Shakespeare in the Rain/Madam Tussauds/ Sherlock Holmes/ Goodbye to London and the end of our Year Long Sabbatical. It has been a GREAT ride!

This is the Globe Theatre, a recreation of the Theatre that Shakespeare's plays were performed in during the day. The only tickets that were left were on the floor (where you had to stand for three hours). The theatre roof is opened to the sky, which was not a good thing today as it was raining. We saw a Midsummer Night's Dream. LOVED IT!!!


The folks that are on the floor are called groundlings, and tickets are 5 Pounds. We managed, during the intermission, which the English refer to as the Interval, to move against the wall, which was covered by a Thatched Roof. It rained quite a bit during the second half of the show, but we stayed dry! We stood the entire three hours and laughed our arses off! What a GREAT TIME! It was a VERY innovative version of an old classic with tunes like Major Tom, and Beyonce's Put a Ring on it...Really!!


Earlier in the day we visited Madame Tussauds, which some people pronounce T-soods, and other tu-sards..It was a bit disappointing, but we had free tickets.


Tobi met princess Di..she really was not a great conversationalist. She was a princess...we knew that because she did not have shit all over her...Monty Python again (Love that line)! 


I met Bruce...he was the strong silent type...what else would you expect? I tried to look as bad ass as possible. I think I failed... 


We are saying goodbye to London today as we fly back to Boston to pick Paige Pfenninger up from Olin College. I will miss this place on so many levels! Goodbye Sherlock! This ends our year long sabbatical, and my blog postings, as we head back across the Atlantic to REALITY! It has been a GREAT ride! I am ready to be in my own bed for a while and to catch up on a ton of composing projects! 

Thanks for reading! We have been gone since last October, 2015...time to return home!

Best, 

Rik

Mormons, Battleships, and Running Routes.

After several Symphony Orchestras, we decided to go for something completely different. We have been blessed with sunny weather in the upper 70s. That all changed yesterday afternoon. Back to typical London rain! The Tube had issues one stop away from the Theatre, so we hopped out and braved the elements. 



Snuck this picture at the end and got a VERY COLD stare from the usher. Tobi was convinced that I was busted! What A GREAT FUNNY SHOW! If you are Mormon or very religious, you won't like it. The tunes were great, funny, and we laughed so hard! Totally worth it!!!


Earlier in the day we visited the HMS Belfast, which is docked on the Thames. The ship served during WW II and the Korean war. GREAT tour, especially the engine room. I could not imagine working down there during a war and hoping that you were not hit by a torpedo! 


These were setup throughout the ship. This is where the men received a small cup of rum mixed with water at exactly 11:00 AM each day. They called it Grog. The British Navy did away with this later on. I wonder why? Again, someone needs to tell these guys the war is over and they can go home. Although, being in charge of the rum might be a good gig! 


This trail is on our running path each morning through Kensington Park. Some mornings I just have to stop to take it all in. I am REALLY going to miss this park when we leave London on Wednesday.


Another sight on our running route through the park. I usually do a couple of loops around this! It is good to be the Queen! 

London Symphony Orchestra/London Opera/London Market/Street Performers galore. Only two more days in London

Seeing the London Symphony Orchestra has always been a dream of mine. I messed up...I thought the concert started at 7:30 (like all the other concerts we have been to in London) But no...7:00! We missed Mozart but got to see Bruckner. I don't think Tobi was all that impressed. She said "How can one piece of music take over an hour to perform?" Welcome to the symphony.....I loved hearing this orchestra and could have stayed longer! 


Also got to see the London Royal Opera house! A full Royal Musical Sunday! 


We also went to Covent Garden where there is a huge market and a ton of really great street performers.


This guy was a bit tied up when we saw him. He did manage to get out. I'm not all that impressed. Now if you submerge him into a large tank of water, then that is a different ball game (or Cricket game)!



This busking classical String Sextet was quite good and very entertaining, and the pieces they played where well under an hour...:-)

Brian Tyler Concert/Harrods/Legos/Rik goes VI/and Mr. Bean!

Continuing Tobi's immersion into my world of Video Game and Film Music. When I found out Brian Tyler (composer of Video games and Marvel Movies among others) was performing in London...no questions asked...we were going!! The concert was at the Royal Festival Hall and we actually had GREAT seats!


Tobi LOVED the concert and it was great seeing Brian conduct a full orchestra and a 70 member choir. The concert was almost sold out and there were quite a few teens and twenty's in the crowd. Now if I could just get Tobi to watch the movies and play the video games that this music comes from...small steps! Despite four curtain calls, Brian never did an encore.


