London, Baby!

It sounds like a cliché, but when I arrived in London I felt like I was in a movie, as if there was going to be a montage of me seeing all the sights with an uplifting soundtrack. Sounds pretty lame, really! Everything was just so much bigger and faster than it is in Devon. The buildings towered over me and the traffic never seemed to stop even though there were red lights everywhere. I saw a bus nearly rear end a taxi that swerved in front of it. I was so enthralled by all these things that I didn’t realise that everyone had walked off without me. I almost got lost in the crowds of people; I think I would have bawled like a baby if I had.

It was only 5 in the afternoon, which of course meant that it was pitch black already, but it also meant that all the Christmas lights looked extra festive. I guess London wasn’t as scary as I thought, though I was in a posh area. Wicked didn’t start for another two hours so we went for a walk to Buckingham Palace, as you do. On my few trips to London I have never seen the Palace before; I’ve only really been to the art galleries for school trips and the Millennium Dome when I was a lot younger.

The best thing about going to London this late in the day was that all the other tourists were gone, so in front of the Palace was empty. Nick and I had our photo taken by the gates of the Palace like the real tourists we are. As we walked around the Palace I wondered how many rooms it had, and how many of those were bedrooms. I wondered what the Queen’s bedroom looked like. Does she have a swimming pool? Then, as we walked the streets of London I wondered if the Queen ever just fancies taking a walk, or popping to the shop for some milk. I don’t think I could handle being royalty!