This is a post for all of you non-theater lovers.
On Sunday, I had a little time to explore on my own. I started the day off looking for Saint Giles church. It's old and has some relation to a lot of poets (this is terrible but I haven't had time to look it up in my little tour book). This took awhile but I familiarized myself with Tottenham Court Road and with the help of the church bells, did find the church. The parish was very small and very welcoming. All the songs were sung to basically the same melody which made it easy for me since I didn't know the songs.
After Church, I set out to find somewhere for lunch. Now I passed some really good looking restaurants, but I in quest for something- I'm not sure what but I did have something in mind (I was to find out later that subconciously I was looking for a really bad restaurant). I decided on fish n chips. It actually ended up being an impulse decision, I was hungry and had hit an area with not as much variety, saw it on the ksiok and went in. As I was sitting down in the empty cafe staring at the yellow and black striped walls, I began to suspect that it wasn't the four star dining establishment I had hoped for. When I got my food, unfortunately my suspicions were correct. Not so good, but I can cross off fish n chips off my list of things to do.
I was in the Soho area at this point and began to explore. At first it was exciting and then as I continued to pass the same shops over and over, I began to suspect I was going in a circle. I tried to follow arrows to Leicester square, but still I passed the same shops. In desperation I got on a bus and rode it for about three blocks- just long enough to get me out of the loop and into Leicester square.
In Leicester square I watched people setting up for the premiere of The Island which was pretty cool to see. I stayed long enough to get my bearings and then headed to Trafalgar square.
I stopped in the National Portrait Gallery just to get indoors for a bit. I found the portraits of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I as well as one of Deborah Warner. It was really cool and I may head back today if I have a chance. I knew that there would be performances starting at 3, so I got some bread from Pret a Manger and went to the square where I found some people from my performance.
The performances were really cool. I won't go into much detail (this is for non theatre lovers). The first performance was all over the place, the second performance was on the base of the Nelson monument, and the third performance was around and in one of the fountains. I took a lot of pictures for those who are intrigued.
I should get going now. I need to catch breakfast before they stop serving. I hope everyone is well and will post again soon.