Fandom and Phantom in London and Other Weekend Adventures

Hello friends and family!

So after my insane week I had a pretty fantastic weekend to make it all better.  School is open again tomorrow and since the fire was limited to one end of the school my normal routine should not be affected very much at all.  It is still a horrible thing that happened but it does not really add stress to my life at this point now that all of my students are safe.

On Friday I ran a bunch of important errands that I had not gotten around to taking care of yet and in the evening I went out to a pub in my neighbourhood for a social with all of the Canadian teachers in Southampton who came over with the same agency as me.  It was really nice to meet them and I found out that most of them live in the same building as me!  Crazy!  One of them even went through both Trent and Queen’s in the same program as me and we had several classes together over our five years of university.  It certainly is a small world!  Lots of us were from Ontario with three from Halifax and one from Alberta. 

On Thursday night when I found out that I would have an extra day off this weekend I contacted my friend Ketsia (who I met at Queen’s when we were in the B.Ed. musical) and we started planning an epic day in London for Saturday.   I found some great tickets for Phantom of the Opera on the West End for only £24 each so we scooped those up pretty quickly!  I think buying them the day before did help price-wise.

I started the day at 7:30am walking to Southampton Central and boarding the 8:00am train to London Waterloo.  I was in London by shortly after 9:00 and I went down to brave the Tube on my own for the first time.  

Laura taught me well the first time and there were a lot of helpful signs so I had no problem getting on the right line.  I got up to Ketsia at Euston and we walked straight to King’s Cross to see Platform 9 ¾.  

As you can see from the photos it is all very official with staff and a gift shop.  We waited in line for over half an hour before choosing our house scarves and taking our turns going through the enchanted wall.  The man whose job it was to put scarves on people and to direct the crowd was adamant that we had to come up with enthusiastic poses – he was very funny when interacting with the crowd. 

Next we went over to North Gower Street to see the outside of 221B Baker Street from BBC Sherlock.  The door is replaced during filming but the rest of the building and adjacent café are exactly the same as they are when Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are there filming the brilliant series.  I was fangirling out big-time!!  The flat was to let as well so Kristy (my little sis) and I have discussed moving in so that when they decide to film Series 4, we will be there!

After this we made our way down to the real 221B Baker Street (which I realize is not actually real since Sherlock is a fictional character, but anyway…) to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum.   We waited for almost an hour outside since the building is quite small and they only let a few people in at a time.  

We took turns in the gift shop while we waited and before we knew it we had made it to the front door. 

It was so cool inside!  It was set up like it was actually Sherlock and Watson’s house in some areas but there was also a floor of wax figures of characters from the stories and artefacts from various stories on one floor.  It seemed really real.  It is definitely work the £8 admission for anyone who is a Holmes fan!  I took a ton of pictures so if you want to see the rest look on Facebook :)

Finally we went down to the Baker St. Tube station and went down to Picadilly Circus because it was almost time for the show!  

On the way I saw Benedict and some Sherlock Holmes silhouettes.  Perfect photo op!

We picked up our tickets at the box office and stopped at the Nero café across the street from the theatre for a quick sandwich since by this point we were STARVING. 

Since I had been waiting for probably a decade to see Phantom I was exploding with excitement by the time we went back to find our seats.  I took a few pictures inside the theatre even though we really were not supposed to just so that I could remember the moment. 

As soon as the initial auction scene began I was completely enraptured by the magic of the story and the music.  I knew every word and note that was coming up from watching recorded performances and the film but seeing it all live was an incomparably enthralling experience. 

I cried at the end of both acts, during “All I Ask of You” and in the final scene from “pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?” onward.  I felt emotionally spent afterwards.  It was beautiful and heart-shattering and frightening and perfect and everything that I had ever imagined it would be.  Christine, the Phantom and Raoul had brilliant singing voices.  The costumes, sets and effects were world class.  Geronimo Rauch who played the Phantom portrayed him as a perfect blend of sinister genius, seductive captor and tortured soul, with all the complexity that makes me simultaneously love, pity and fear him.  I would honestly see it a million times over. 

After this we went to M&M World down the street since Ketsia was determined to find the new dark chocolate peanut variety and I wanted to see what the place was like.  I ended up with a bag of chocolate in all of the different shades of blue.  My fav!

By the early evening we were exhausted so we went back down to the Underground to go our separate ways and to find the trains back to our home towns.  All in all, it was an emotionally and mentally refreshing but physically exhausting day!

Today I went to church in the morning and then went out to lunch with a bunch of people to a pub called the Red Lion which is in a building that dates back to the 12^th century.  It was really cool inside!  It is supposed to be the most haunted building in the area but I did not see any ghosts during the meal.  Apparently Henry V once held a trial for treachery there in 1415 and the three men were convicted and later executed down the road by the bargate.  It was definitely full of character and was decorated with several suits of armour.

 

We dug into a Sunday roast which was delicious but included A LOT of meat!!  I had chicken breast which was huge in itself and was also filled with stuffing and covered with thick slabs of bacon and accompanied by a side of crispy potatoes and veg and a whole lot of gravy.  

It tasted so good but I definitely did not finish it!  I don’t think I will even need to eat supper tonight after all of that. 

Now it’s back to reality and I have been planning for the week ahead this afternoon and evening. 

On that note, I should get back to it!

I am feeling more and more like I am where I am supposed to be and I cannot wait to see what crazy adventures month two in England will bring!

-Heather <3