The West End. If you’re paying attention to the meta clues in this journey, there are two distinct patterns: Tudor history and theatre. Today, the two came together with a matinee of Six the Musical. But first, tea. Fancy tea.
- Prime London Hotel – Bless their hearts. I’m estimating that this hotel probably has 16 rooms total, so trust me when I say it is a small, privately owned establishment. But London is chalk full of hotels just like this one. They moved my things to a new room while I was out today. And my new room has accessible power outlets, working Wi-Fi and air conditioning!
- Uber – I opted to book Ubers today instead of the tube or buses. After all the miles I’ve walked, I didn’t feel guilty about doing this one bit.
- Afternoon Tea at the Parlour – I’ve had a couple of teas by now, but today was one I had to reserve well in advance at The Parlour at the Great Scotland Yard. (See menu here.) Great Scotland Yard is a street in Westminster, London. By the 16th century, this ‘yard’, which was then a series of open spaces within the Palace of Whitehall, was fronted by buildings used by diplomatic representatives of the Kingdom of Scotland. Eventually, this became home of the world famous Metropolitan Police Service of London, causing the name “Scotland Yard” to become synonymous with the police service.
- House of Minalima – This has been on my list of “must sees” and I’m so glad I went! The shop is very small, but packed with everything Harry Potter as this was the design team behind illustrations and artwork of the books and films. The Black Family wallpaper was prominent as were several copies of the Quibbler, Daily Prophet and all of the Hogwarts required reading. If only I had more room in my luggage, the amount of things I would’ve bought! (I love that wallpaper!) What a treat to see so many props from the different films (including the Fantastic Beast franchise)!
- Exploring Soho – This is the heart of London’s entertainment district. I went through PIcadilly Circus (London’s version of Times Square), drove through Leister Square, walked through Chinatown. This entire area is also referred to as the West End. Just like Broadway is a street in NYC, but is used to refer to a general area, the same applies to this area of London. Theatre are dotted along every street. The energy is electrifying and I was there for it!
- Six the Musical – Holy cow. I loved this show! I went into it not knowing the soundtrack (by heart) and only knowing broad strokes about the story: Spice Girls meet Horrible Histories telling the story of Henry VIII’s six wives. Ok, honestly that’s not far off. As far as musicals go, it was short only running about an hour and a half (no intermission) but the time went fast! It is brilliantly choreographed with spectacular set and lighting design but maybe my favorite part were the Ladies in Waiting, an all-female band that took center stage and rocked out: keys, guitar, bass and drums. They were tight. And the Queens. Dang, could they sing. I loved it – such a fun, fun show!
Alyventures 