The Big Vacation Post

You may have noticed I've been absent from the blogging world for quite some time now. The main reason is vacation - lots of it.

"So, where did you go?" you probably ask.

Well, I'm glad you're asking.

I went to LONDON! For a week! And me and my friend had a great many adventures.

Off course we did the obligatory things: spent a lot of time sightseeing and shopping and using the Underground (which in itself was quite entertaining because I just read Neverwhere).

                                           

But the highlight of the tour was when we went to the theatre and watched Phantom of the Opera!!! 

That was just brilliant!! Firstly the actors were fantastic! Georònimo Rauch, who played the Phantom was just amazing, and even though I couldn't help comparing him to my favourite Phantom (Ramin Karimloo) he certainly held up his own, and it was quite interesting to watch how he interpreted the character differently in some of the key scenes.

I wasn't so sure about Harriet Jones, who played Christine, in the first act, but after her stunning delievery of "Wishing you were somoehow here again", I promised myself never to think a bad thought of her portrayal again. 

I think the highlight of the entire play was that scene where Christine and the Phantom sails across the lake. Just imagine the stage full of smoke and lights, and on top of all it is happening 20 meters from where you sit! It was almost unbelievable.

(Sorry for my long rant - sometimes a little fangirling is neccesary)

On to other subjects - books! One day we found the largest bookstore I have ever seen. Just imagine 5 floors filled with books of all subjects, and a whole depatment just dedicated to classics. We spent some blissfull hours there.

Surely you can't go to London without visiting at least one park, so off course we did that too. My favourite was St. James Park, which had a big lake filled with all kinds of ducks and birds, some of which I have never seen outside my ornithology books. And it had squirrels too!

Another highlight of the tour was when we visited British Museum. The collection is so big that it is quite overwhelming for a history lover as myself.

To make it even more excited we had a guided tour with a Bible theme, so we spent a lot of time hearing of the old Assyria and Babylon, watching all those inscriptions and prisms that I have read so much about and hearing how the archaeology fitted with the Bible's story of events. Really exciting!

We did a great lot of other things that I honestly don't remember (too many adventures in a short time apparently affects the memory).

The rest of my vacation was a lot more laid back, and mostly spent in my family's summer house, but I will save that for another post.

Have you had any vacation this summer?