After dropping the rental car at Marble Arch, a short tube ride later had me checking into my AirBNB in Soho. A small, modern apartment, in the centre of the West End. I had looked at Hotels as well, but this AirBNB for under a grand (AUD) for the week, was more appealing for position & budget.
Most musicals make their way Down Under, but normally for a limited time, like 6 weeks in each major city. And then may not return; so the ability to see some favourite shows, and some new ones; was the focus of my weeks stay in London.
30 odd years ago, I visited London and did the usuals, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Gardens etc and I really did not feel it necessary to re-visit these on this trip.
I also knew I needed to have the time to sort out my next itinerary, make booking requests, and generally get an idea of where I wanted to visit next; and why.
So I arrived on a Sunday early November, went straight to TKTS, and grabbed discounted but premium seats for Jersey Boys, Wicked & Mamma Mia for the next 3 nights
In the week before, I had setup to attempt to get tickets for the Harry Potter & The Cursed Child via the Friday Forty; and whilst reading the rhetoric on that booking site, happened upon a link to premium tickets for the following week ! Not cheap, but a good seat, for both plays on the same day, Wednesday. Woohoo !
I sat back after getting the 1st 3 tickets, and read through what else was on offer for the week, read some reviews, and decided on seeing No Man’s Land on Thursday with the 2 Sirs, Ian McLellen & Patrick Stewart; & then for some fun, The Faulty Towers Dinner Experience for Friday night.
That left what to do on Saturday, and so late in the week, I chose to see Beautiful, The Carole King Musical (thanks to a recommendation from my travelling friends from Ireland); and Peter Pan Goes Wrong for a light hearted finish.
I had an early departure on Sunday at this point, so Peter an was a shortish and earlier play than some other choices, allowing this old man a chance to get some sleep and finish packing before having to be up at 4am. I was looking forward to giving up planes for a while, failing to consider I could have gotten a train to Europe from London.
Without getting into reviewing each show, the Harry Potter play was very well done and entertaining. Well worth securing those elusive tickets. The Faulty Tower dinner was great fun, and the 70’s style dinner was pretty good too; but the hands down highlight of the week was the incredibly well staged “Beautiful”. So much talent all in one place, telling a remarkable story, with emotion, laughter, empathy and fabulous songs. I highly recommend seeing The Carole King Story if you get the chance.
So with a week of planning behind me, I chose a trip to Geithoorn in the Netherlands, down through Belgium before a round of towns famous for their Christmas Markets, like Strasbourg, Luxembourg and into Germany before arriving just before Xmas in Prague.
More to come travellers.
WILT – What I am listening to ?
Don’t try to read too much into these WILT’s, it’s often just that earworm from my music library