Today was a
rainy day.
It was the wettest day of our
stay in London.
It was a bad timing since
we were about to leave for Cambridge in a few hours.
While we were eating breakfast at the hotel,
the owner approached us and asked about our plans for the day like he usually
did.
We told him about Cambridge.
He smiled and said that we should ditch our
trip to Cambridge and stay in the capital instead.
Queen Elizabeth was going to give her annual
speech in parliament that morning and it will be a good opportunity to see the
queen in person.
He said we can wait
for her convoy at the parliament house and if we’re lucky we might catch a
glimpse of her inside her golden carriage.
It’s not everyday chances like this happen.
I would do anything to see any queen, even
Queen Latifah.
But the problem was, our
tickets to Cambridge were pre-booked so we chose Cambridge.
Forgive us your majesty.
We went to Kings
Cross Station to catch our morning train to Cambridge via First Capital
Connect. I only read Kings Cross in
Harry Potter books but now I’m here. That
was funny and scary at the same time. You’ll never know where life will take
you. Anything can happen. The train was
fast and quiet. Seats have generous
legroom too. I wish we have that back in
the Philippines. Traveling would be so
much easier.
We were figuring
out how the bus system works in Cambridge when a man approached me.
He offered me and my family a free walking
tour to the town center.
In the
Philippines, an attractive offer like this always comes with a catch. That’s
why I found it sketchy and decided to decline his offer.
I can’t believe what I said.
I told him, “We’ll think about
it.
I’ll just ring you if ever,
yeah?”
Since when did I ever use the word ring as in
call?
I watch too much Downton Abbey.
It was like
we’re in a different world in Cambridge.
Everything is so old and grand.
The town looked untouched like it’s straight from the history books.
It's so beautiful there.
The architecture, the pebbled stones, the
students, I mean everything.
I felt like I’m in a set of Harry Potter.
Too
bad we couldn’t get inside some of the buildings like their libraries and
chapels since it was examination week.
Cambridge is not
complete without a punting ride at River Cam.
It’s a tradition in the University.
Besides it’s the best way to get see the beautiful colleges along the
river like Trinity College, Kings College, Queens College, and St. John’s. Our punter, which is also a student from
Cambridge, told us as many stories of the University as she can. One is how rich Trinity College is. They own so much property in UK that one can
go to London from Cambridge without leaving Trinity College property, and
London’s 50 miles away! That’s how rich
and powerful that college is. Another
is how students prank tourists. When
tourists punting the river were about to go under a bridge, students would drop
boulders of rocks and start shouting “the bridge is falling down!” The tourist would then panic and jump into the
water. Luckily, it didn't happen to us.
Our punter was
in a middle of telling one of her stories when all of a sudden she
stopped.
She whispered that the guy
punting the other boat ahead of us is
William Moseley, the actor in
Narnia.
Apparently, he played a lead
role in the movie (Peter Pevensie), the eldest of the four children.
We were still trying to process that unexpected
information when his boat came beside ours.
Our punter asked us to say hi to him and we awkwardly did a “you're a freaking actor why are you punting” hi.
What the hell is he
doing there?
Maybe there's no offers for him anymore.
Too bad we weren’t able to take
pictures of him.
After punting,
we ate at this restaurant called EAT.
It’s all over London and locals seem to love it so we gave it a
try.
Everything is healthy and freshly
made.
I ordered a chicken sandwich
priced at £4.
It’s quiet expensive for a
sandwich really, but were curious.
It
was disgusting.
It was drier than the
Sahara Dessert.
Not to mention that it
came straight out of a refrigerator.
Cold and dry is a weird combination.
I hated it.
I don’t understand
why they like it so much.
After shopping
at Grand Arcade Mall, we went to the station to catch our train back to
London. The train was full of teenaged
students. They were all excited for the
weekend. Everyone was noisy. The group of girls beside me was busy deliberating
what to wear for the party later that night.
With their English accent, the only thing that was missing was the
spliff and it will be a typical Skins scene.
After arriving
in London, we went straight to Victoria Theater to watch the 8pm show of
Wicked the Musical.
I was not thrilled to be
honest.
I was really really tired and
would like to go home.
But I can’t since
the ticket was already paid.
We bought
the cheap seats so were right at the top.
There’s actually a pay telescope per seat so that we can see the actors’
faces.
That’s how far we were from the
stage.
The staircase was steep.
One wrong step and we’ll be on stage dancing
with the casts.
The lights went off and
the show began.
First
minute: “Wow, that’s a nice voice you
got there. This maybe a good idea after
all.” 5 minutes later: “They dance too?
Sweet.” 15 minutes later: “Really, you’re singing again? Hush now,
JC. Let’s just pray that’s the last one. 30 minutes later: “Yup, they’ll be singing the
whole show.” How stupid can I be? It’s a musical. Of course, they’ll be singing the whole
show. I just thought that maybe it’ll be
like Glee where it’s 50% talking and 50% singing. I was bored and tired at the same time so, I
closed my eyes a couple of times. Okay
fine, maybe I slept a couple of times. I
was awoken when I heard my sister shout, “OH MY GOD, kuya! That was a performance!” My sister was ecstatic and was about to cry. She had goose bumps after the “Defying
Gravity” was sung when she found out that I was sleeping the whole time. I just stared at her blankly and said,
“huh?” She hated me for that. My whole family enjoyed it except for
me. To make it even worse, they kept
singing the songs in the musical on the way home. On the bright side, I’ve learned something
from that show. I’ve learned that I hate
musicals. Wicked! Not.
Want more? Read London Day 6!
Tips:
- Trains in Europe are always on time. Filipino time doesn't work here.
- Visit Cambridge University, one of the oldest and best educational institutions in the world.
- Take
advantage of Days Out Guide’s 2for1 or 4for2 promos. It’s legit.
- Make sure to do a punting tour. It's the best way to see the university!
- Before watching a musical in London, check Theatre Monkey for the best seats in the house.
- Check this out for discounted musicals in London.
- Watch Wicked! Don't mind me. Everyone loves it except me.
