London, Finally: Part 3

 Thursday, my second full day in England, dawned bright and beautiful. Perhaps Mother Nature knew it was a day for celebrating, and decided that she would give us a cloudless sky.

It was Jubilee Day--celebrating 70 years of reign by Queen Elizabeth II. 

I did not plan this trip around Jubilee--I'm not fond of crowds, and this trip was actually supposed to happen in 2020. It was a happy accident that I found myself in England during Jubilee.

That said, I did not go to the parade. With the Queen opting to stay at Buckingham Palace (due to "mobility issues") and myself having little interest in waving to the rest of them, I decided to do some London favorites instead, while still getting somewhat close to the action.

My first stop was Leicester Square, home to cinemas, movie premieres, and souvenir shops. I took the Tube here because it's a short walk to Trafalgar Square, and I was an hour early for the opening of the National Gallery.

I wandered up and down Charing Cross Road for a bit, then back to Leicester Square for a bit. Not much was open yet. 

I love the mix of old and new in London.

England really showed the patriotism
during Jubilee.

Many moons ago, in 1999, I saw Le Mis
at this theater.

My old friend Bill.

Mr. Bean

Charlie Chaplin

Mary Poppins

Singin' in the Rain

Harry Potter

Clifford the Big Red Dog

Bugs Bunny

I made my way around to Trafalgar Square, which was already filling up with people celebrating Queen Elizabeth.

St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Church

Nelson's Column is the center of 
Trafalgar Square

The National Gallery, a magnificent
art museum.

There's Big Ben, a short walk from 
the square.

There was a large police presence on
ground and in the air.

Most people were calm and peaceful,
as well as decked-out and ready to 
celebrate a beloved Queen.

Temporary art installment.

The National Gallery opens at 10, so I got in line and went in. It had been many years since I'd visited, so I was delighted to see some old favorites. I adore art museums--it's so thrilling to see famous paintings in person. (Warning, many pictures ahead.)

I unabashedly love the Impressionists and other movements that were adjacent to them. A favorite (discovered in 1999 during London Semester, at this very museum!) is Edgar Degas. In a room dedicated to pastel artworks, I saw my first Degas works of the day. When I left the room, I passed a docent and sighed, "I love Degas." He smiled and said, "Yes, he's great..." 

Not a Degas, still gorgeous.

The National Gallery is huge--there's no way to see it all in one day. I did my best to see a lot of it, though...just lightly bouncing by rooms that were of less interest to me. That said, I do love some of the older artists, and I found a few I didn't know of that I enjoyed, too.

Finally, I came across one of my favorite pieces in the museum, Seurat's Bathers Asnières. It is 6'7" tall and 9'10" wide. I remember the first time I saw it, young 20-year-old Meg away from home in another country for the first time. What an awesome and beautiful piece of art. 

The Pissarro piece below is one I don't recall seeing before, and I loved it. That boy is a whole mood. 

Below, some more Seurat. He was known for painting very small studies of subjects before committing to a larger painting.

Another personal favorite, Vincent van Gogh...

And, of course, I love Monet.

This Manet was later posted to Facebook with the caption, "Oh look, it's me!" 

After a couple of hours, I was ready for lunch, so I ate at the museum cafe, and perused the gift shop. Then it was time to leave...and as I exited the building I found that Trafalgar Square had gone from "crowded" to "Holy Anxiety, Batman, WTF?!" 

As mentioned previously...I'm not fond of crowds. They make me anxious. 

Still, I managed to snake my way through and get back to Leicester Square, where the famous theater ticket booth was finally open for business. I bought a ticket to see Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap (longest running show in the world!), and then I heard helicopters overhead. A lot of people were stopped, looking up. 

The Jubilee Flyover!!

I knew the Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force aerobatic team (think US Air Force Thunderbirds or US Navy Blue Angels), would do a flyover of Buckingham Palace as part of the celebrations...but I didn't realize that so many other aircraft would go first. I stood for several minutes watching everything fly over, the Leicester Square Tube Station as my backdrop. 

Finally, to end the flyover, the famous Red Arrows flew by, trailing red, white, and blue smoke.

After all this excitement, I did a bunch of random wandering in the time before the show. The theater was not far, so I found myself wandering random little streets off of Charing Cross, visiting Waterstone's Books, and stopping for ice cream. 

The Seven Dials, where seven streets
meet up.

London's China Town

Amen, Anita, amen.

Next door to The Mousetrap was Cock,
starring Jonathon Bailey from 
Bridgerton, which I love.

A small memorial to Agatha Christie.

The Mousetrap was marvelous, as most London theater is. It's a short show, a gripping whodunnit mystery. I saw a matinee, so I had some time to kill after. I took the Tube to Knightsbridge to visit Harrod's which has a whole floor devoted to souvenirs, if you're not looking to drop several thou on a designer item in the rest of the store. I bought a few small things (in 2016, I went WILD shopping there; this time I was a lot more tempered).

By the time I finished, it was getting to be dinner time, so I headed back towards Paddington to try out an Indian place near my hotel. Chicken tikka masala sounded like just the thing...and it was. 

Still recovering from COVID, I was ready to call it a day...and I wanted to get plenty of sleep so I could be rested and ready for a trip to England's West Coast the next day. It was time to visit my trainer/friend Kay, and finally meet his adorable pup, Zeus.