London:

Friday 19 March.

Woke up at the butt crack of the English dawn to catch the 5:19 train from Carnforth to Lancaster and then the 5:35 to London Euston Station. Brad mom and I enjoyed the very quick train ride through the English countryside. Upon arriving in London, we caught the tube to King's Cross Station to make a quick stop by Platform 9 3/4 for the avid Harry fan in our traveling group (ME!) What a great thing to have a picture of. Then we got back on the tube to find our hotel near Victoria Station. As we exited the tube station we walked up into London and immediately in front of us was the Apollo Victoria Theatre where 'Wicked' is on stage! What a great thing to see since we already had tickets to see it the next day!

We found our hotel pretty quickly, it was just a short stroll, lugging by two backpacks and trying to make sure mom didn't get run over by a double decker on the first day ;) After dropping our stuff at the hotel, changing to a different room so we can feed our tech appetites, we headed back to Victoria to use the Tube once again. We headed to see Big Ben, Parliament, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's, the Globe Theatre and everything in between. What a wonderful day spent touring such a beautiful city! After our long day of walking, training, and tubing we made it back to the hotel, rested for an hour or so, booked rooms in Florence and such, then headed to dinner just across the street from our place. What a wonderful dinner. I had Wasabi Swordfish with veggies and rice, so delicious.

After that crazy day we slept soundly, and didn't wake up until 10 the next morning, even mom slept in! Saturday morning we headed to Harrods, just to see the mega department store, and get a little souvenir! We saw the Princess Diana memorial and Brad and I got our picture taken in front of the Emma Watson for Burberry poster! Dream come true! Then we tubed back to Victoria and headed to 'WICKED' :) The theatre foyer was lit with green light, filled with people of all shapes and nationalities, i spotted a man wearing my old Coogi sweater, and mom and I both enjoyed the Art Deco decorated wash rooms. What an awesome show! The first act alone was so awesome I could hardly believe that there was still a second part. The costumes, music, acting, and settings were beautiful and magical. At interval Brad headed to watch his boys, the Arsenal team, play West Ham (and win 2 -0) but before he left we decided to squeeze in another show, so we planned to meet at the evening showing of 'Billy Elliot.' Such a good choice! Although very different from Wicked, Billy Elliot was just as beautiful, with a heart wrenching plot, and a 12 year old boy lead, I was in awe the entire show with his talent, voice and dancing. The show featured ballet, tap, and just general hilariousness thrown in! What a perfect day! Today (21 March) mom and I said goodbye to Brad and headed to catch the Eurostar train to Paris!