Days 1 and 2 in London!

We just finished our second full day in London. It is now midnight on Monday, 1/4/10, and this is the first time we’ve had a chance to sit and catch up with our blogs.

Yesterday we got to the hotel around 8 a.m. and got some breakfast then met the students and went on a Tube tour. The Tube is the Underground (subway) here in London. We followed the tour directions with the students until we got to the South Bank across from Parliament and Big Ben. PHOTO OP!

Then we went our separate ways and walked along the South Bank to the Globe Theatre. It is frigid here but everyone is out anyway. They just dress warmly and get out. We saw a number of joggers running along the walkway as well. Crazy people! We saw the Footsbarn production of a Christmas Cracker, which is more like a revel or show than a play. It was fun and funny, if you have an appreciation for British humor. We were so logy from jet lag (having been up for almost 24 hours at this time) that some of the jokes just flew past us! J

We stopped to grab some sandwiches to bring back to the room and fell asleep around 7 p.m. I woke up at 1:30 a.m. and couldn’t go back to sleep so I read for an hour and then finally slept a bit more.

Our continental breakfast, which is free here at the hotel, consists of cereal, toast, fruit and coffee. Not bad. We got breakfast and met our bus tour guide and bus at 9 to tour London. It was fun. We drove by Parliament, Big Ben (which is actually called St. Stephens Tower and the bell inside is Big Ben), Westminster Abbey, drove across London Bridge, stopped at Buckingham Palace PHOTO OP!, Prince Albert Hall and memorial in Hyde Park PHOTO OP!, St. Paul’s cathedral for a refreshment break. We also stopped on the South Bank across the Thames from The Tower and had a picture perfect shot of the Tower Bridge PHOTO OP! and the Gherkin (the bullet shaped building in London). We found out some fun facts from the guide. London spreads over 600 square miles. It is actually made up of two cities, Westminster and London. You can tell which city you are in by the street signs. Most of the buildings in London were built during the reign of Queen Victoria, thus Victorian architecture. Some of the buildings are absolutely amazing.

Finally we got back to the hotel a little after noon, got a bite to eat at Pizza Express (our pizza lunch cost 31 pounds, which converts to about $45). It’s expensive here.

We came back to the room and caught a nap while George met with his class, then we dressed for the theatre and took the Piccadilly Line to Convent Gardens, ate Bangers and Mash at a pub and then went to the Novello Theatre to see Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad and an amazing performance by Adrian Lester as Brick. The show was directed by Debbie Allen of FAME fame.