A Night at the Theater

Greetings everyone!


It's hard to believe that the week is already half over. Only two more days in London, but still a lot to see.


London is known for its theater, almost as much or more so than Broadway. We were surprised to see the large number of theaters scattered throughout the city. We had already planned on taking in a show, but didn't realize how many there were to choose from. First thing this morning we headed to the half-price ticket booth in Leicester Square, not far from Picadilly Circus. We were pleasantly surprised at the selection of shows and the prices. We ended up getting tickets for Billy Elliot tonight and for Oliver tomorrow night. The Billy Elliot show was fantastic! The young man who played Billy was a phenomenal dancer. It was a great evening in a beautiful old London theater called the Victoria Palace.


After picking up the tickets this morning, we noticed we were across the street from the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. We chose to tour the Portrait Gallery and enjoyed seeing original paintings dating back to the 1600's from England's past up through photographic portraits of current British celebrities and royalty.




Back to the Tower of London we went next. Since we were not allowed to explore the night before at the Ceremony of the Keys, we wanted to go back and get a good look around. The Tower of London is actually many towers that made up a fortress and home for many of the early monarchs. It was also a prison and the site of several beheadings, including Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of Henry VIII's wives. Today, the site is mostly a museum and tourist attraction; however, the royal crown jewels are still secured there. The modern day vault is huge with two massive doors. Visitors are allowed to tour through the vault and see crowns of past and present monarchs as well as other coronation regalia. It was quite breathtaking. We spent several hours exploring the Tower grounds and buildings.


Next to the Tower of London, is Tower Bridge, often mistakenly called London Bridge. We were able to climb to the top of one of the towers, also quite breathtaking - literally, and view the Thames River and the entire city from the top.


After a wonderful Italian dinner and the Billy Elliot show, we walked over to Buckingham Palace to view it all lit up. Very beautiful, even in the rain.



We hope you are all doing well. If you enjoy reading our blog, please feel free to leave a comment. We would love to hear from you.



Cheerio!

Will and Rich