London, part 5

Crossing the Tower Bridge

Phase 1 of our visit to London - touring the city in an open-top bus - was just about over. Phase 2 was a few hours away: seeing Les Miserables at the Queen's Theater. In between we wanted to do some walking, some shopping, and some eating. But first we had a few more stops to make.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to be imprisoned, tortured, and executed there. It's smaller than you would think for a place with so much history. Once again we were faced with an unacceptably long line for the tour itself. Fortunately the gift shop was open and there was no line there. Seeing a costumed Beefeater added to the sense that I was in a sort of historical amusement park with its long lines and gift shops and costumed characters. (These guys aren't just random people dressed in costumes but are actual retired military personnel, so the perception that they are the British equivalent of Mickey Mouse at Disneyworld is probably moderately annoying.)

Wellington Arch

We boarded our bus with the intent of riding the tour around past our starting point at the Marble Arch and back to Piccadilly Circus, which is relatively close to the West End theaters. Along the way we crossed the Blackfriars Bridge, rode along the Victoria Embankment, passed the London Eye on the far bank of the Thames, saw Big Ben once again, flew past Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, zipped through Victoria Station, careened past Wellington Arch, made it around Hyde Park Corner without hitting any female astrophysicists on mopeds, rounded the Marble Arch, and headed on to Piccadilly Circus. I took pictures along the way, including one of this tiny car:

Look! A tiny, tiny car.
(Soon to be marketed in the U.S. as the "Smart Car")

Eventually we made our way to Piccadilly Circus and left the bus tour. It is said that you cannot stand for more than 37 minutes at Piccadilly Circus without meeting someone you know. I was wary of testing this theory - you never know who might show up.

Piccadilly Circus at night

We did some shopping and found a restaurant - the Miso Noodle Bar on Haymarket. This was a great little place, with good food, generous portions, courteous staff, and reasonable prices. We shared our table with an older couple from about an hour outside of London who came into town a few times a year, and were there that day to see a play. They were wrapping things up for the day, and kindly gave us a compact map of the city to help us during our visit. To my everlasting regret, I failed to give them my card with the address of this blog.

Les Miserables at the Queen's Theater was great. Jean Valjean was played by Tim Godwin, the understudy for the role, but I can't imagine the regular performer doing a better job. (I must admit that I found his resemblance to a bearded Jack Black in the opening scenes a little distracting!) Cornell John dominated the production in the part of Javert - during his ovation, I think I saw his smile broaden a bit when the audience's applause and whistles were punctuated by a certain American whooping from the balcony. The peformance was done on a purpose-built rotating stage which was used to simulate travel, provide in-the round views of scenes to all audience members, or simply allow for quick scene changes. I'd be interested in seeing how other touring companies stage the production, so I'll have to try to catch the show if it ever comes through Wilkes-Barre or Scranton.

After the show, it was just a matter of getting a Night Bus back to our hotel, or to Paddington Station, or to anything close. I managed to get us on a bus going the wrong way. We got off near St. Paul's, which is a pretty desolate spot in the middle of the night, but were able to quickly reboard a bus going in the right direction.

We made it back to our hotel, drew up some plans for the next day's adventures, and passed out.