Sharon and Us in London

We caught the bus to London on Monday morning and spent four fun days looking around the city that so many people visit every year. We were one of just a few (4.5 million visits to 34 London tourist attractions in August). Imagine what it will be like in 2012 with the Olympics.  The undergrounds would be crowded (although there is significant upgrading of them going on at the mo), no place to get a photo without someone in the way and no where with a table free to buy a coffee or a meal - yes winter is definitely the time to go to London.  We caught some shows:

• Blood Brothers (on the Top 3 list for me with Wicked and Billy Elliot). The sad story of twin brothers who were separated at birth but end up meeting as children and then falling in love with the same girl. Fairly familiar theme but the lyrics, acting and music make it very memorable and sad.  
• Chicago (a bit dark for me - not quite enough colour and vibrancy). Some songs were quite familiar cos it has been around since 1975.  
• Wicked - just a fun show with lots of colour, great singing and acting. It is about the story of the two witches in the Wizard of Oz . It's our second time and we still thought it was great.
• Legally Blonde (Sharons favourite) based on a blonde who gave the impression of being a bimbo but given an opportunity became a competent lawyer.  Sharon bought the cd and we listened to the music from the show for a couple of days before she took it back home. One of the songs I particularly liked was the conversation between Emmet and Elle - about being given a chance and grabbing it with both hands.

I've been smiling and sweet and thoroughly beaten,

Blowing my chance.

Let's not chase him away,

Let's face him and say,

Hey punk, let's dance!

This chip on my shoulder,

Makes me smarter and bolder.

No more whining or blaming, 

I am reclaiming my pride.

Grab that book and let's do this,

Instead of doodling hearts all through this.

Now, there's a chip on my shoulder!

Let's see him knock it aside.

That reminds me of another song we read about during the week.  The track is a digital download, of 'Two Minutes Silence' and was made to raise money for the Royal British Legion. It went to about 19 in the charts during the week of Remembrance Sunday.  It contains no music or speaking at all, it has lots of celebrities making noiseless contributions eg David Cameron, Andy Murray, Martin Johnson etc.  Sharon thought this was a great song especially for Harry and me when we started singing she would suggest we learnt the lyrics of this new song!!  Besides looking at historical sites and shows we did do a little bit of shopping.  I have come to realise after being with Mum, my Sister and Sharon that somehow I missed out on the 'shopping gene' much to both my Sister and Sharon's dismay.  

We didn't plan it, but we found the Supreme Court just across the road from Westminster Abbey. Having not been in it before and having had discussions about the history of the Supreme and High Court in England and New Zealand we wandered through security and into the courts. There was an exhibition about the history and NZ's move away from the Privy Council (including the new building in Wellington which I have not yet been into).  In one of the cabinets there was a glass waka given to the Privy Council in 2004 to signify the day New Zealand left the jurisdiction of the Jucidicial committee of the Privy Council.  I think as a kind of thank you.  We sat for a while and watched a case about deportation on the video - but by the time we got to the actual court it was lunch time and so we could have a nosy at the room without disturbing the judge, lawyers and defendant.  One of the courts had a stain glass window of flowers - which was rather pretty in its simplicity. It describes the 4 jurisdictions of the UK: the English rose (apparently a symbol of the Tudor dynasty), the Welsh leek leaves (there is a legend that St David ordered his  soldiers to wear leeks on their helmets during a battle against the Saxons), the Scottish purple thistle (another legend suggests that a Scottish army was saved when barefooted Viking invaders stepped on prickly thistles in the dark, crying out in pain and waking the defenders) and the blue flax flower of Northern Island (representing the linen-weaving industry which was one of the main industry groups in the 19th nineteenth century).

 We also visited the Tower of London (poor Harry misses out again cos he didn't join us until Wednesday). The guide was informative and pointed to the area where the crown jewels are housed and said we should go and see some 'serious bling', Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace (on the night the engagement was announced to the world), London Eye, the Art Gallery in Travalgar Square, Downing Street, Westminster Abbey (sobering with all the crosses and poppies from Remembrance Day).

Then it was back to Bristol to do a bit more shopping and packing before travelling back along the M4 to Heathrow.  We had a brief stop at Windsor, viewed the castle, railway station and crooked tearoom, but didn't have time to hang around for the 'switching on of christmas lights'.  We had a wonderful time with Sharon - hopefully we can repeat it soon.