A few months ago, my mom sent me an email with a link to an article on CNN where Monty Python announced they were planning to do their first live stage show since 1980. At first I thought, "Huh. That's kind of cool," but didn't go past that initial reaction. But after a few days of this idea brewing inside of me, I knew without a doubt I wanted, needed to go see this show. This would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see something I love, something which shaped so much of my sense of humor, defined my high school years. The day tickets went on sale, Josh and I both spent our lunch hours at work trying to get through online to buy tickets without success. By the time we got home, Monty Python had announced they were adding multiple shows, and there were plenty of tickets available. We got tickets for ourselves for the second show, July 2nd. July 2nd happened to be a Wednesday, the middle of the week. Somewhat inconvenient given the show was in London. Instantly we decided this would turn into an entire trip to London surrounding the Monty Python show. Our planning expanded a bit to include Josh's friend and co-worker Todd. Todd had been stationed in England ten years ago, and was looking for an opportunity to go back. I thought inviting Todd would give us someone with knowledge to help us navigate London, and it would give someone for Josh to hang around with if I decided to go to any theater shows (which I did). Todd turned out to be the perfect addition to our trip.
Our plan was to be in England for one week - Saturday to Saturday. When I was searching for plane tickets I was having a hard time finding anything reasonably priced because our trip was in the summer- high tourist time. In non-high season it is possible to find cheap tickets to London on Ryan Air, exceptionally cheap - but in this search I couldn't find anything cheap. I was surprised to find I could get us tickets on a "real" airline for the same price as Ryan Air. I was excited for the free checked bag and the non-cattle call atmosphere of a regular airline versus Ryan Air. Any excitement I had disappeared when I saw our airplane - a Q400 - which is a propeller airplane. I have flown on these frequently - they are the aircraft flown into Montana. I have always hated them. This time it was no different. Luckily our flight was only an hour, and before I knew it we were in London.
I had rented an apartment for us to share while we were in London - it was the same price, if not a bit cheaper than a hotel, and we had the added advantage of having a kitchen. An apartment also gave us two bedrooms and two bathrooms, so a bit of privacy for each of us. Our apartment was also just a few blocks from an underground station, so navigating the city was a cinch. I was quite pleased with how it turned out.
We got a bit settled, and found a grocery store to get some basic staples for our stay. By then it was later afternoon, and we were trying to figure something to do. It was a cool, rainy afternoon. We decided to go to the Natural History Museum as it was only two tube stops away from the apartment. I should add here - another thing about this trip was we were planning to do things beyond the basic tourist stops. I had been to London before, and on that trip I had a chance to see most of the usual tourist sights, but I hadn't had a chance to do much beyond sightseeing. I wanted to spend time in some museums and see sights outside of London. However, going to a museum on a rainy Saturday afternoon may not have been the best idea... When we got to the museum there was a long line to get inside. The line moved pretty quickly - we only stood in line for about twenty minutes. As expected the museum was crawling with people. But, it was still neat to see - dinosaurs, animals, and gemstones - oh my!
After our time in the museum, we decided to head towards the theater where I was seeing a show. A general theme for this trip - every night I would see a show. The boys would help me find the theater, then would go find a pub close by to drink at until I was done. Everyone was happy with this set-up. I got to see my shows and didn't have anyone asking questions, whining, or complaining about having to see musicals, and the boys got their fill of beer. Win-win. After we found the theater where my show was going to be, I went with the boys to find a pub since I had some time before my show started. The rain had stopped, and the sun was peaking through the clouds. We found an outdoor table at a pub around the corner from the theater. I love everything about English pubs. They have such character.
That evening I saw The Pajama Game. I have always enjoyed the movie adaptation of the musical, and I was excited to see it on the stage. It was fabulous. Excellent costumes, wonderful dancing. It was just perfect. I was somewhat nervous, at first, to see a show by myself. However, it was fine. Liberating, even. I really enjoyed myself.
The next morning we decided to start out the day at the British Museum. I wanted to go here because of the extensive Egyptian collection they have. Like many major museums, you could spend days in the British Museum or you could return multiple times and still not see everything. Some of the highlights we saw were the Rosetta Stone, and an extensive collection of mummies and sarcophagus. I am glad we arrived at the museum when it opened, because by the time we left there was quite a crowd gathering.
After we finished with the museum (well, I wouldn't say finished - there was still a lot of things we didn't see, but we were done) we decided to go find Abbey Road. Todd is a big music person and a Beatles fan like myself. He has been to Abbey Road before, so he lead the way. We had to walk quite a bit to get there, but once we arrived it was easy to spot the intersection we wanted because there were clusters of people on either side of the street.
