Flight #3

On the advice of the airline I decided to get to Heathrow as early as possible. The added bonus was that I could take the Piccadilly line before peak hour hit. I wasn't keen on navigating through those crowds.

To my surprise, when I got to the airport check-in went as smoothly as normal. The check-in clerk noted my middle seat and looked to see if an aisle seat was available instead. So glad she didn't find one because it turned out that my seat was in the row that only has 3 middle seats - a really good spot! I must note the seat location details in addition to the seat number in future. 

The flight was fine. Being a night flight, I intended to try and sleep and organised myself accordingly. But unfortunately, despite best efforts and ideal conditions, it was not to be. 

So I have the day in Singapore. I had planned to catch a bus tour from the airport but I'm just too tired. Plus I think I've picked up a minor cold, so not feeling 100%; preferred to potter around the airport. 

I noticed this sign with lovely words on the door to the butterfly house. 

This time tomorrow I'll be home.

Last day in London

Yesterday (Thursday) was my last full day in London. There were a couple of things left on my "to see" list, so after a bit of research I headed out. My legs have been sore so I took the tube.

First stop was the Imperial War Museum. When I was here last year most of it was closed due to renovations for this year's centenary of the start of WWI. The new main area is quite impressive. 

Naturally, the main event at the moment is the WWI exhibition. It was superb and packed with people. I learnt a few facts I'd not realised. 

The other exhibitions were good, but not as indepth as I'd expected.  I guess there are other museums in London that tell the story of WWII in more detail.  

My other main destination was the design museum. On the way to the tube station I encountered streets of these buildings.  

Then, quite unintentionally, I stumbled across The Shard while looking for a place to eat my lunch. Foreboding like a 21st century pyramid.

The design museum had some interesting exhibitions including one on Louis Kahn, a famous architect. Overall though, I was a little disappointed. I expected more exhibits. This is the sign on the wall of the museum.

I decided to walk back to the apartment to maximise my last experience of London (this time around) and hopefully find one or two photo ops. 

I love how in London you can turn a corner and suddenly an iconic building peeks out from between the ordinary office blocks. 

Last discovery of the day was this old church ruin now a public garden.

Spent the evening tidying, packing and planning my trip to the airport in the morning. Looks like the baggage handler strike is going ahead so the airline has advised getting there early.

Sore hands and a full heart

For me at least, Tuesday was the dress rehearsal but last night was the main event. After weeks of uncertainty and frustration, I picked up my ticket for the second night from the box office. To my surprise it was another of the ornate fan tickets; I had assumed it would be a cheap reprint job. But I wouldn't have cared, just as long as I had my row F seat. Or, once you subtract the non-existent rows A to D, my centre of the 2nd row seat!

On the tube to Hammersmith I bumped into Jeffrey and Melissa, two of the lovely people from America I had met at the Swan the night before. They too had tickets for last night so we were able to get to chat some more. At the Swan I met many others; American, Australian, English, Irish, French - a United Nations of fans. And that's been one of the most unexpected and remarkable things for me about this journey - all the connections that have been made. And as well as the expected excitement and anticipation there were even some people who had managed to pick up tickets only that afternoon, after weeks of trying unsuccessfully to snatch the odd ticket that popped up online.

So, at 7:00 we made our way the short walk to the theatre.  I felt much more calm than I had the night before, probably due to the tiredness. I took some pictures before the show to try and capture that memory. I would have loved to be able to take one of Kate but we all respected her wishes to not use our cameras during the show.

This was the view as I entered the stalls. 

The stage from my seat. The area in front of the band was a vast space for Kate to wander.

And the view of the crowd filling up behind me.

I took one picture on the way out. Again from my row, but with people standing you get a better sense of just how close the stage was. The guy sitting next to me was able to reach out and touch it; he asked me to film him as evidence.

So, was it a different experience from the night before? Hell yes!

Tuesday night the view was panoramic but last night was immersive. The stage occupied my full width of vision. And being in the centre, the sound quality was far more balanced. Kate and the band sounded magnificent. The deep roaring storm in segments of The Ninth Wave, especially Hello Earth, shook the theatre and reverberated inside me.

And then there was Kate; so close you could see into her eyes, notice every detail on her face, see that incredible smile. Did we make eye contact? Probably not, but I'd like to think we may have.

And from the rapturous, thunderous applause as she and the backing singers shuffled onto the stage, to the recurring standing ovations (I can remember at least 8), to the entire theatre on their feet all through the final song Cloudbusting, singing in unison "yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-oh" - I clapped so hard my hands were sore. The crowd seemed even more vocal last night, and Kate appeared to be genuinely impressed and moved.

