Another later start to the morning- just because we can and the holiday feeling has really taken hold. We also knew we would be out late tonight- so didn't want to end up with too much time to whittle away at the end of the day. First stop the internet cafe to print off our ticket receipt for the theatre tonight. Much quicker experience than the last time I used an internet cafe in about 1999- in, out and printed in under 2 minutes.
We decided that we really needed to hit up some more museums, since we're here and since they're free to enter. Once again we timed our arrival in the city to coincide perfectly with lunch- so off to lunch at St Martins in the Field crypt. Mum and Dad have raved about this place- with good reason. Delicious food, pretty cheap, great atmosphere in the crypt of the church and all in a cafeteria type setting. It was packed- and they seemed to be taking some advertising photographs so we may well make it in to some sort of brochure??
Wen and Jacs had the pasta of the day and I had the soup of the day with the hot dessert. Delicious and filling. We couldn't resist peeking in the Christmas gift shop and only managed to resist buying lots of goodies as they were going to add too much baggage.
Up and out of the crypt and across the road to the National Portrait Gallery. We happily spent hours here and pretty much covered all the floors. We did lose Jacqui there for a while- we suspect she had snuck off for a quick nap, but she redeemed herself by finding the only Jane Austen portrait wich was very tiny and on the very top floor. We all enjoyed the Marilyn Monroe exhibition, the Royal Family portraits and the photography exhibitions.
Across to the British Museum to access even more culture for the day. It was getting dark by the time we arrived and we got some great photos of the stormy night sky over the building. We made some quick decisions about what we really wanted to see as we only had an hour until closing time. turns out that this is a great time to visit the Museum- much less crowds and much more opportunity to linger. We decided to prioritise the Rosetta Stone and the Eygptian mummies- and happened to fit in the Eygptian statues and some ancient Persia and Iran too. We even saw some Ancient Britain- not bad for being there just over an hour. There were still lots of people but no lining up, which is my memory of being there before.
Though we weren't really starving we knew we needed to fit dinner in now, to prepare ourselves for our night at the theatre. We went to Covent Garden and found an outdoor piazza (with excellent heaters) and had a lovely feast of a mezze sharing plate and a chicken pizza. A jug of Rose spritzer topped off the dining experience (even though our waiter told us that it wasn't really the best, in a display of great salesmanship).
Then back in the tube to Victoria to emerge at the Apollo Theatre- lit up entirely in green for 'Wicked'. Picked up our tickets and then through the entirely green lit theatre and up to our seats in the nose bleed section. However this was not to be- our whole section got upgraded forward just before the curtain went up, so we ended up in the much more expensive seats for a fraction of the price. Excellent!
Wicked was amazing. It was so great to see the whole show and not just hear the fraction of the soundtrack that the kids have on constant repeat in the car. Jacqui was especially excited as this was her birthday present. Not a bad present really- West End Show in London in spectacular seats. Will be hard to top in the future however.
We emerged into night time London to catch the tube all the way home. A long day and night but completely worth it. Sore feet today!!
