A Quick Visit to London to Catch a few Great Shows

My last day of work was Thursday, April 28 and that last week was bittersweet saying goodbye to all of my students and teachers. I mostly played games with each of the classes rather than teaching them something new since many of the teachers won't continue practicing English with the students after I leave. Overall, I had a great time teaching my students. Did I have hard days when I wanted to stop working? Of course, but I am so glad I did this and thankful for the experiences I had here.

You may be wondering what I'm doing with my time between the end of work and when my family comes at the end of May. Well I'm traveling of course!

May 8th, Sunday afternoon I took the bus to La Rochelle's tiny airport, which is also under construction, to go to London. I didn't see much of London that first night because most of my time was spent trying to find my hostel in Soho. There was a lot of construction in London and right outside the Underground station so I was completely lost went I exited. Thankfully a nice woman helped me figure out what direction I needed to go in. Then when I still didn't know where to go I found a map on the street that helped me. There are map grids all over London that list all of the streets and which grid to find it in. I used those maps multiple times on my trip. When I finally got to my hostel, I ate there because it was cheap and late, and I was too tired to try and find something else to eat.

Monday, May 9th
Today was a beautiful day: 70s and sunny! I wasn't expecting it to be so nice in London, but it was a pleasant surprise. First I walked down to Big Ben and passed the National Gallery on my way. I walked along the Thames river and saw the London Eye. I walked around Big Ben and all of the government buildings attached to Big Ben.

Last night when I was walking to my hostel, I saw this but didn't take a picture of it until I walked past it again today. I wish I got tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but of course I didn't think of it ahead of time. How cool does it look!

 Walking the streets of London

 National Gallery. It was too nice to go into it in the morning when I first passed by it, but I went in later in the afternoon.

 A memorial in the street. I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't randomly turned down a street. The fun part about walking semi-aimlessly

Walking down the by River Thames and seeing the London Eye

 Big Ben and a double decker bus! how appropriate lol :)

Peeking in at Big Ben

 Beautiful building. I think that's Victoria's Tower

A Rodin sculpture in a garden behind the government building

Then since Westminster Abbey is right next to Big Ben, I went in there. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures inside the abbey, but it was beautiful, crowded of course.

 Westminster Abbey

the front of Westminster Abbey

 The cloister in Westminster Abbey

 In front of Big Ben enjoying the sun!

After eating a quick lunch, I went to Saint Paul's Park and walked around. I walked through the park to Buckingham Palace and just walked around that outside before going back to the park and sitting and reading.

 Saint Paul's Park

Buckingham Palace and Victoria Memorial in the background. I wasn't all that impressed.

Admiralty Arch

I went to the National Gallery after. It's free to get into the museum, which is nice since Westminster Abbey wasn't free. The museum itself is beautiful and full of famous artists.

 National Gallery

Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck 

Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci 

 National Gallery

The Water Lily Pond by Claude Monet

Bathers at Asnières by George Seurat 

 Portrait of Hermine Gallia by Gustav Klimt

Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh

I was very tired after all of the walking around London and through the whole museum. I moved more quickly in the last few rooms of the museum because my feet were getting really tired walking in flats. Then I went to a Thai restaurant for dinner, which was really good. I had to have dinner early because I was seeing Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre at 7:30pm. Thankfully I was in London and restaurants open early because in France it would be nearly impossible to find somewhere to eat around 6pm. The show was amazing! The cast did a wonderful job and I'm so glad I went to see it despite it being very hot in the theatre! 

Sitting in the Queen's Theatre waiting for Les Mis to start!

The show ended around 10:30pm, and I went back to my hostel. It was raining when I left but thankfully my hostel wasn't far from the theatre. 

Tuesday, May 10th

Today wasn't as nice as yesterday. I went to the British Museum in the morning. It was pretty big so I didn't get to see everything and there were a lot of school groups there which made it even more crowded than just the typical tourists.

 The British Museum

 some pretty mosaic glass bowls in the British Museum

 Check out these hotties ;) Haha

A pretty little vase  

 The Rosetta Stone

Inside the British Museum

After visiting the museum, I took the underground over to Saint Paul's and walked to the Globe where I would be standing for three hours, watching A Midsummer Night's Dream. The actors did a great job but I wasn't crazy about it's more present day setting.

 Saint Paul's Cathedral

 Shakespeare's Globe

Excited to be in the Globe despite the rain!

After the show, I dragged my tired feet all the way to the London Bridge and then back. It had mostly stopped raining by the end of the show so that was good. I took the underground back to Soho and sat in Soho Square Garden for a while before going to get fish and chips for dinner.

 London Bridge

Soho Square Garden

After dinner, I made sure all of my stuff was packed and ready for me to leave in the morning. Next stop: Dublin! 

I got to the airport extra early on Wednesday and just had to sit around waiting for my flight. It's nice not to have to wait in line to check a bag or check-in, so I just have to wait in line for security, which isn't really that big of a deal.