Porthole Shenanigans

Hey all. Welcome to my first proper post from London! These posts from here on in might be a bit sporadic… not because of lack of internet, but mostly because of lack of time. It is go go go! So this one is being posted a day late and today might be a bit late too. Oh well.

Tuesday was our first proper day here in ye olde London town. The plan was to ease in to the week, by catching up with Kate’s folks who had just arrived into London the night before as well. It was great to all meet up, and we decided we were going to spend the day down Greenwich way.

A quick sidetrack… it is so good to be back in London. I haven’t been here for 5 years, and is great to be back on the street, catching glimpses of Big Ben, walking over Tower Bridge. Things I’m sure Londoners take for granted, but I still get a buzz out of. Another is catching the ferry down the Thames, which we all did to get to Greenwich.

The Cutty Sark in all her dramatic glory

The main reason for the visit was to visit the recently reopened Cutty Sark. In my 12 odd years of coming to London, I have never seen it open, so it was a big deal, and especially for Kate and her dad in particular.

Spectacular brass bottoms

The restoration of the ship is quite spectacular and unique, with half the bottom of the boat inside the museum, allowing everyone to wander around and soak in the brass restoration of the hull.

I bet Kate she couldn’t touch the bottom… I won that bet

Down there is also many figureheads from old ships that are quite fascinating (why have a dog on the front of your ship, or even Abe Lincoln?!). Kate took particular umbrage with one scary looking lady though…

Hey…

… I’ve got my eyes on you

We then had an opportunity to work our way up through the ship to the top deck. It was quite the sight. As you can tell by the pictures, we got up to shenanigans all over the boat.

The gentleman behind me wasn’t happy with our shenanigans

Spin that wheel!

After a lunch break under the ship, we wandered to the National Maritime Museum. I hadn’t been there before so it was great to visit another of London’s amazing museums. This one was probably not something I would normally visit, so I found it great to wander about. It is yet another museum where the vast history of the place is simply amazing. Included was a visit to the current feature exhibition Royal River, all about the Thames. Really very cool stuff.

Leaving Kate’s dad to soak up more of the museum, Kate, her Mum and I wandered back into town. Destination? The Palace Theatre to soak up some live theatre action. Of course we had to… we’re in London! So off to the West End. We had perused what was on before coming over and the one that got the vote was Singing In The Rain, an adaptation of the movie. Now when we bought tickets, the first 5 rows were a little cheaper than the other seats. How odd! I hear you say. Well, there was a reason. Rows A and B indicated “you WILL get wet” while rows C to E were “you MAY get wet”. Only may? We’re in!

Oh dear… I forgot my brolly…

So in we wandered to our glorious 3rd row seats. Now I was the more optimistic of the bunch… no coat or jacket in case of water. Kate and her mum were a little more prepared, a jacket ready to be lifted at the right times. Off we started, with the show being great fun, a really great adaptation of the movie. Then came the big scene… “I’m singin’ in the rain… just singin’ in the rain”… and the sprinklers were away!

Me, I was still “Bah! Is this all! We’re not getting wet!”. Famous last words. The Don Lockwood character proceeded to dance around the stage, taking great delight in kicking water into the front rows. You “may” get wet? I’m not sure there was every any “may” about it. I was getting it good! But it was all really great fun. We got a reprise of the song at the end of the show with the whole cast, just in case they decided they hadn’t got everyone wet enough. But it all added to the fun of it.

With that done, Kate and I headed back to our apartment for some well earned rest. A big day coming up on Wednesday…