We have made it to London. The first of the major European cities on our agenda! Sarah and I have always loved London and for a long time have wanted Tommy to experience it. We have always thought it would be a city that would resonate with him. And we were right.
We arrived by train into the city (Tommy did homework on the train) and took the tube right to Piccadilly Circus and our hotel. Well I say hotel, it is technically a “minimalist” hotel which I guess means it is a giant building outfitted with pods that seem to be imported directly from IKEA! Our room has two mattresses on a raised floor (feels like a stage) and the bathroom is a large room separated from the “stage” by a big glass door! It is very weird. The worst part is that there are around 250 rooms and they appear to be arranged as if they want you to get lost in a maze. There are also no windows in the rooms or in the halls (which are painted black), so it is very disorienting. Every time we come back we wonder how long we will have wander our flow in order to find our room. But, it is very clean and super modern modern, and the location of the hotel is unbelievably good!!
As for seeing the city, on our first day we did the “hop on hop off” bus so that Tommy could get a glimpse of all the big sites. We also found a really cool pub for dinner, and our day allowed us to superficially take in all the sites Sarah and I had not seen in nearly 20 years.
The next day we took in the Tower of London, a cruise on the Themes, and visited Westminster Abbey. We also did a lot of walking around and exploring sites. And then, we had a dream come true since we were students at Castleton State studying with Dr. Aborn…. We saw Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre. The original home to Phantom! And it did not disappoint! The singers were amazing and of course having the original tech made it such a great spectacle! We left walking on air, but also thinking a lot about how Phantom was so important to us as college musicians. In fact, as an old guy I can say that the original London Cast Recording was the first CD I ever purchased!
After a late night snack it was home to our “pod” to get some sleep before our musical adventure tomorrow… I am a little bit nervous.