So that was it. The event I had given up all hope of witnessing. But even in my wildest dreams I would never have imagined it could have been like that. 

Walking dead

It took quite some time to wind down from the excitement of Tuesday night's show. I think I eventually nodded off around 1:30 only to wake up around 5:30 unable to go back to sleep. End result = zombie yesterday. Consequently I took it easy to reserve my energy for last night's show.

Once I eventually got myself together I headed in the general direction of Trafalgar Square. I had a vague plan of heading back to the Thames. It was a nice walk and still nice weather and I was happy enough just to take in the scenery. I only took a couple of shots. I liked all of the angles in this rail bridge across the river. 

As I made my way back to the apartment I headed to Regent Street in search of a music store. Thee are some albums I've had difficulty locating in Adelaide or the Australian iTunes Store. I managed to find one of them.

I had the intention of fitting in a nap before heading to the show, but my body had other ideas. Plan B was a strong coffee.

7 dials

I forgot to post this from yesterday. I'm very wary of photographing people, but I thought this scene was too gorgeous to miss.

Stranded?

By the way, yesterday I got news of a planned strike of baggage handlers on the day I'm due to leave London. Maybe I will be here longer than expected. One thing's for sure ... I'll be carrying my prized Kate possessions with me onboard!

Digital forest

I forgot to mention something from the Digital Revolution exhibition I attended on Monday.

The final part of the exhibition involved a dark room with lasers and movement sensors attached to the ceiling. If you moved your hand towards a laser it would send out individual shafts and ribbons of light that you could then coax and control, like veils of ultra fine silk. It took a little getting used to, but then became quite hypnotic.

A beautiful day in London

The weather today has been superb; clear blue skies and warm. I awoke early after a broken sleep feeling the steam roller effects of jet lag. All the same, it was too nice to stay in bed so I got myself organised and fed and out the door. The plan was to walk to the Thames and visit a couple of places on my "to see" list.

Down the stairs first.​

Marchmont Street is near the apartment. The buildings caught my attention. 

The roads to the Thames were still familiar from my trip last year and before long I was there. I've walked under Blackfriars Bridge before, but today I really noticed the geometry.

One destination was the Design Museum. But when I got there they told me that some floors were closed until Wednesday. I decided to come back later in the week. Along the way I paused to take in more buildings.

And it seemed like everywhere I went, The Shard was just hiding around the corner.

Another destination on my list was The Tower of London to see the poppy installation to commemorate the start of WWI. I'd seen some pictures but it was still breathtaking and moving. Each is a ceramic poppy mounted on a metal stake. There will be over 800,000 representing the British soldiers killed in the war. Such a fitting way to remember.

After some lunch the last stop was the Barbican to attend the Digital Revolution exhibition. It contained examples of digital art and entertainment from the very beginnings to some amazing new projects and installations.

From an old legend ... 

To a new rendering of me (taking the photo) ...

To an amazing space where people's movement triggered some fantastic real time graphics.

After all that I was exhausted and took the tube back to the apartment. Had diner in the apartment so I can grab an early night. Tomorrow night is Kate date #1 and I want to be bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Get up!

Although my jetlagged body would definitely like some more time in this comfy bed, my camera keeps nagging me to get up and out into this gorgeous morning. OK, you win camera!

Flight #2

The plane was boarded on time. An A380 full of expectant sardines at the start of a 13 hour journey. Despite my careful seat selection I ended up swapping with someone else so they could sit with their companion. The new seat was still fine and I settled in for the journey. I felt refreshed and much more comfortable than on the previous flight.

As it would be another day flight I had no intention of sleeping. Hopefully staying awake would help my body clock.  And so began a movie marathon only punctuated by meals and musical interludes. I watched The Immigrant, Requiem for a Dream (another past favourite), The Walk of Shame (unexpectedly funny) and Transcendence. 

On arrival I hastily made my way to immigration to get a good place in the queue. It still took a while, but much better than last year. Once finally reunited with my suitcase I walked the endless corridors to the tube station to catch the Piccadilly Line to Russell Square. It was so good to be back on board these familiar carriages. I recorded a little of the station announcements, just in case I can use them for something. 

Finding the apartment was easy; only 5 minute walk from the station. It's only a very small studio and, in hindsight, probably not worth what I'm paying. But it opens onto a small park and has a lovely airy feeling.   

As soon as I'd washed the travel off me I set to the nearest supermarket to immerse myself in the unknown brands. Walking back with my purchases I got that wonderful sense of being overseas, being on holiday, being back in this place I love.