London Has Left a Handprint on My Heart

Well it has been a busy few days indeed! The Apollo Victoria Theatre, situated across from Victoria Station and about two blocks from my hotel, has been looking me in the face everytime I walk past. Those Wicked posters are just so...green! I had to go see it. So I convinced Dad to join me, and we had a wonderful time. It was my first time seeing the play, and the last time I was at a professional production was when I saw Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. Wicked was funny, touching and beautifully done here in London. It also helped that I got to sit next to some gorgeous boys from Portugal who didn't speak any English, haha! But I really enjoyed the story, and I will definitely be purchasing the book to read on the flight home at the end of July! This was the highlight of my Thursday!

The rest of Thursday and Friday were very busy! Mom, Dad and I decided to do the tourist thing and take a bus around central London. We did one with live commentary, which was fun. Our tour guide instructed all the young ladies where to go twist their ankles to get a husband in the rich district, because a billionare's 26-year-old son lives in one of the gorgeous homes.

Overall the bus tour was a great way to get introduced to the city. We've been taking public transportation everywhere, so I'm getting very closely aquainted with my map of the underground and the bus routes. Every morning at breakfast I lay it out, and I end up getting us where we need to go. I haven't been wrong yet!

One of the biggest negatives for me so far has been the food. We did find this lovely little Italian restaurant called Bella Italia that's only a five minute walk away. We've been there twice already, and we've only been in country a week! For some reason the English don't believe in a good breakfast--or good food, even. Hopefuly I won't starve to death while I'm here!

I did have a really interesting run in with a lady in the bathroom on Friday. All the restrooms--or toilets, as they're called here--seem to be very small in England. The toilets also have a tendancy to not flush, so I don't know if it's low water pressure of it they're just faulty in general. But I was in a restaurant bathroom, washing my hands at the sink when a little French lady comes out of the stall, obviously distressed because her toilet won't flush. She's saying all this in French, and as my friends know I don't know a speck of French. Strangely though, we were able to communicate. I told her I'd tell the waitress that the toilet was broken. She then tells me she's French, asks me if I was French--how funny, I'd been talking to her in English all this time! I say no, I'm American, and she says "New York?" I laughed, and told her I was from the West. "California" seemed to ring a bell. It was just one of those nice little exchanges that made an impression on me. I've met a variety of people here in London, from all over the world. Some have been friendly, others not, but it's the little things just make my day.

So I took some pictures from inside the bus--it was raining on and off and we didn't want to sit upstairs on the open top--and most of them are mediocare. But I'll share a few below! Today--Saturday--was busy as well! I have plenty of great pictures to share in the next blog post, which will be up shortly. I hope everyone is well!

Best wishes from London,
Kelly