Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Wickre Travelogue (August 18th)


We walked a long way through Mayfair to Buckingham Palace. On the way we walked past the U. S. Embassy. Unfortunately there was no changing of the guards today at Buckingham palace. Went shopping at the Royal gift shop. Walked to "Alberts" a pub frequented by MPs - had traditional fish and chips. Walked forever to "tube" & got off because tube was running slow and was packed. Walked on Oxford Street. Very crowded with people shopping. I stopped at a very large music store and bought a CD of the sound track to John Wayne's "The Searchers" and the 2 CD sound track to "American Graffiti" (Much less than in the US). Best of all the Paul Simon CD he recorded in London in 1965 when he went with out Art Garfunkel and sang on street corners and coffee shops before he was a star. Only Simon and his guitar. Very simple basic folk versions of later hits such as "I am a Rock". Then went back to hotel - rested for 2 1/2 - 3 hours - took the tube to The Palladium Theater and the Andrew Loyd Weber Production of "The Sound of Music." It was pouring rain - lots of people. Saw the Sound of Music which was fantastic. The theater was beautiful, the production was great, Mother Abyss was fabulous, Maria excellent - very enjoyable. The audience was mostly older English people. We sat in front of three couples who when they talked reminded me of the old English movies I watched on TV in the 1950's and 1960's. Back to bed by 11:30 p.