Sunday, January 11, 2009

London Auditions--Sight Seeing

Our flight to London was non-eventful in the best kinds of ways. We were a it jet lagged but walked around some that day...checked in at Pineapple where the auditions would be held.

The infamous Pineapple Dance Studio




Get ready for cheesy must-have pictures from London!


Mindy is our Project Manager for all of our ships. She's a workhorse!



Gary and I walked our legs off that afternoon...all the way down to Trafalgar Square, through the National Gallery, then continue down to Big Ben and then to Westminster. WHEW! You can see ol' Big Ben back there in the picture above.



This is Trafalgar Square...remember "Feed the Birds" in Mary Poppins? This is where that took place.


The National Gallery art museum. This was amazing!! Monet, De Gas, Renoir, etc. There was a great Van Gogh collection including "Sunflowers". I loved learning from Mike Cope last month about Van Gogh and the way he used color to depict his faith journey.



Trafalgar Square


Gotta love the red double decker buses!


Don't you know these guards wish they had a penny for every dumb picture like this they've been in?



Downing Street---where so much of govt. takes place there



Ahhh...BIG BEN!





The magnificent Westminster Abby


More Parliament House



More Guards


Yesterday Gary and I went to Buckingham Palace and got there just in time to see the festivities with the Royal Guard marching and playing.




It was freakishly cold while we were there...everyone was freezing!




This monument was in the front of Buckingham Palace.



Across from Buckingham Palace...so cold!


We made it just in time to see the Royal Guard march


entrance to the palace of Prince Charles







This was taken at Trafalgar Square


In Covent Garden near our hotel--this guy was real and scared the poo out of a small child when he reached out for him.


I was excited to see my friend, Darren Goad. Darren and I went to college together and were in some of the same shows. He was also a close friend.



cool pub near our hotel


The shopping rocked..there was a great store near our hotel called "All Saints". I took this inside.


I had a Saturday night ticket to Wicked...incredible floor seat! (Thank you, Jennifer!) I told Sheryl that I can't remember loving a show that much since I was in college and saw Les Mis for the first time. It was simply amazing. The writing is brilliant, the songs are awesome, and I loved the irony and message behind it. I cannot more highly recommend this show. If you like musical theater, you'll love this show.

taken from inside the theater of the set and stage


Saturday morning we began our long trek home. Thankfully, we made it home safely. Now we just need to get back on THIS schedule! It was a great trip--very productive and fun!

3 comments:

Suzie said...

Thanks for posting all the pictures. I can travel vicariously through your blog.


I'll now be singing "Feed the birds...tuppence a bag..." all day :)

annie said...

Loved your London pics. I love London, though I've been in the summer both times, so the weather was a bit different. :)

Also loved looking at the dancer pics. Cannot believe THAT many line up to try out---so interesting to me, seeing the process. I bet you're wiped out as much as they are by the end of the day!

Sarah said...

I was already singing 'tuppence a bag'... :-)

Darren Goad looks incredible! Love that guy... WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT'S AGING??? Gracious!

That looks like a whirlwind trip!