Did I mention how SOFT the beds were in the London apartment?  Well, needless to say, after a travel day we took the opportunity to sleep in a bit.  I was the early riser, albeit at around 9:00.  I wandered down to the nearest underground station (Queensway) and bought passes for the day which would be good for both the buses and the underground.  We roused ourselves, and walked a block to Bayswater Road, and caught the 94 bus to Piccadilly!  We LOVED the double-decker bus, riding up top, of course.

Everyone in the world seemed to be walking up and down Regent Street leading into Piccadilly Square.  What a melting pot of humanity!  After de-bussing, we went straight to a reduced-price West End ticket booth to see what show tickets we could secure.  The night before, we had already booked “Porgy & Bess” (my FAVORITE) at the Regent’s Park outdoor theater.  At this stop, we ponied up and bought tickets to WICKED, and hatched plans for two more while we were there;  four nights, four shows!

After perusing Piccadilly Circus, we meandered down to Trafalgar square, sneaking up on it from behind the National Gallery.  Again, every London tourist was gathered here.  We talked about Nelson’s Column (do YOU know who Horatio Nelson was?), watched the impromptu sideshows popping up around the square, and the kids attempted to climb the giant lions (2 out of 3).  And once again we were HUNGRY.  Yelp led us to a great pub nearby, and we sat upstairs and filled up on fried EVERYTHING.

From Piccadilly Circus we caught our bus in the reverse direction, headed back to the apartment for a quick rest and change of clothes before “Porgy & Bess”.  [Of course, as I write this, it’s August 27th and  I’m one month removed from these London days, and many of the details have slipped away from me;  more accurately, PUSHED off the far end of my very-limited mind-shelf but the addition of all our back-to-school activities and concerns.]  We took a cab to Regent’s Park and luckily found ourselves with plenty of time to sit and have dinner at their outdoor café.  It was a BEAUTIFUL evening, and we had a wonderful dinner of salmon, QUINOA, salad….well, LouAnn and I had a wonderful dinner.  Kids weren’t to KEEN on the QUINOA – (see what I did there?).

The production was WONDERFUL.  It was a minimal set, with tables and chairs, which were moved around continually by the characters, as the only set pieces.  Supreme talent, especially with Porgy – he was outstanding, sympathetic yet strong.  Bess was strong, but you didn’t ache or secretly cheer for her redemption like Besses we’ve seen in other productions.  The kids LOVED it.  And its timing was perfect, as we’d just listened through the soundtrack in the car the week before while speeding through Normandy.

We meandered home through the darkened London streets, excitedly talking about the show….

First double-decker bus ride!

Trafalgar Square

C’mon, you guys help Jack!

Well, ok, never mind.  Smile!

Isn’t this an amazing picture?!  (Sorry for the sarcasm; this was the only lunch photo from that day)

Ellis wanted a picture with a REAL, old-school DDB.

Passing Loubie’s favorite store!

Walking the last bit home through Hyde Park.

Cab ride to Regent’s Park for “Porgy & Bess”

Dinner outside the theater.

Ellis & Georgia dutifully recreating the poster;  Jack not-so-dutiful.

Sneaky picture in the no-camera-zone.

The outside of our wonderful FLAT!