DAY 2-
People in London look sharp. The men wear Excellent suits that are very high fashion. bright colors and details that actually tell you a little about their personality. I thought suits were boring till London. The women look like they hardly had to try to get dressed, while simultaneously looking like they just stepped out of a magazine. Breezy light blouses, linen wide-legged pants, and flowing scarves of every color. I feel uncomfortably granola here.
The choir sang in Wesley's Chapel this morning. (the first established Methodist church) they get to sing in cathedrals that were quite literally built for chior. In cathedrals that had 'in house' composers who wrote music specifically for the venue they worked.
The choir sang over the top of us in the balcony; Their voices literally floating to our ears.
"We are not alone, we are not alone, we are not alone, God is with us"
It was a reverant experience. One a vocalist could never forget.
Our next stop....Embankment Gardens wher the band will play for one of the most enthusiastic crowds you could find.
There is a crew, here in London, that comes to every Voyageurs concert all summer (there are several states that tour through the exact locations that we do)
One man is known well because he only wears boxer shorts....
Trudy told us he recently had knee surgury, so they were afraid he wouldnt' make it......we're glad he could : )
The guy with the big glasses was quite the charmer.......and talker.
This guy was "big glasses guy"'s good friend. he was dancing his heart out to a little John Phillip Sousa....or something 'marchy'.......sorry the photo is sideways, I'm too lazy to fix it. : )
Right now, I'm listening to the band play a 'Music Man' medley. There is a woman standing just to the side of the band singing along....quite operatically and loudly......she was eating up the attention, I take it she does this often, being a part of the 'crew'.
It started raining amidst this particular concert, and I was sure all the sudden movement in the audience meant everyone was jetting out as soon as they could. But to my suprise......
the London folk were quite prepared with their 'brellies'. Umbrellas are to 'Londoner's' as Gortex is to Seattlites.......it's always on hand. Kinda funny to watch all the umbrellas up and ready within seconds.
After the concert, we got into small groups. What we liked to call "The Morrell family" was a cool group of kids. We ran around all day (sometimes literally) and saw the sights.
First Big Ben, which is connected to the Parliament building. It's really quite impressive- we heard it strike 2:30- and it made everybody stop in their tracks.
Right across the street was the awe-inspiriing West Minster Abbey- one of the most well known cathedrals to exist....ever.
We couldn't take pictures inside, but here are some from the inside, but here are a few from the outside. The attention to detail was mind blowing. It reminds me of what human potential really is....of what we could accomplish if we weren't in such a rush all the time.
Inside the Abbey was a lot of graves and memorials- mostly to royalty. there was however, a 'poets corner' where memorials to famous writers lie....Everyone from Handel to Jane Austen. Pretty cool.
Being here makes me want to study up on British royalty before our return trip. I know a lot less than I thought. Still great nonetheless...
Litttle side note on Handel.....
In Windsor castle , Handel was the 'in house' composer for a time. There was an ornate music box displayed where Handel was hired to write original works specifically for the music box.....wouldn't you love to own that? holy cow.
While in Windsor Handel supposedly wrote Water Music and the Royal Fireworks. So excellent to stand in the same quarters as Handel himself.
Anyway, back to London. After Westminster, we took a walk to the London Eye.
Each 'pod' holds 25 people. Some of our small group rode it. We opted out. It cost 25 pounds per person, for a half hour ride....that's 50 American dollars.
We did get some delicious ice cream and took a breather on the Thames River walk.
On a whole, London architecture is awesome. It's like New York with buildings that will never go out of style.
For dinner, we made our way back to Trafalger Square- beautiful, once again. we split from our group and ate Thai. We really needed that meal- I don't even want to know how many miles we walked that day.
Us in Trafalger square....very tired.
Yellow Curry Chicken for me,
Phad Thai for Adam......delicious.
Indian and Thai food is really popular in London. Now we know why.
As a group at our meet up time, we all walked to see a London Musical- We Will Rock You. A musical with the music of Queen. It was AMAZING!!!. It was Hands Down the best thing I've ever watched. That's movies, musicals, T.V., plays, everything. Hands down.
The singers were out of this world. Belting like I never knew possible. the sound/lighting was like attending the ultimate rock show. The costuming was fun and flashy. It was a show for the senses, for sure.
By the end, the entire audience was on their feet stomping and clapping to 'We Will Rock You', finishing the lyrics and waving glow sticks to 'We are the Champions' and completely losing our drawers (you like my British lingo?) to Bohemian Rhapsody.....which included a guitar solo by the original Queen band member.
This show was a performance......in the truest sense of the word.
