Wicked

Kent and I had our first real date day in London on October 23rd. We took the tube down in the morning after putting the kids on the bus. We intended to go to Westminster Abbey, but it was closed early. So, plan B was the Winston Churchill Wartime Tunnels museum. It was really amazing--they built these command centers under a building near 10 Downing Street. From there, Churchill could command the war and (they hoped) be safe from bombings. Although they reinforced the building, there was no way to be sure that the building would withstand a direct hit from one of the air raids. When the war ended, they just turned out the lights and went home, so most things are preserved exactly as they were at the end of the war. We saw the tiny closet where Churchill could speak on the phone to Roosevelt and Truman, and the map rooms where they tracked troops and battles. There was also a magnificent museum to Churchill's life in general, where you could really get a sense of the whole man and the experiences that shaped his views and also changed them.

After the museum, we walked through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace and then on down Buckingham Palace Gate toward the theater. We stopped for dinner at Bumbles--so fabulous! And then headed over to the Apollo Victoria to see Wicked. We had never seen it before, or even heard much of the music, but now, I am obsessed. The production was outstanding--especially Elpheba had an amazing voice. I have been listening to and singing the soundtrack nonstop, substituting words as appropriate: Now, I am folding laundry...now I'm scrubbing toilets, etc. Makes my life seem much more glamorous when set to music!