Jolly Old England, Part 2
Recently, my wife and I ventured to London, England, for a two-week trip to see the old country and take in the sights. She’s been to London before, but I’d never been, and it was a real treat to go stomping around the capital of the UK for an extended stay. Tag along with me over the next few weeks as I share stories and tidbits about our trip—and a bunch of photos! I hope you like London and the English “vibe,” and if you don’t, you might by the end of this multi-part travel extravaganza. Thanks ahead of time for reading!
Days 1 and 2 were our travel and arrival days, and Day 3 we spent exploring downtown, including Buckingham Palace, Parliament and Trafalgar Square.
Croissants and the Theater
After our busy Wednesday exploring downtown, we took it easy on Thursday morning, our fourth day in London. We slept in and Sam got breakfast from a shop down the street called the Supermarket of Dreams. I’m not a big fan of pastries but whatever chocolate croissant thingy Sam got for me was excellent.
We got dressed and headed out to the theater in the West End—we had decided to see a show and booked tickets months before for a mid-day showing of “Much Ado about Nothing” at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, one of the oldest in London.
Avoiding the Tube for this trip, we booked an Uber that took us door to door through the busy London traffic. We arrived at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the building was beautiful. It was built in 1812, and is the most recent of four theatres that have stood on the same location since 1663.
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare and is thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599. The play revolves around two romantic couples that emerge when a group of soldiers arrive in the town. The performance was excellent and we were lucky enough to have great seats with a great view of the stage.
The Shakespearean comedy, one of my favorite, starred Tom Hiddleston and Haley Atwell. There’s an interesting film connection there – in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hiddleston plays Loki, while Atwell played Peggy Carter.
According to Wikipedia, the 2023 romantic comedy Anyone but You is a loose adaptation principally set in contemporary Australia. It stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as analogues of Beatrice and Benedick.
Wandering the Markets
Leaving the theatre, we wandered the West End and headed west to Covent Garden, a beautiful covered outdoor shopping and tourist attraction. The area was fields since the 7th century, but ty 1200 part of it had been walled off by the Abbot of Westminster Abbey for use as arable land and orchards, later referred to as "the garden of the Abbey and Convent", and later "the Convent Garden."
A small open-air fruit-and-vegetable market opened here in 1654 and it’s been a popular outdoor market ever since, expanding to fill several buildings. It got a bad reputation as an area of disrepute, filled with taverns, theaters, coffee houses and brothels, before it was reformed in the early 1800s. The beautiful metal covering was built in 1830.
Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus
Continuing west, we passed Leicester Square, which had some neat things to look at: dedicated to pop culture due to its location in the theater district, the grassy square featured some interesting statues dedicated to figures from pop culture, like Harry Potter and Paddington Bear. Finally, we made it to Piccadilly Circus, which was overwhelming and felt like tourist central. In this context, a circus, from the Latin word meaning "circle", is a round open space at a street junction. And there was everything you could expect from an area popular with tourists and it felt like a combination of Las Vegas and Times Square. Large shops, McDonald’s, a LEGO store, Five Guys – everything touristy you could think of.
Sam and I fled as quickly as possible – I don’t like being surrounded by lots of people! We headed back home on the Tube and ordered Chinese food and watched Darkest Hour, an excellent movie with Gary Oldman playing Winston Churchill that was mostly set in the Churchill War Rooms, which we toured yesterday. It was amazing to see it all reenacted and recreated, since we just walked throughout the day before! Thanks for tagging along on my trip to London. More soon!
