Last fall I went to London, England for 3 days and 2 nights. It is a little over 2 hours from Paris to London by Eurostar, but there is a Corona, and the last time I was in London was a whopping 2016.
We actually went to London last fall and in 2016 for the same reason: to see David Gilmour, a member of the British rock band Pink Floyd, in concert. My husband is a huge Gilmour fan and said, “I want to go because this might be his last tour!” (I think he said the same thing last time), so we got the tickets with great enthusiasm on the day they went on sale.
The venue is again the Royal Albert Hall. The massive red domed exterior of the hall stands out even from a distance. It is a multi-purpose hall where concerts of various genres and sporting events are held, and was opened in 1871 as a hall dedicated to Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert.
This time, I joined a guided tour during the daytime to see this hall more properly. When we arrived at the meeting place, we saw a few people wearing Pink Floyd-related T-shirts. In the end, everyone who had come was going to the concert that night!
The tour lasted one hour and included a look at the VIP waiting room, the royal box seats, and other areas that one could not go to if they just came to see the performance. Gilmore fans were excited to see the rehearsal for that night’s concert.
In the evening, I went to the hall again to see the concert, which was a parade of songs from their first album in nine years, “Encounter,” as well as some of their past favorites, filled with the enthusiasm of the fans who had been waiting for this day, yet in a friendly atmosphere.
On this trip to London, my husband’s main focus was the Gilmore concert, but I also wanted to see the London musical and the Sherlock Holmes Museum.
The musical we saw this time was “MJ”. The story is about the life of Michael Jackson, and it is not only a funny story, but it is also a great story, with many of his greatest hits playing throughout the show, and all the performers, including the main cast, who at times made me think I was watching the real Michael, were so good that as soon as I finished watching it, I thought, “I want to see that again! I wanted to see it again.
I loved the TV drama “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” the version by British actor Jeremy Bread (dubbed by Shigeru Roguchi), and watched it avidly as a child. I went to the museum, hoping to see how much it would bring back memories of those days. The location is, of course, Baker Street. The museum is open to a limited number of visitors by the hour, but the house is long and narrow, with four floors, so it is hard to pass each other on the stairs. Although this place is called a museum, it is an attraction set in a house where fictional characters lived, so if you don’t have much of an attachment to Sherlock Holmes, you may be disappointed.
I’m so attached to it that when I walked in, I thought, “Holmes was looking out this window at Baker Street!” Holmes’ pipe and violin!” I went through each room with a slightly heightened tension in my mind. There were a few things that didn’t feel right, such as the many photos of serial killers on Holmes’ bedroom wall, but I was generally satisfied.
When I think of England, I think of afternoon tea, and this time I went to a restaurant in a corner of the hotel “The Orangery at Number Sixteen”. An acquaintance of mine who lives in London took me there. We enjoyed light meals and tea served on pure white tablecloths with beautiful cutlery in a relaxed atmosphere, rejoicing in our long-awaited reunion.
Whether it was a light meal at a pub I stopped at on my way to the Sherlock Holmes Museum or breakfast I had near my hotel, I was satisfied with the level of food in London, which was very different from the past.
The hotel I stayed at this time was the Ruby Zoe Hotel & Bar in the Notting Hill area. It was recommended to me by an acquaintance who knows London well, and I found it to be functional and reasonably priced for a hotel in London. For some reason, Marshall speakers and amplifiers were placed in the room, and a guitar was available on request. I guess they are confident in their soundproofing, but it was certainly very quiet. I slept well.
We also saw paintings at the National Gallery and visited a market in the same area as our hotel, and our enjoyable 3-day/2-night trip to London after a long absence came to an end in a flash. Since London is within easy reach of Paris, I would like to revisit London again without much time to spare.
© Source travel watch
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