To answer the question burning in your mind - no, I did not walk across the road. After standing on the corner for five minutes watching other people attempt to cross the road and almost hit by buses, cars, and had numerous motorists honk at people strolling across the street... I honestly didn't feel like putting up the fight to get the photo. I also am selfish and didn't want eight other people in my picture of me trying to cross Abbey Road. And honestly, I am okay with this.
It was starting to rain, and we took a break with afternoon tea. When in England... On our way to the underground we passed by 221B Baker Street, and saw many Sherlock Holmes inspired artifacts.
We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon showing Josh some of the London highlights and must-sees - Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the Eye of London.
After our sightseeing walk, we decided to wait out a rain shower by having a pint at a pub. Again, I can't tell you how much I love British pubs.
Once the rain had passed, we made our way to Picadilly Circus to find my theater for the night. I saw Jersey Boys. Many people I know have seen this, and I have always heard positive things about it. In fact, I don't think I have ever heard bad feedback about Jersey Boys. There is a reason for this - it is fantastic! The music was simply amazing - a wonderful show. When the show was over I picked up the boys from the pub they were camped out in, and we went home. As I said, everyone was happy: I had my fill of musicals and they had their fill of beer.
A friend of mine lives in England, and when I was planning this trip I had asked for her input. Her comment to me was to not spend all of my time in London, but to get out and see the English countryside. I had been looking for ideas of places to go when I stumbled upon two separate tour deals. The first tour we took was a day long tour which took us from London to Leeds Castle, then to the white cliffs of Dover, followed by Canterbury, and then Greenwich. We got up early in the morning and took the tube to a coach station. We then met up with the tour company and got on a large coach bus with our tour guide. Our first stop was Leeds Castle, where we had a guided tour. The inside of the castle had been remodeled/decorated in the early 1900s, and you could see many of the new, modern touches. Leeds Castle was interesting as it is completely different from the castles we have seen in Germany. The architecture was different, and most of the castles in Germany either have period-style decor, or no decor at all. That being said, I loved Leeds Castle. The area surrounding the castle was lush green with ponds, trees, and flowers.
After our tour at the castle we drove to Dover. We only had a short stop in Dover where we had a chance to walk along the coastline and take pictures of the white cliffs of Dover. It was a bright, clear day, and in the far distance you could see the coast of France. Of course the pictures I took of this didn't turn out, but you could see it. I was most fascinated by the beach - it was made up of small stones, which were a bright caramel color. The cliffs were, of course, impressive. They stand up to their iconic status.
We then went to Canterbury. I will be honest - I didn't really know what to expect at Canterbury. All I know about Canterbury is the title of the Canterbury Tales. Canterbury turned out to be an absolute delight. The part of the old town where we were was exactly what I would have thought of an English village - narrow, winding lanes with half-timber houses and businesses. Part of our tour group went through the Canterbury Cathedral, which is the seat of the Church in England. I love going into churches and seeing all of the stained glass, artwork, and architecture. However, the cathedral was charging ten pounds per person as an entrance fee. I have a hard time paying money to see a church (with the exception of Sangrada Familia in Barcelona as the entrance fee helps to fund the continued building of the basilica). We decided to pass on the Cathedral. Instead we had tea at an outdoor cafe. With afternoon tea you are served tea, a scone with clotted cream (sweet, whipped butter), and jam. Ohhhh my goodness is it ever delicious! After our tea we wandered through the streets of Canterbury and along the banks of the river. Cute, charming, delightful - words needed to describe this place.
After our time in Canterbury, our tour took us to Greenwich. Greenwich is right outside of London, and it is where the Royal Conservatory is, as well as the spot where the prime meridian runs. Our tour guide led us through some of the highlights near the river bank of Greenwich before we had some free time. However, we only had a small amount of free time (as in, not enough time to do anything). Instead of running around we decided to have a pint at a pub instead (do you see the trend here?). Even with the short time there, we all liked Greenwich and decided to return on another day to spend more time there.
At the conclusion of the tour we were suppose to take a boat ride of the Thames River to London. However, I had theater tickets (surprise!) and I wouldn't have enough time to get to my show. Todd and Josh took the river cruise, and I got directions to take the tube back into the city. I went to see Les Miserables - a theater staple. Surprisingly, I have never seen this show. I have seen two different movie adaptations of it, but I have never seen it live. I will say the show lives up to all of it's hype. The actors had incredibly powerful voices, the set was genius, and it was interesting to watch how it it flowed from scene to scene. Amazing. After my show I found the boys at a near-by pub and took them home.
