Brussel Spouting: Cold and Christmasy London

This was not our first trip to London, or our second. We went to visit Maria and to get in the holiday spirit by seeing a Pantomime. Panotmimes (Pantos) are plays based loosely on fairytales and they are a holiday tradition in England. Several theaters in the country perform pantomimes during the holiday season. They are normally geared toward children, but almost always contain plenty of adult humor. That being said, they are meant to be fun and silly. In addition, there is a certain formula that is common to all pantos, regardless of the story. See below:

Pantomime plots are very easy and simple -

•A Girl will dress up as a boy

•Who is usually the son

•of a man who is dressed up as a woman

•who will always win the other girl (and surprisingly dresses as a girl)

•with the help of a person(s) dressed in animal skins.

We saw Jack and the Beanstalk at Lyric Theatre Hammersmith and it was hilarious! We chose that particular theater because we liked the fact that it was a somewhat edgy and alternative neighborhood theater.

Aside from the National Gallery, we had already seen most of London's tourist spots. So we spent one day there (at the gallery), followed by a walk around the city and the rest of the time exploring further afield. One day was spent in Windsor visiting the magnificent castle and another day was spent walking along Regent's Canal to Camden Lock. http://lndn.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_lndn_archive.html

We also finally visited the world-famous store, Harrods.

We had a great trip, aside from the Eurostar debacle, which forced us to stay an extra night and fly home one day later, rather than taking the train. However, one good thing came from this inconvenience. I went to visit an amazing museum that I probably wouldn't have taken the time to see otherwise. Since Rick was meant to be at work our last day, he decided to stay at the hotel and get some work done. I ventured out to the Imperial War Museum and spent 4 hours there! It's not a museum filled with tanks and guns as the name suggests (although, they do have some of that). It contains a comprehensive and interactive exhibit on the history of every war and conflict you can think of. There's a huge section just on the Holocost. It thought it was very interesting and informative.

A VISIT WITH MARIA