London - Day 5

Today we took it a bit easy again.  We were pretty beat down from the long day in Paris and were ready to do some more relaxing things.  Mom and I got up at 8:30 (after getting to bed after midnight the night before) and started the day at Kings Cross Station again.  We went to pick up our tickets and scope out how to get to the trains for our trip tomorrow.  Then we went down to the Underground station and thought we could just ride the Northern Line down to Leicester Square.  But we couldn't.  We rode one stop to Euston and switched to the Victoria Line and rode one stop to Warren Street and then jumped back on the Northern line to Leicester Square.  Phew!  That's one test of seeing how competent you are at using the tube!  Our mission was to pick up tickets for a show at the discounted TKTS booth.

Borrowed photo from the internet...I was camera forgetful today...

We knew we wanted to get a matinee, so Saturday was our day.  There are all sorts of posters around advertising shows when you go down to the tube stations and along the road.  When you ride down the escalator (the longest escalators you have ever seen) to some stations there are screens all along it showing you different ads and sometimes it will be one long advertisement that plays from screen to screen as you go up or down.  Also those screens look like they are built in at an angle, but really they are straight and you are at such an incline you really don't see them that way.  Back at the TCKTs booth, we'd been hoping to go see Les Miserables since we've never seen it performed on stage.  But either it was sold out or dark that day because it wasn't on the reader board.  We ended up picking Shakespeare in Love because truthfully you should see some Shakespeare while you are in London.  The show was at 2:30 and we had about two hours until then, so we went down to a local yarn store I had Googled called I Knit London.  Mom spent a bunch and I spent a little because there was another yarn store I was hoping we'd get to before we left.  So we were back on the tube again to Waterloo station and after a short walk, we found it.  It's one of our goals when we're on vacation somewhere new to buy some yarn from a local place and usually we try for yarn that is found only there.  We managed both of those things getting yarns made by the store exclusively called "I Knit or Dye" and then another called Vivacious DK by Fyberspates, both UK crafted yarns.

Again...not my photo
(I didn't remember that I hadn't taken a picture until we were back at the tube)

We walked back to the tube station and I was hoping to use the restroom, but it cost 30 pence to use it.  I wasn't that desperate so we took the tube back to Leiscester Square and looked for a place to eat.  There are these Pret a Manger eateries all over the place and I thought that would be a good quick place to get a bite.

This was the one on the corner by our flat
(They are ubiquitous...like ABC stores in Hawaii)

It is a fresh fast food eatery and it is pretty fantastic.  I'd love to tell them that if they want to expand to the US they can definitely start in the Pacific Northwest (found out after a little googling that they are in New York, but don't keep the same menu from the UK...sniff.).  We picked up egg salad sandwiches (with free range eggs), sweet n salty popcorn, fresh sliced nectarines and raspberries and grapes, some drinks and these pain au raisin pastries that were to die for.  Bellies filled we headed to the play.

Wow.  It was fantastic!!  It was at the Noel Theater, which is just tucked in there between some random buildings, a blink and you missed it kind of place, but ornate and beautiful and cozy.  The actors were so good and the production was so well staged that I was moved to tears.  Literally.  The stage had this piece that would move back and forth to make you feel like you were backstage at times or other times at the front.  The costumes and sets were beautiful and the British accents were spot on! ;)  After the show we were close to Charing Cross Road which is known for having lots of bookstores so we went and hit up a few.  The first couple were not our style, but the third one was awesome!  I got three Jane Austen books I hadn't gotten yet (Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey and Lady Susan), a book of poems by Lord Alfred Tennyson and a complete boxed set of Beatrix Potter books.  I also was going to pick up two Winnie the Pooh books but Mom bought them instead.

As we had headed up to the bookstores I had seen this Italian place that looked delicious and said we should head back for dinner.  On the way there was a Parisian Bakery that had chocolate eclairs in the window.  I had told everyone at work that I was going to get these when I was in Paris, but I never found any!  Well, I got my French eclairs in London instead!  We did make it to the Spaghetti House and had bruschetta (which was eh-eh) and a family size Spaghetti bolognese with two Valpolicellas.  The spaghetti was really good and we took the rest home with us to eat probably tomorrow for dinner late.

Then it was time for some errands.  We'd only exchanged about a third of our money into pounds and had both run low, so we headed back to the exchange to get some more transferred.  The money exchange place we found was close to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery.  As we were heading there the sun was setting and I got a few more pictures, since I hadn't done much picture taking that day.  (I decided not to carry around my big camera and that made me forget to take more pictures...)

We never did make it into the National Gallery, but I hear they have an entire planet saved in a sliver of time in a picture in there (Gallifrey Falls No More!).  I could imagine the Tardis being lowered into the square by helicopter just like in the 50th anniversary special.  After that errand we headed home and stopped by the market to pick up what should cover us for breakfasts for the rest of our stay.  Then it was time for the long climb up to the 4th floor and to collapse.  It was Saturday and I had hoped to get back in time to watch Dr. Who while I was in London, but sadly missed it.  :(  I guess streaming will just have to do.  Mom also wanted some pictures of the tube since it's the part of London we've become most familiar with.  Euston station has become our "home".

Fun Observations of the Day - When I was on the tube at one point today I was standing holding a rail and a man came and stood next to me and I had the scene from Thor 2 run through my head.  You know the one where he appears in the Underground station and gets on the tube and asks how to get to Greenwich and the girl says to take the that tube for three stops.  Then as it jolts taking off she falls into him and he smiles a bit like he knows that was the best moment of her life.  Yeah.  It'd be mine too...if it was Tom Hiddleston.  In case you didn't already know, yarn and books make me a happy girl!



Step Count - Carrie:  13296 steps, 30 floors climbed.  Cindy:  14054 steps, 30 floors climbed.