Day 2: Into the Woods

                    Into the woods, and who can tell
                    What's waiting on the journey? 
                                                         -Stephen Sondheim

   We made it! We are now in London, and even before we made it through customs I could tell I was going to love it. I was surrounded by well-dressed men. This is a  thrill I have experienced before when visiting a large metropolitan area, but never on this scale. I'm not saying they were all handsome, but they all clearly understood how well-cut clothing and good grooming can maximize your assets. This trend continued through the airport, express train (try not to stare), and short walk to our flat in Paddington.

  We were met on the stoop by a young woman named Caroline who showed us our flat. The building has an lift straight out of Thoroughly Modern Millie with an old style grate you have to pull closed. A tour of our apartment revealed a space that had retained much of its historic character, but is nicely updated. The big dining room window looks out on a veiw of rooftops and chimney pots. Mary Poppins and Bert danced across a landscape very much like the one we enjoy over morning tea.

  After Caroline excused herself, Sylvia and I quickly showered so that we could make the one event we had scheduled for our vacation: one of the last performances of the musical Into the Woods at the Regent's Park Open Air Theater. We made good time, and had time to stroll the park a bit. It was a sunny, hot afternoon and we peeled off the layers of clothes we wore. We were very excited that the weather had turned out so wonderfully, considering we had taken a chance in purchasing the tickets a week before. You can imagine how crestfallen we were feeling when, before the beginning of the show, a rain shower blew in. Thankfully, much as in Bellingham, these things can end as soon as they begin. Soon the rain petered off, and the show went on. The play, which weaves many different fairy tales together, was wonderfully preformed on a set that was built right into the natural surroundings of the park. 

                                                                                             

  After the show, we stopped by a little Italian restaurant and picked up dinner for the guys who were waiting back at the apartment. It wasn't amazing food, but we were all ravenous. We gobbled it up, and retired for the first good night's sleep we've had since leaving Bellingham.

                                                                            The End

                                                                Day 2 Photostream