The next morning was our second tour. We retraced our steps early in the morning back to the coach station. This time our tour was taking us to Stratford-On-Avon (the birthplace of Shakespeare), the Cotswalds, Bath, and Stonehenge. Our tour guide for this trip was absolutely one of the funniest tour guides I have ever been with. As our coach was leaving the station and headed up the road he said, "By law, I must tell you it is recommended to wear your seat belt. But if you don't want to, or if it isn't comfortable, you don't have to. As a tour guide I am not suppose to stand up in the coach while it is moving, but I do. Many people in England don't follow the law. Probably because our policemen don't carry guns and are incredibly polite." Thus started our trip. We heard hilarious comments like this all day long.
Our first stop was Stratford-On-Avon. Like Canterbury, I didn't necessarily have any desire to see this place, but I was surprised. Like Canterbury, Stratford-On-Avon is a very cute little area with old clapboard houses and businesses. Most of our time was spent at Shakespeare's house, where we had a guided tour and heard a live performance of some sonnets. There wasn't much time to do anything once we were done at the Shakespeare house, but I made sure to take pictures of the area. So cute!
In the room where Shakespeare was born, the windows had signatures on the glass. It was said if you wanted to be a writer, you went and scratched your name on the glass for good luck. There were signatures from Robert Frost and Charles Dickens, to name a few.
Our next stop was the Cotswalds, but it wasn't really a stop. We were simply driving through this area. The Cotswalds run in an area close to the border with Whales. It is what you may picture when you think of England - rolling green hills, areas woods, small villages, farms. It was beautiful. Since the bus didn't stop, I didn't get any pictures of this area, and I didn't attempt any pictures through the windows. The drive did get a little long, and we all dozed off for awhile.
After a bit we arrived in Bath. Bath is an old holiday resort/spa town. This is the hometown of Jane Austin, and Bath definitely reminded me of my mental picture of Jane Austin novels I have read. It was graduation while we were there, so the tourist areas were even more crowded than usual. We walked through the pedestrian areas around the cathedral, then walked along the edge of the river and looked over the gardens before we had a late lunch. Batch is beautiful and charming. At some point I would love to go back there and spend some more time.
Our final stop of the day was Stonehenge. The only thing Josh and Todd had said during my planning was they wanted to see Stonehenge. Stonehenge is about an hour from London, and there is no real easy way to get to it unless you drive or take a tour. We arrived right before it closed to the public, which was perfect. Most of the crowds had left, and the sun was breaking through the clouds as it started to set. It made for perfect pictures. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the sight, while simple, has its own beauty. It is in a way peaceful and yet a bit eerie. I took oodles of pictures trying to capture it from all different angles.
Our bus then took us back to London. We arrived back to the city late - around 8:30 PM. We went to dinner at a restaurant our tour guide had recommended to me as a theater fan. It is a restaurant that buys set pieces and props from shows when they are done running and has used these pieces to decorate. The interior honestly looks like a crazy, tacky hodge-podge of glitter, gold, and crap. I never saw anything specific that I could recognize from one specific show, but it was still neat to see. We went back to the apartment and crashed. Two full, long days and we were exhausted. We agreed to sleep in the next morning.
Sleep in we did. By the time we were all up and ready to go, it was close to lunchtime. We decided to grab some lunch. We went to a pub recommended by Rick Steves, and it ended up being one of my favorite pubs. We had fish and chips - delicious! I also had a magnificent Monty Python Pale Ale.
After our lunch we decided to go look at the London Tower and Tower Bridge. When we arrived, since it was after noon, there was quite the line to get into the London Tower. Todd had already been there multiple times, and Josh and I decided we were content this visit to simply walk around the outside. We walked across Tower Bridge, which was something I didn't get to do the first time I was in London.
We made our way back to Greenwich to do the things we had missed the other day. We walked back around the water front, then made our time up to the Conservatory. We all wanted to see the Prime Meridian. You have to pay to go inside of the Conservatory. There are some exhibits about early astrology and map making, which I didn't find all that interesting. Basically the entire courtyard of the Conservatory was full of people waiting to take their picture standing over the Prime Meridian. Seriously. There were people EVERYWHERE. The place was jam-packed, and everyone was standing around waiting for their turn to take a picture. I didn't want to wait in line, so I just snapped a few pictures and called it good. As we were leaving we found another area with the prime meridian line where we could take our pictures. The Conservatory is on top of a hill, which provided a good view of Greenwich. Right below was a beautiful park. I am glad we went back.
