The New Year in London England

Well... as mentioned in my previous post (at the bottom, I know it was long), Turid, Johan and I decided to go to London for the New Year!! Turid's father graciously offered to have us stay in his London work apartment for free! We couldn't not pass it up! The apartment was swanky, and located on Kensington High Street, west of Hyde Park. I had a huge bed and bathroom to myself and took great advantage of it. :)

A few highlights:
- London Eye: Some guy walked up to us and handed us tickets for free! He said he wasn't going to use them! This was great because we weren't interested in standing in the rain for an hour just to buy tickets. Instead we got the tickets, and stood in wind and the rain later on that evening waiting to get on. It was dark, but it was free! Picture from the top:

- Spamalot: Of course, it is required that when one is in London, one attends a show. We decided on Spamalot, a musical adapted from the Monty Python movie: Quest for the Holy Grail. They did routines, and chorus scenes, with footwoork impeccable. I laughed, I cringed, and I bought a stress-cow, named it Gwenevier, and consider it useful for situations that call for me to 'launche la vache'

- Evensong at Westminster Abbey: When we approached the gates of the church to hear evensong, there were two gruff men turning tourists away, announcing that visiting was over, come back Monday. I wormed my way to the front and as soon as I made it known that I was actually there to hear a service, their manner completely changed and they kindly ushered me in under cover of umbrellas murmuring "Of course, miss, this way please". The service was almost entirely sung, and even though we couldn't see the choir or the priests, it was heavenly. The music wafted over our heads and all around the beautiful church.

- Trafalger Square and the National Gallery: The last time I was in London, I was quickly dragged through the gallery by a friend who was tired of looking at all the 'jesus paintings'. This time I actually got to look at some things! Although, the exhibition we mainly saw was called Manet to Picasso; 19th and early 20th Century Paintings. The gallery was
packed with tourists, but I still enjoyed it. I will have to return some other time and see the rest of the gallery.

- Pub Crawl: We tried to visit as many different pubs as we could while we were in London, but the designated night of our pub crawl - New Years Eve - I fell afflicted with a stomach flu, and was out of commission that night! Woe betide! Oh well, just another good reason to return to London, I suppose. ;)

- Hyde Park and Kensington: My last day in London I had to myself, because Turid and Johan left one day earlier than me. I siezed the opportunitiy to do two things I thought only I would love to do: a)lots of walking and b) nerd-out and explore the neighbourhood around Hyde Park. I spent all day wandering through Hyde Park and seeing grand old street facades
and cosy courts. I also stopped in at Harrods and bought some chocolates.

And that was it! I then embarked on a two-stage journey with a stopover in a hotel in Frankfurt on my way home to Toronto and am currently battling (sucessfully, I think) with jet lag.