This is the front of Harrods. On a scale of 1-10 for my love of shopping, I am at about a -200. Tobi knows this, so naturally she got me into the store by heading to the Toy and Technology departments. ( I have a very clever wife). But I have to say...THIS WAS SOME STORE! You could get lost in the place for weeks! That would be pure torture for me! 


This is a Lego version of Harrods department store! Quite impressive! Now this is what I call shopping! I also got to race cars, see HUGE stuffed animals and see the latest Star Wars gadgets, which included a large remote R2D2! If I lived here, this department would be a major hang for me! 


VI Heaven! WOW! I HAVE TO HAVE THIS WHEN IT COMES OUT! In this shot I am fighting Alien Star Fighters with a gun in my left hand and and shield in my right hand. This was after I just went SCUBA diving on a ship wreck and had a HUGE blue whale swim up to me and look me straight in the eye with his LARGE eyes! You could walk around and explore and being a SCUBA diver it was VERY realistic! BEST SHOPPING DAY EVER!!! The system comes out this fall and retails for under $700 Hmmmm.....


And yes, I even got to hang with Mr. Bean! London is full of surprises!

Later...

George Fredrick Handel/Jimmy Hendrix/Bike Tour/ and Jazz on the Thames

Handel/Hendrix House, a Three-hour Bike Tour, Mary Poppins Chimney Sweeps, a Cool Bridge, Jazz on the Thames, and a Bloody Wanky Photo Policy...


This is inside the Handel House. Handel, spent his entire London career renting this house. He could not purchase it because he was from Germany. This was taken right before I got yelled at by a crabby old woman for taking this picture. There were NO Signs informing us that we could not take pictures. After she yelled at me, she then informed us that we could take pictures as long as Tobi was in my pictures...REALLY???? What the heck kind of policy is that??


Jimmy Hendrix also lived in this house! He knew that Handel lived here and mentioned at one time that he never really listened to the chap's music, but he did listen to Bach now and again! No problems taking pictures in the Hendrix part of the house...rock and roll!


Tobi modeling some Handel House attire. It was OK to take this picture because Tobi was in it! Can you tell that this picture policy REALLY ticked me off???


We went on a three hour bike tour with a very nice English chap named Dominique. At times it was a bit unnerving as we weaved in and out of Friday afternoon London traffic. This is a picture of one of the spots where they filmed the Mary Poppins Chimney Sweep footage. Pretty cool! FYI: there was no picture taking policy on the bike ride


This is another footbridge in London named the Hungerford Bridge over the river Thames. I love the footbridges! We were told that the River Tames was at its highest peak in late April early may. We were also told that three days in a row of sun and 70 degree temps is unheard of in London! 


We were walking along the Queens Walk by the Thames and I heard jazz trumpet. This guy was sitting below the walkway playing "Autumn Leaves" People were throwing pence onto the beach below. FYI: I was also allowed to take photos here as well 

Westminster, Concert, and a Fire Alarm!

Today was spent in and around Westminster Abbey. Again, no pictures inside. Very nice Abbey with a lot of dead rich folks buried there! As you may be able to glean from my postings I am not a Royal Family fan. My favorite Monty Python line: "How do you know he is the king?" "Well, he hasn't got shit all over him." We also visited Ben Franklin's London House and the Churchill war rooms, which were VERY interesting. They just closed the doors after the war and sorta forgot about the place till someone started giving private tours and then they opened it up to the public! We ended the day by going to a concert at the Royal Academy of Music, which is literally in our back yard.


Westminster Abbey. VERY impressive with a lot of dead Kings and Queens buried there. Too many to take in! All of them were pious and good! Even one dude who killed his brother to gain the throne and Bloody Mary, who just happened to burn a few Bishops at the stake. Hey! No one is perfect, right?


Bagpiper outside of Westminster Abbey. I tried to get Tobi to look under his kilt to see what was there, but she would not go for it! 


The Royal Horseguards of London. I Especially liked the sign that read "Beware, Horses may kick or bite!" People still went up to pet the Royal horse...Not this guy, I did not like the look on the horses face! If you look closely, he IS pissed. I would be too if I had a guy on my back carrying a sword with thousands of strangers coming up to me and petting my face! Really, can you blame the horse?? 


Churchill War Rooms. This was a GREAT tour, After the war was over they just closed the doors and left. In this picture you can clearly see that the guy on the right is yelling to his commander "When will this bloody war end?" Someone should let these guys know that the war is indeed over! 