We spent the later half of the afternoon in the shade at a pub (surprise!). After enjoying our drinks, Josh and I left for the Monty Python show. Todd was content to go find himself another pub somewhere in London. The moment had finally arrived - the whole reason behind our trip! I was so excited - obnoxiously excited. I had the jitters and was talking a mile a minute. To make matters worse - our ticket confirmation stated a 6:00 PM time. We arrived around 5:30 and got our tickets. The doors opened at 6:00, and we found our seats... and then discovered the show started at 7:30. Whoops. It did give me a chance to take some pictures before the show started. It was actually a lot of fun to be at a place where everyone was a huge geek/fan like you. Everyone was excited! We started talking to a couple seated behind us (and dressed up) who had flown out from California for the show. I had said when we bought tickets that I didn't care what the price was... and with the seats/view we had, I stood by that statement.
Thew view behind us - this place held 16,000 people (so we were told) and it was sold out.
The show was everything I could have hoped for. It was fantastic. Best of all, it was well thought out. Some of the best, most well known skits were performed. As transitions between scenes there was either songs/dances, clips showing other old sketches, or old cartoons played. I spent the entire show laughing. It was just amazing to be able to see the group live, to be a witness to the performance. I was sad when it ended, but also giddy. Another item checked off my bucket list.
The next morning we packed up our things and checked out of our apartment. We went to the train station and went north to York. My friend living in England had suggested York as a possible destination. York was a two hour train ride away. We arrived before noon, and it was about a ten minute walk to our apartment. On the way to our apartment, Josh and I saw a business with the word "Missoula" above the door. After we checked in to our apartment and dropped off our bags, our first stop was Missoula to see what it was. Missoula turned out to be a bar/restaurant. It was open and not busy, so we went inside. I started talking to one of the bartenders and explained that my husband and I were from Missoula, Montana - the name of the bar. I asked how it was named. The bartender said the owner traveled around the states, and spent time in Montana, and just loved the area, loved the hospitality he experienced while he was there. The owner wanted to recreate this, so he built the bar and named it Missoula. Hmmm. In York, England we found Missoula, Montana.
We then took off to explore York on our own. York, like a lot of European cities, has an old city wall. York also had many pedestrian areas with narrow, winding lanes full of shops. There is a large, beautiful cathedral, and a small, abandoned shell of a castle. As we were wandering around, we stumbled upon a free city walking tour which was about to start. We went along for the tour, and learned a lot about the history of York. Due to its location, York has always been involved in political play, and it has been the stronghold of the north. Because of this there has been multiple battles and various military holds in York. York was also the birthplace of Guy Fawkes (V for Vendetta). Our tour guide was exceptionally knowledgeable, and definitely made us feel like we got the most out of our short time in York.
After our tour we went to a local pub for ales and burgers. Josh ordered a horse burger. Yes, horse. Todd ordered a wild boar burger. I stick with plain beef. And no, I did not sample their burgers. After dinner we walked around town a bit more before going back to the Missoula bar to enjoy a few more beers. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.
The next morning we went out to find some breakfast, then did some last minute walking around town and shopping. We took the train back to London around noon, then went to find our hotel. Our last hotel was closer to the airport, so it was a bit out of the city. After we got checked into the hotel and dropped off our bags, we went back into London and back to the Black Friar pub to have some beers and fish and chips. We sat there enjoying ourselves watching some World Cup soccer (not that any of us cared). Then we parted ways - I had one last show to see, and the boys were going to go to a Jack the Ripper walking tour. I saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - a recommendation which came from my dear friend Kirsten. I trust her opinion on theater things, and I am so glad I went with her suggestion - the show was wonderful. Good music, good dancing, and hilarious. It was a wonderful last show to wrap up my time in London. The boys enjoyed their walking tour as well. We met back up at a pub and had one last round of beer before going back to the hotel for the night.
Our flight left early the next morning. Our hotel was near the airport, so it made for a quick trip there. We were checked in and at our gate in record time. Our flight back home was quick and uneventful. We were met with heavy rain when we got back home, which matched my mood for having ended a wonderful trip. This time around in London I had wanted to have a more leisurely pace and have a chance to see the things I missed the first time I was there. I was pleased with what we saw in the country side of England. I'm glad we got out to see other places. Rick Steves says you will find many excuses over the years to return to London - and he is right. There are still things we did not see which I want to go back for. I also want an opportunity to go back and see more shows. London was delightful, and I am in love with England and the English people.
