Peaceful Travels ★: MAMMA MIA (Here I go again!)

This morning I woke up and said- hey! I want to go to a show today- so I did! But first- my mom couldn't sleep this morning so I talked to her for a couple of hours, starting at 4 AM her time- it was so nice to get to skype for a long time! Then Libby got home from NYC at about 11 AM and was exhausted, but she is still awake and going strong (amazing!). I bought tickets for Mamma Mia on Coventry Street near Piccadilly Circus and decided to do some exploring before the show. So I took the tube and went first to the National Gallery of London which was incredible! I didn't have nearly enough time to see everything so I just went through as many rooms as I could. They had paintings from Monet, Manet, Van Gosh, and so much more- it was wonderful. It took me a long time to find the painting I was looking for, but finally I found Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait and it was so cool to see it in person. In high school this was one of my favorite paintings because of all of the hidden intricacies in the mirror and the rest of the painting. There were so many paintings that I would walk by and think- Wow! I have seen that in pictures! Seeing these paintings in real life is amazing.

I left the National Gallery semi-quickly so that I could also visit the National Portrait Gallery of London! On the way there, however, I stopped and stood in awe for awhile at the beauty of Trafalgar Square. I walked all around, searching every inch of the area, and it was one of my favorite places I have ever been. Definitely go here if you are ever in London- the fountain was to die for! I also thought it was pretty cool that you could see Big Ben off in the distance! After taking all the time there, I hardly had any time left for the portrait gallery. I decided to just go up the escalator and go through the top floor. On the way up, though, I saw a huge painting of Paul McCartney and practically ran off to find it before I had to leave! I didn't get to see many portraits but I hope I'll be able to go back before I leave England!

On the way to the show, I could not figure out where I was on my map and it was starting to annoy me so, like the good American I am, I went to McDonald's to get a drink and a snack. The McDonald's food in London is actually delicious and different from in the U.S. and it is always, always, always busy. I sat at a bar stool in front of the window and people-watched and then, magically, I realized that the street I had been looking for was right in front of McDonald's- phew! So off I went to Mamma Mia, which I had never seen before! I am sure many of you have already seen it, but I was so excited because I adore the movie and the music and I hadn't ever seen the play! It was really hard not to sing along! There were so many precious children under 5 who knew all of the lyrics to all of the songs and sang along. At intermission, I sat at the bar and had a Pimms and Lemonade with all kinds of fresh fruit mixed it- yum! At the end of the show, during one of the songs, it was pretty funny because the audience accidentally sang during a part when the singer was silent- so everyone on stage started laughing and the actress pointed and laughed and said "that's my part!" I thought it was pretty cute. All in all it was a great day! Yay Mamma Mia- go see it, if you haven't already! Love from London! Xxxxx