Ever since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to see the Royal Ballet Company. I used to dream of dancing on the stage as a little girl. So, when we first found out we were heading to England, I told Gavin that I HAD to see the Royal Ballet.
Outside the Royal Opera House. (I'm so pale, I glow!)
This is the building connected next door. It's basically a big bar area. Before the show, you can buy your bottle of wine for the intermission and it will be waiting for you when you come out. They have really long intermissions, about 30 minutes so everyone can come enjoy some drinks.
I will admit that I dropped the ball on the tickets. We were still able to get some, but they were some of the worst seats in the house. We were up in the highest balcony, a few rows from the back and in the corner. We were still able to see everything on the stage, though.
At intermission, we walked down to the floor to see the stage up close. Everything was so grand there.
Our seats were way up there. :)
The rows were really steep, probably so everyone could see the stage without a big head in front (something the Capital Theater needs to figure out).
It was amazing to see. They were doing a variations night, so there were three pieces they did. The second was really weird and long. Really weird. But the third one was one of my all time favorites: Balanchine's Theme and Variations. I loved, loved, loved the ballet. Poor Gavin had to listen to me hum the music from Theme and Variations the rest of our time in London.
The next day, we took the tube out to Greenwich. Right as you get of the train, you walk into the Greenwich Market. It was a lot of fun. It's a covered area jammed packed with different stalls selling crafts and food and other stuff.
There was a stall selling chocolate covered fruit. So amazing. On our way back to the train station, I decided I wanted another one. I was a little embarrassed to go back and Gavin told me they probably wouldn't remember me, but they did.
We walked around Greenwich University. Now, I had an alternative motive for wanting to come here. Johnny Depp had been there all week filming the fourth Pirates movie and I wanted to see him. We just missed him. They finished filming there about 2 days before. :(
It was still a really pretty campus, even though Johnny wasn't there.
Next to Greenwich University, is the Royal Observatory, which is where the Meridian lines is at 0 and where 0 time is (everyone else is either plus or minus Greenwich time).
The Meridian line.
We got to stand at the exact point it the meridian line reaches 0.
The ball on that pole slowly rises during each hour then drops quickly at the top of the hour.
The Royal Observatory is on a hill across the Thames from the city. It gave a great view of London's skyline.
That is the O2 arena. I thought it was still under construction, but that's how it looks. It's their big concert arena and for anything that is traveling through London. I don't think it has a permanent attraction.
A street in Greenwich.
Gavin really wanted to see Wicked, so we went that afternoon. I was a little hesitant to go, but we really enjoyed it.
The stage.
St. Paul's Cathedral. This is where Princess Diana married Prince Charles.
It's really tall. Even backed up all the way to the street, I couldn't fit it all in the picture.
The Millennium Bridge. It gets blown up by death eaters in one of the Harry Potter movies. Gavin wouldn't let me pretend to be getting blown up by a death eater. :(
This is Leadenhall Market. We got there after it was closed, but it looked like it was a lot of fun.
This is where they filmed the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter (noticing a theme in my posts?)
We got a night shot of the London Tower.
The Tower Bridge.
Another thing I really wanted to do in London while we were here was take a Jack the Ripper tour. Gavin almost didn't come with me, but he did and had a great time.
This is the original city wall. On one side (the opposite from where we were standing), the really rich area of the city began. On the side we were standing on, was the really poor and dangerous area of the city.
This is the original city wall. On one side (the opposite from where we were standing), the really rich area of the city began. On the side we were standing on, was the really poor and dangerous area of the city.
Under the bridge, on the left side was a pub. You can see the door. This pub was frequented by prostitutes to warm up during the night and meet potential customers. His first victim was seen leaving this pub to get some more money to drink and was found dead later.
This is St. Botolph's church. Back then it was known as the prostitute's church. Nice, eh? Prostitution was only illegal if you stopped walking, so the prositutes would conitnuously walk around the church waiting for customers. His second victim, Catherine Eddowes, was picked up here from who they believe was Jack the Ripper the night she was murdered.
This is Mitre Square. This is where Jack the Ripper murdered Catherine Eddowes and left her body. The Police were only about 30 minutes behind Jack the Ripper.
This building used to be a cheap apartment building. The entrance used to be where the Happy Days shop is. Jack the Ripper dropped a piece of cloth with a victim's blood there.
A narrow street that Jack the Ripper used to escape the police.
The Ten Bells was the pub where they believe that Jack the Ripper met one of his victims and that he frequented a lot.
The interior is still original.
We had no idea where we were once the tour ended (we still aren't sure, even after looking at a map) and we were really hungry, so we started looking around for either a place to eat or a tube station. We ended up at this bar that served Indian food. I had Ginger Beer, which tasted a lot like ginger ale, but a lot sweeter.
The next morning, we went to see if we could get a better spot to see the Changing of the Guard. It was much more crowded this time than the last time we went.
It was a very interesting ceremony. It lasted a long time. It was still going on when we left 45 minutes after it started.
There was a band that played a few songs. They even played a Beatles song.
After the Changing of the Guard, we went to the art museum in Trafalgar Square. They were doing some military ceremony while we were there.
We couldn't take any pictures in the art museum, but it was really enjoyable.
There was a Mad Hatter Tea Party outside of the Hamleys Toy Store.
Oxford Street was getting ready for Christmas (this was before Halloween).
We checked out Selfridges on Oxford Street. I love the entrance to the Shoe Lounge.
Before our train back to Bristol, we walked around Hyde Park. There was a beautiful sunset that night.
On the corner of Hyde Park is Speakers Corner. Every Sunday, people can stand on a box and debate anything they want with people. This is where the phrase "standing on your soap box" comes from. The Jesus people were there that week. The guy on the box was debating with some teenagers about why God gave us agency. The boys were saying that if God wanted us to be happy, he would just make sure we did things that made us happy. They were really just trying to take the opposite view on the Jesus guy.
We really love Hyde Park. It's such a nice place to walk around.
There is a lake in the middle and there is a Princess Diana monument nearby, but we couldn't find it.
Gavin enjoyed this trip so much better than the last one. London has become one of our favorite cities.
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