Woke up at the now-normal 6:30a and headed downstairs for Lidos Hotel’s breakfast — continental breakfast. It was decidedly not great, it should have been an English breakfast, leave the continental breakfasts to the French! Michelle and I ended up settling for rolls (and myself an additional croissant) with strawberry jam accompanied by tea. Headed back to the room, where Michelle decided to relax while I went on a walk about the area about 9:30a or so.
I first walked up to Victoria rail station and took pictures of the adjacent Victoria Palace theater and its Hamilton marquee. Next up was Westminster Cathedral. Not to be confused with Westminster Abbey, the place where every King and Queen of England has been crowned since the eleventh century and the resting place for many of them. No, not that. Instead a pretty ehhhh red and white brick building that looked like something out of NCSU’s campus. I was also struck by how much of the city was now glass buildings than during my past visit (in 1996) though I did see an old pub resolutely representing the old architecture!
Double decker buses lined up
Victoria Palace Theater, London
Miniature Big Ben in front of Victoria Palace Theater
Westminster Cathedral, clearly patterned after NCSU’s style
The Albert Pub, Westminster, London
A bit farther down the road, however, was Westminster Abbey, which is quite incredible. I went into the shop and bought a couple of magnets before taking a few pictures of the exterior. As time was short and I’d seen it two-and-a-half decades prior I decided to move on to Big Ben and Parliament. Unfortunately Big Ben was under scaffolding for restoration until at least 2021. Foiled again by my arch-nemesis, scaffolding! From nearby Westminster Bridge there was an excellent view not only of shy Big Ben but also the Thames and the London Eye on the far side. As it was a pleasant, if a bit chilly, day there were people out and about enjoying the weather. One sad note, however, were the large elliptical barriers, about three or so feet high, erected I’m sure as a response to the terror attack last year that claimed five victims (and the perpetrator, but f’him).
Front of Westminster Abbey
The ten 20th century martyrs, MLK Jr. is the fifth from the left
Side of Westminster Abbey
Detail of Westminster Abbey’s main window
The London Eye peeking above modern day chimneys
Big Ben — in scaffolding unfortunately
Close up of Big Ben’s clock face, thankfully left exposed
Statue on Westminster Bridge
The London Eye, Western Europe’s tallest Ferris wheel
Fancy light post on Westminster Bridge
Palace of Westminster, location of the Houses of Parliament
Another view of the London Eye
I walked along the south side of the Thames to the next bridge, Lambeth, and back into the Pimlico neighborhood of Westminster. It was far less crowded here, quite quiet, and I passed some “estates” of apartment buildings, often with their own church and other amenities. There was also a charming rose garden. A short time later I arrived back at Lidos hotel with five minutes to spare before I had promised I’d be back, 11:45a. Decided to use that time to poke my head in to the adjacent hotel, the Luna Simone, to see if they’d keep our bags the next day (as we would be checking in with them) while we ran off to sight-see.
Lion statue at the other end of Westminster Bridge
Palace of Westminster
Westminster Bridge, London
Union Jack over the Houses of Parliament
A group of barges on the Thames River
Looking down the Thames towards the London Eye and Big Ben
Sign for Belgrave Road, SW1, City of Westminster where we stayed
Belgrave Road has many hotels, each with columns in front
After a few minutes of getting gussied up Michelle and I walked down to Victoria rail station and out the other side to try out a burger joint that I had read was popular in London — Bleecker Street. Apparently burgers were becoming popular — we had seen Five Guys, Shake Shack, and other chains all over. Michelle ordered a cheeseburger while I got a bacon cheeseburger. We also got some “angry fries” — basically fries with bleu cheese and hot sauce (though we held that). Michelle had a vanilla milkshake while I had a coffee milkshake. The burgers were OK, not the best we’ve had but not too shabby. The fries were quite good, we especially liked that the bleu cheese wasn’t chunky but more of a sauce. The shakes were really good, though the small particles of coffee in mine did elicit some coughing.
Prince of Wales pub where we ate yesterday
Burger, coffee shake, and fries at Bleecker Street Victoria
After lunch we walked a block to the Victoria Palace theater and got in line for our 2:30p matinee of the musical “Hamilton”. We chatted with the people behind us in line a bit and shortly thereafter at 1:15p the doors opened and we entered. All they had to do was scan our card and it printed out tickets for us on the spot, really efficient. We visited the shop selling Hamilton stuff first, a good call as by the time we left with our magnet, program, and a shirt for Michelle it was packed. After a bathroom visit we took our seats on the middle level (“royal pavilion”), third row. What a great view of the stage!
Victoria Palace Theater
Stage for the musical “Hamilton”
Before it started I chatted with the guy to my left, a retired school principal from Rhode Island near the border with Connecticut. He was on a tour of England, Scotland, and Wales. Nice fellow. 2:30p came and the show started right on time. I had listened to the soundtrack a few times since getting tickets but seeing it was entirely something else. The West End cast sounded a bit different from the Broadway recording I had listened to but I quickly adjusted. Visually it was stunning and there were subtle things I missed when I was only listening to it. Going in I wasn’t sure how the British audience would react to a show about the American Revolution and particularly the portrayal of their former King, George III. They loved it! The first half had so many great numbers and all the exciting war stuff, the second half has a great emotional impact and also somehow manages to make cabinet battles interesting. Really can’t say enough good about the show, see it if you can!
During intermission (only fifteen minutes!) we were surprised to see that they sold Haagen-Dazs ice cream — vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry — and actually let us eat it in our seats. Crazy! We also talked with the young lady to Michelle’s right. She had fallen in love with Hamilton’s music through a YouTube recommendation and begged her father to get her tickets for her 18th birthday. She had become so interested in the musical that she was now in England doing her “A-levels” (whatever *that* is) in American History. After the show (which wrapped up shortly before 5p) she took pictures of us in front of the theater.
Michelle and I standing in front of the Victoria Palace Theater after seeing “Hamilton”
Before going to the theater the Lidos Hotel front desk had recommended A. Wong for Chinese but said that we were unlikely to get in without a reservation as they had received a Michelin star and were now greatly in demand. They were right, and not only for Thursday night but also Saturday. They did recommend, however, a place on the other side of the block — Dragon Inn. It turned out to be a great recommendation. It was pleasantly decorated and we munched on shrimp chips until our appetizer of spring rolls arrived. The staff was very involved, even putting the napkin in my lap and moving the bowl of shrimp chips back after Michelle had moved it. Thankfully they had forks on request so Michelle and I didn’t look foolish eating our entrees — sweet and sour chicken (served in a half pineapple!) for Michelle and ginger and scallion beef for me. Both were very tasty!
Sweet and sour chicken and ginger beef at the Dragon Inn
About 7p headed back to the room and watched some TV — Grimm, Medium, all sorts of American shows haha. Went to bed shortly after midnight after typing up a few blogs and offloading pictures.