bought a ticket for a 3:00 matinee. I chose a touching Broadway show about a struggling student’s experiences at Harvard Law School. (Legally Blonde the Musical.) When I got there, they only had the cheapest and the most expensive seats left. I decided to go with the cheapest and treat myself to a 3-course dinner-at-lunchtime (which totaled significantly less than the more expensive tickets). It turned out that the seats were fantastic anyhow! I thought I would be far away, wishing I had Jack’s binoculars, but I was in the 2nd row of the lower balcony, right in the center, very close to the stage. And the stage was actually raised above the main floor, so the people in the expensive front row seats probably couldn’t even see. I was very happy.

For lunch, I went across the street to Brasserie Johnstons for their £14 Pre-Theater menu. I had:

Seared Tuna served on Asian stir fried vegetables w/ sweet chili and lemon dressing
Braised Shoulder of English Lamb with puy lentil root vegetables, shallot puree and Madeira jus
Fresh Fruit Rose Jelly served with rum and cream ice cream


I loved that after I ordered they brought me a single piece of bread with butter. Also, the servings were sized so that you could eat everything they put in front of you and feel content, but not stuffed. Oh Europe and your not-obese-ness!

The meal was delicious! My tummy’s still happy about it. I finished just as the doors opened for Legally Blonde.

I am so impressed with how well it adapted to a musical. It kind of makes sense though. The movie was very corny and fairytale-like in the same ways as many Broadway shows. They did a brilliant thing, making the sorority girls into a Greek chorus. Get it? Greek! :-p

It was definitely a cool experience seeing the show in England. The program had multiple pages explaining American stuff (LSATs, Valedictorian, etc.) for the British. Also, the audience response to songs such as “Gay or European,” or the songs about Irish guys was very interesting. The girl who played Paulette sang with a really wonderful Boston accent. I was impressed! I wish the rest of the audience could have appreciated it. But there was the accent thing that always happens with Americans playing British people! It was exciting/sad! The girl who played Elle (the main character) was British, and didn’t know the difference between different American accents. It was really clear that she watched The Nanny to study how to speak like a ditzy American. Which was hilarious because she’s supposed to be from Malibu. Think of the word, “Malibu,” with a trashy New York accent. Yeah. But in general, she was great! The cast wasn’t quite as flawless as the Hair cast, but they were very good, and I thoroughly enjoyed the show.


(Not the British cast)

Jill Halfpenny from the British Cast. I heart her.
As the curtain went down, I ran out of the theater and made it to the very front of the coat check line. It was timed perfectly so that I had just enough time to make it to the bus station by 6:30. The weather has been really, really nice for England all weekend, but during my 3 block walk from Victoria train station to Victoria coach station, the sky opened up and I was suddenly completely soaked. I managed to change my clothes in the bathroom before I got on the bus, so just my bags were wet. Oh well.

Now work work work! Madness! Ahh!

What a fantastic weekend!