Day Twenty-Six from Melissa - On the Town

You know we have required walks to do here. Well, they're due on Tuesday and we had one walk left. So off we went to tour the theater district. 

We started at Charing Cross. That's a picture of it. It's a replica of the one King Edward built in honor of his wife Eleanor when she died. 

Then of course, it started to rain. Rather heavily. I was wearing my thick coat, so I wasn't cold, but it doesn't have a good and I couldn't carry my umbrella because of crutches, so my hair and pants got pretty wet. So did our guidebook, actually. 

Miriam took pity on me and did my hair in a braid to keep it contained. Actually, I'm probably one of the few girls whose sister has braided her hair as they huddled out of the rain beneath the portico of BBC's headquarters. 

That's it right there. 

This is my store. Mine, all mine!

Because it was Saturday, everything was like a huge carnival. There were street musicians and magicians and beggars and booths - it was very crowded. 

I bought a toffee apple. I had to have it. I've never had a toffee apple before. I most likely never will again, either. 

You've had those red hard candy suckers?  Yes, well imagine an apple dipped in that stuff and solidified. It was like a Tootsie apple pop. It was incredibly hard to eat without looking like a messy vampire, and I had to lick and lick and lick to get to the apple. 

It was really fun!

Miriam says it's a smart way to keep kids quiet and busy and healthy. 

Anyway, this is me at Trafalgar Square. 

Trafalgar Square is kind of in the middle of everything. It has two large museums bordering it, as well as a church. In the middle, behind me in the picture, is a tall stone spire with a statue of Lord Nelson on the top. He's kind of their national hero. Off to one side of the square, if you walk far enough, is the Thames and Parliament and Westminster Abbey.  Off the other side branches the theater district, Soho, and Chinatown. 

 Their policemen have the best helmets!

Oh, here is the poster for 39 Steps that we saw the other night. I told you yet was a spoof. This poster typifies it precisely. 

Then we went down to Chinatown. It's only a street or so long, but it is very Chinese, with arches in the street and signs in Chinese, even the street signs!

We went to a bakery and got a moon cake. 

I'm pretty sure we were the only ones in there who didn't know what we wanted and/or didn't speak Chinese. The moon cake was good though. We both wanted to try red bean paste, and moon cakes have that inside. 

It was pasty inside, with a good texture, and sweet without being sickly. You know how the inside of a bean is a bit mealy?  That's how this was. Very, very good though. I'd eat another without hesitation, given the chance. 

Finally, we finished the walk. It's the fifth of five due by Tuesday, and I can't tell you how glad I was to be done!  My foot put a hitch into the assignment, and Miriam and I lost a week because of it, but we made it!

This next photo kind of typifies what I see a lot of. Look at the sign saying SOUVENIRS and the carved one right above it. Everywhere you can see repurposed buildings and this is just a rather obvious example. 

Anyway, after that Miriam and I went to get dinner. I had a tuna cheese sandwich with capers in it. It tasted interesting but okay. 

Then we went for gelato. Miriam heard about this place ages ago, and we've been wanting to go. 

There's not really a limit on how many flavored you can get. You tell them what size, and then which favors, and they do this. 

Yes, that's a flower. They make a flower out of the ice cream!  It's tasty too. 

After that, we went to a show. We'd been wanting to see something musical, romantic, funny, and clean - which can be hard to find. Discouraged, we'd been drifting around looking at ticket sales booths, and I saw a pamphlet advertising what was on. 

Miriam picked it up, took one look, and found the perfect show. 

Pirates of Penzance. 

It was perfect. We were in the back row of the balcony in the fanciest theater I've ever seen in my entire life, and it sounded marvelous. 

I was especially intrigued to see how it would be portrayed. I've seen Pirates done a few times, both live and on video, as well as other Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. Most of the time, they're played with a great deal of humor, including slapstick, changed lines, and general comedic intent. But we passed Sullivan's memorial the other day, and it was obvious he had a great deal of public respect. So I wondered how they would do it. 

I've never heard professional opera singers do Gilbert and Sullivan live. It was fascinating - they were all so good. There was some acted comedy - the daughters hopping on one foot with their shoe off for example - but most of it was the written-in comedy that belonged in the lines.

And people laughed at it!

Lines like "tonight he dies/or early tomorrow" brought a chuckle and I had to sit and think why it might be funny. 

And at the end SPOILERS when Queen Victoria's picture was unveiled, the audience just laughed and laughed at it.  It's a funny part, that's true, and I love it myself, but it was different listening to it and realizing that many people in the audience currently live under a monarchy with a queen. A queen who is, in fact, about to out-reign Queen Victoria in September. END SPOILERS. 

In the end, very satisfying and well worth it, and I really enjoyed the evening.  The costumes were great, the sets were unusual but effective, and spending time with my sister is always a huge plus.