A Sunday night spent at the Royal Albert Hall with a few hundred patriotic Union Jack flag wavers, singing 'Rule Britannia' - was one that we could add to the list of unique UK experiences.
Just when we thought that nothing could make us 'feel' more patriotically British than wearing silly blue, red and white hats and drinking Pimms in Hyde Park for the Royal Wedding; the Classical Spectacular concert gave us a taste of what the UK will be like in 2012 during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics. Autumn 2011 kicked off a season of London activities that we enjoyed, feeling settled in at last.
Classical Spectacular, Royal Albert Hall
We had received tickets to this concert via Mei's friend at work who could no longer make it on the night. The atmosphere was amazing - sitting in a cheering crowd, booming acoustics (that make the RAH one of the world's finest concert venues), flashing laser effects and rows of tiered seating that added to the grandeur of the event.
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| Flag waving about to begin |
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| After the concert |
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| RAH - like a modern Colosseum |
The Power of Classical Music
Slightly bewildered about the crowd's flag waving frenzy during the 'Land of Hope and Glory', we turned to our elderly seat neighbours for some insight. Quote: 'this song dates back hundreds of years when Britain ruled the world...which clearly we don't now'. History lesson noted.
The best performance of the night fell to the full Tchaikovsky
1812 Overture complete with its cannon salute, soldiers and pyrotechnics. The composition (a commemoration of the Russian defeat of the French army lead by Napoleon) was 15 minutes of amazing drums, chimes, strings and choir - Mei felt so appreciative to have studied a semester of classical music during high school. Other well known items on the playlist included the Blue Danube (complete with waltzing dancers), Hall of the Mountain King and a playful rendition of the Can Can.
Greenwich
Another one of our cultural experiences involved taking the DLR service a couple of stops east to Greenwich to visit the park and Royal Observatory. The objective of the day focused on using our English Heritage membership cards at the Ranger's House. However on arrival we discovered it closed for the winter period.
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| A church in Greenwich |
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| Greenwich Park, Mei all rugged up in her new coat |
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| Last shades of Autumn |
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| Japanese Maple tree |
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| Sun peering out through the fog |
Greenwich Market
Instead we made a side excursion to the vintage markets near the train station where Olie bargained down a knee length thick faux fur 1960's coat for Mei to £45. Along the way we discovered an amazing roast beef with yorkshire pudding dish topped with grilled cheese that rivaled our favourite roast pork roll at Borough Market. It was one of the best dishes we have ever eaten in London. At £6 for a medium size takeaway container, it was good value on a cold day.
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| A block of cheese is melted and falls into the containers of roast beef |
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| The finished product |
Royal Observatory
After the market tour, we headed up the road to the park that housed the Royal Observatory and made friends with a dozen squirrels.
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| Making friends with the locals |
On perhaps the foggiest day in London all year, our 'view' from the hill was badly obscured but we enjoyed listening to a street performer tell us the story of how 0 degrees Longitude (Greenwich Mean Time) was determined.
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| The view we were supposed to see, and the view we actually saw |
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| Telling the story of how the longitude problem was solved |
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| Canary Wharf appearing above the fog |
Prime Meridian Laser
At 4:30pm when the sky was sufficiently 'dark' we watched the green laser come on and point northward along the Prime Meridian.
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| The red ball 'drops' at 1pm to tell the world it is 13:00 GMT, |
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| Standing on the Prime Meridian - 0 degrees longitude |
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| Touching the laser |
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| Touched by light |
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| The laser disappears into the fog |
Christmas Decorations
And as London becomes colder and the day gets shorter (darkness falls within the afternoon), mulled wine and hot cider has started to emerge on pub menus. In addition the Christmas lights have started decorating the main streets and ice rinks have started up at the
Natural History museum and the Winter Wonderland at
Hyde Park.
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| Christmas decorations at Covent Garden |
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| Christmas Tree at Covent Garden |
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| Ice skating rink at the Natural History Museum |
M and M World
One weekend after listening to some street performers at Covent Garden and admiring the Christmas tree, we (including our friend Roopa) walked to the M and M World at Leicester Square. We had fun admiring the merchandise with all the tourists. Four levels of fun - the marketing team had done their job well and we were almost tempted to buy souvenirs although the touristy prices put us off.
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| Olie and friends |
Le Bouchon Bordelais
We use our London weekends to try out different restaurants that may come recommended by friends or available via Groupon vouchers. We tried a French one based in Clapham that offered a very sizeable seafood platter.
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| The seafood platter |
Guy Fawkes Night
Guy Fawkes Night is one of London's traditions and we enjoyed the night at
Battersea Park. The bonfire and fireworks displays were entertaining, although it ended with an almost hour long wait to exit the park due to the crowd size.
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| Battersea Power-station, next door to where we lived during our first 3 weeks in London |
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| Sparks igniting the bonfire tower |
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| The bonfire is alight |
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| Fireworks set to music |
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| Lasted for over 15 minutes |
London Dungeon
As mentioned before, London weekends offer that opportunity for us to play tourist including a visit to the London Dungeon at London Bridge. The attraction is aimed at kids, but a few of the rides were quite interesting, as was historical commentary about the Great Fire of 1666, Jack the Ripper and Black Plague. The Jack the Ripper story we knew quite well, having already taken the walking tour a few months before and Mei learning that her work's fire evacuation drill meeting point was the site of one of the murders - Mitre Square.
Lenny Kravitz
Topping off a fortnight of London activities, Olie got to see his idol Lenny Kravitz play live and got within 1 metre of touching him as he walked the crowd on the top row of the theatre.
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| Lenny! |
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| Olie's so excited! |
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| He's singing for you Olie |
Olie also enrolled himself in a photography course, and ever since has been experimenting with camera settings and different scenic shots.We also explored the De Hems Dutch Bar in Chinatown where strawberry beer on tap is definitely a favourite. From there, we headed to C and Rs down the road, where the authentic assam Laksa is of such a good standard that it makes us miss the home cooked Malaysian food we ate regularly back in Melbourne.
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A Sunday night spent at the Royal Albert Hall with a few hundred patriotic Union Jack flag wavers, singing 'Rule Britannia' - was one that we could add to the list of unique UK experiences.
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