The museum had an exhibit of two of Van Gogh's sunflower paintings. They were almost identical, except for a few small variations, and there were placards that explained the significance of each...very cool. We saw Matisse, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Picasso, Pisarro, and the works of many other master painters and sculptors.
We walked across the Thames on the Jubilee Bridge...
...had lunch at the Embankment Cafe...
...and spent some time looking at Cleopatra's Needle.
After the embankment, we took the tube to High Street for some shopping. On our last trip, we discovered TK Maxx (the UK version of TJ Maxx), and found a really great H&M. We visited both again, as well as taking a quick walk in the park next to Kensington Palace (Will and Kate's current residence).
After putting a bit of a dent in my credit, we went back to the hotel, had dinner in the Italian restaurant in the hotel, and headed back to Picadilly for "The 39 Steps".
What a fun show! Very farcical, and crazy! The four actors in the show played about 129 different characters. I can't imagine the amount of chaos that must have taken place backstage! The show had something for everyone...mystery, suspense, beautiful women (actually woman...the actress in the show played them all), comedy, tragedy, and shadow puppets.
I watched the show as an actor, and found parts of it hysterical...especially the scenes in which "technical stuff" went wrong (which was part of the show). My favorite...when one of the actors was on stage and said something about sitting down. There was no chair as he started sitting, but, just as he got to full "sit position", a big overstuffed chair was shoved onto the stage, right underneath him.
I also liked the bit near the end where the "bad guy" was in the balcony beside the stage. All of the actors were on stage, but he got shot by an arm reaching out from behind the curtain. The actor looked out at the audience, and said something like "Well...I've been shot...by a fifth person...in a four man show." He then BEGRUDGINGLY did his death scene. Really funny. Really creative. Another great evening of West End theater.
After the show, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the trip home. We THOUGHT we were leaving on a 2:30 p.m. flight the next day, giving us the chance to sleep in, eat one last breakfast at the hotel, then head to the airport. When we got back, however, Duane looked at the flight, and discovered that all of the available seats had been taken.
We spent the next hour and a half trying to figure out another route home. He found a flight to Boston, with a connecting flight to Minneapolis, and we decided to try it. The down side...the flight was at 9:30 a.m. So...we quickly packed, and organized, and set the alarm for 4:15. At that point it was 11:30 p.m., so it was short night.
A few hours later, we got up, showered, finished packing, and headed to the tube...which wasn't running yet. We waited about 30 minutes, caught the first train to the airport, got checked in, trudged through customs, and arrived at our gate to do the "waiting thing" again.
It all worked out...we got business class to Boston, AND, made it out of Boston on the first try (our last experience in Boston was dreadful...spent the entire day at the airport...missing every flight we tried to get on...ended up checking back into our hotel to try again the next day...couldn't get on any flights that day...so headed to La Guardia in New York to try to get home from there....ugh!).
Another AWESOME trip! London is one of my FAVORITE places to go, and flights are often booked solid, so it's difficult to get there. We made it with less than the usual hassle, and got to enjoy spring...and British culture...and the chaos and bustle that is London.
Here's hoping YOU were able to revisit a favorite spot recently too!!!!
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