On Wednesday I traveled down to London with my friend to see Wicked. In all honesty I had no idea what the show was about other than there was a witch in it. Wicked is set as a back story to the Wizard of Oz in a 'Maleficent' style where you get to know the back story for the original portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West and it turns out she really wasn't that 'Wicked' after all.
I really enjoyed the show, the cast where really good and the set and costume designs where colourful and exciting, It's amazing how a few different backdrops can take the story to a totally different location in a matter of seconds. We decided to save money on a hotel by traveling to and from London in the same day via train (we bagged our tickets in advance for £26 return). We opted to see a matanay performance of the show at 2.30 in the afternoon to make this possible.
I think one of the most important things to do in preparation for traveling down to the other end of the country is to have a plan of what you want to do with your day. It's super easy for time to fly past just traveling around on the tube, so it's great to have an idea of the places you want to visit and do them in an order that requires as little over lapping of traveling as possible. Also don't plan to do too much, better to truly enjoy the few activities you do, than try and rush lots.
9.30am - We were awaiting our train in Leeds station, we had got all the long distance train required provisions for the trip including our lunch and a cheeky can of Kopparberg Mixed Fruit (They are 330ml so a super handy size for a naughty little drink). Eating on the train saved time finding food to consume once we arrived, plus it's something to do while traveling, as it's so boring.
12 Noon - We arrived in London and after topping up our Oyster Cards we headed straight to The Natural History Museum for a quick look around. We planned to go here as it wasn't that far to then travel to Victoria for the show.
2.30pm - The show started and we were taken to the World of Oz.
5.30pm - After the show we headed to Westminster, again not that far too travel, to do some sight seeing. I'd researched a boat bar near to the embankment tube station so we headed there on foot from Westminster for some time to chat about what we had just witnessed.
7.00pm - After enjoying a refreshing pint with a view of the houses of parliament and the London Eye we headed to Covent Garden for a bite to eat. We weren't 100% sure where we wanted to eat but we both knew we wanted to try somewhere that wasn't a chain that we can find locally. We decided to eat at Joe's Southern Kitchen & Bar after a quick scan of the menu. We opted for a sharer started of BBQ chicken wings, which I followed with a chicken burger with a topping of guacamole and jalapeno peppers and a side of fries, super yummy.
8.30pm - After food we headed back to Kings Cross station to wait for our train home and a last minuet shopping trip for needed water and sweeties for the journey.
9.45pm - We set off back to Leeds after a busy day. I had an amazing fun packed day and spent most of the journey home sleeping (I couldn't help it).
What would you recommend be my next London show experience?
Sam
Want to see more posts follow on
