Today was the day I came to London for, the day of the Monty Python reunion show. But that wasn’t till 6 o’clock. So, as I wanted to see some things that I had seen on the bus in more detail, I bought a day pass for the London Underground for 9 pounds, and around 8:30 took off from the hotel to find the famous department store Harrods. I walked quite a ways to the underground station (probably a couple kilometers) mainly because it was new to me, and I really had no idea what was involved in transfers, so I went to a station that was on a direct line to the station near Harrods.
The trip once aboard took 10 minutes or so and I got there shortly after 9 to find that the store didn’t open till 10, doh! Guess I should have checked. So I walked around the block to look around, to find that Harrods IS the block, the store takes up a whole city block. I can’t remember how many floors there are (Google says 7), but I do remember the guides saying it has over a million square feet of retail space. Easy to believe! I walked through and looked around some, not everywhere, but some, was quite overwhelming, with many luxurious things I didn’t even want to think of the price of! I’m not a shopping lover, but I’m sure there are people who could spend days wandering inside!
From there I caught the tube again and this time did take a transfer and went to the Westminster area to get a better look at the Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament. All so beautiful, and all stone, hard to really fathom how old things are in Europe! I took some pictures, heard Big Ben chime 11, and headed back to home base to get some food and relax a bit.
Wandered around the local neighborhood for an hour or two, then lay down for a bit because I had an early start planned for Thursday and knew I would be fairly late from the show.
I left the hotel around 5:30 and took the 2 minute walk to the local station, caught the tube, transferred at Waterloo (seems so odd to say these names I’ve always heard in relation to doing things myself) and from there to North Greenwich, just outside the O2 stadium. Looked around at the overly outrageously priced souveneirs and when the doors opened made my way to my seat, where I nearly panicked and left! I’ve been to arenas here in North America, but I really don’t recall the nosebleed section being so steep! felt like I was on the side of a cliff. Anyway, I was able to relax after a bit, and just focus on the stage (I have anxiety issues, not just being a total wuss here) and made it through. Once the lights were down, it was much better, and once the laughs started, it was great.
Monty Python did a lot of thier classic sketches, Argument, Four Yorkshiremen, Cheese Shop, Parrot, Spanish Inquisition, etc) but I think the biggest laugh for me was seeing how much fun they appeared to be having. John Cleese in particular was unable to say his lines a couple times because he was laughing so hard, and in the Cheese Shop sketch, Michael Palin said to him something like: gesturing at the audience, “You know all these people have home to get to” to which John, through laughter said “Then why didn’t you come up with a punch line?” and then they walked off laughing together.
The show ended at 10:30, with an attendance of about 16000. Was wondering how long the return journey would take, wasn’t sure how many could jam into a train! But I was back in my hotel from that size of an event in 30 minutes (10 miles per google), amazing really. Just think how long it takes to get home from a Mooseheads game!
Some pictures from the day:
King Richard
Argument
Nudge nudge
I’m a Lumberjack
Four Yorkshiremen
The O2 Arena
Another building near the O2
Westminster Abbey
Big Ben
Harrods
Parliament
Parliament Entrance way
Westminster Abbey
Raised in outport Newfoundland in a town of 65 people, I pursued a post secondary diploma in Information Technology right out of High School.
I’ve always been a geek at heart, but yet I love the rural life I grew up with. Fishing, hunting, camping and the great outdoors are still loves of mine, even if I don’t pursue them as often as I once did. Sports were always a big part of our lives, and I played many (badly) and loved them all.