We ended the day by going to a concert at the Royal Academy of music. The concert program was selections from film composers ending with a Star Wars medley. Right up my alley! Funny story, we left during the second encore and Tobi decided to go out the door with the fire alarm. WOW was that loud! The usher (being English) took it all in stride and said "Just keep going." We did...and rather quickly too!

Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and the University of Oxford

We danced naked around the ruins at Stonehenge today! Or, we took a long walk from the Visitor Center to the ruins, avoided a $50 three-minute shuttle bus ride, and viewed Stonehenge from a distance with all the other folks from our tour bus...


The iconic Stonehenge picture. Glad that we went, but all in all, it was a bit underwhelming. This was as close as you were allowed to get. This thing is literally in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a farm field. Great though that scientists still have no idea how they pulled this off back in the day!


The CLASSIC Stonehenge Selfie. This is our second selfie photo in our entire history of Selfie Photos.


We also visited Windsor Castle today. I have to say that this was VERY impressive. The Queen has quite the digs! This is the moat, which you can clearly see is now a lovely English Garden. I guess that they are not expecting any invasion from the northern hordes any time soon. I figure if the hordes do invade, they will stop here to admire the lovely flowers and sit by the many fountains while the Queens archers pepper them with arrows. Actually, it is a brilliant military plan! 


As per English rule, you were not allowed to take photos. I did manage to sneak this one as we were walking through one of the MANY LARGE and VAST rooms FILLED with English Bling. You have to see it to believe it! This was QUITE the castle and there were guards EVERYWHERE. Heaven forbid that you help yourself to one of the thousands of gold trinkets that we walked by...


Changing of the guard at Windsor. These guys are here to guard the Queens Tea sets and other gold and silver items. The Queen was not there when we arrived so they had to be guarding her bling and not her! 


Our last stop for the day was the University of Oxford, which is England's oldest university. Of course I found what I thought was the school of music. But I guess this loosely translates as "Human Condition. Funny, that I did not hear any jazz saxophone licks coming out of any building. Maybe I could get a gig teaching there when I retire? Our guide informed us that Oxford was the most expensive place to live in England...figures!

A London Walkabout

Today was a more relaxed day. We toured some churches, climbed a large monument. Tobi had the crap scared out of her at the London Experience (not my spot of tea) walked through London, and had to take some time to do grocery shopping! I will save you the gory details on that experience!


We found Charlie Chaplin in Leicester Square.


We came out of the Tube and ran across this. This is called the Monument and was erected for the 1666 great London fire. It has 311 steps. Oh yes! We climbed to the top via the spiral staircase. You were a bit dizzy when you arrived at the top!


Tobi at the top of the Monument with the Tower Bridge in the background. 


We then went through St. Paul's Cathedral, which is the second largest Catholic Cathedral in the world!


It was a sunny day in London. I believe that this is how London folk sunbathe by the Thames. They say that 70 is a heatwave around London!

On to Stonehenge tomorrow! 

Downton Abbey (Highclere Castle)

Today we made a trip outside of London. We both LOVE Downton Abbey and have always wanted to visit Highclere castle where it was filmed. It was raining in London when we left, but sunny and nice when we arrived at Highclere. We also got to visit some of the other filming locations from the show.


In front of Highclere. The sun was ACTUALLY out! We had a VERY funny and sarcastic guide, whom I loved instantly! We were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle and there were MANY old biddies throughout each room monitoring your every step!


Another view! The castle is actually a bit smaller than we imagined. Still pretty big though! 


The monument (referred to as Jackdaws Castle) on the Highclere property. By now it was clouding up again and starting to rain.


Our guide told us that if we wanted to take pictures inside the house that one of us should throw ourselves onto the floor convulsing and then others can then take photos freely while the old biddy room policewoman is coming to your aid. I took this photo of the main sitting room while Tobi was throwing herself onto the floor :-)


Lady Edith's room...Tobi was still convulsing :-)


Outside of the church in Bampton Village where weddings and funerals for the show took place. This was about an hour drive from Highclere.


Inside the Church at Bampton where Lady Edith got jilted by the feeble Anthony Strallan! The one armed wonder!


This is Cogges Manor Farm where Lady Edith's love child was hidden away. It is still a working farm with quite a few animals around the hood!


Inside the main Cogges Manor Farm. We were told that the film crew loved this place because it was truly unchanged over the years. They did not have to bring in too many props for the show. We were also told that everyone LOVED the actor that played Thomas but REALLY hated the actor that played Dr. Clarkson.