So the day following the concert, we got up a lil earlier than usual to head off to Baker Street, where we’d be checking out Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.
To answer your questions:
- Yes, there was a really sweet Sherlock Holmes statue outside the station.
- Yes, the museum was all sorts of creepy and incredibly badass.
They start you off in there ‘A-Listers’ room, which had George Clooney, Will Smith Tom Cruise, Helen Mirren, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie. And some not so A-Listers like Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus, and a section dedicated to Robert Pattenson…uhhhh no. From there you enter a 60’s era room with Andy Warhol, Jeri Hall, and Princess Di. Then there’s this blockbuster room with Spileberg, AHNNNNOLD, Jim Carrey, Robert Downey Jr. Indy, and Shrek. Then you went downstairs and they had Alfred Hitchcock waiting. There was a sports room with Beckham, Rooney, Pele, Ali, Woods (No MJ kind of funny). Then the geniuses sections, famous artists and scientists. Next to them was the Royal Family past and present. Then the music icons section was together with world leader section.
(Creepy right?!)
To answer your questions:
- Yes, I took a picture with Obeezey at the White House.
- Yes, I took a picture of me punching Bush in the face.
After the political peeps, things got weird and they took you downstairs to creepysville where they had replicas of people being tortured back in the day. There were other various pieces about torture (guillotine and hanging) and infamous criminals from England. They also revealed some of the history behind Madame Tussauds herself. She would make death masks from those that were beheaded and she would take them on tour around the world…eeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhh.
After the creepiness, they talk you on their famous Spirit of London tour, which involves you getting into a lil taxi and riding though an animatronic version of England’s past a la ‘Pirates of the Carribean’. It was a lot of fun and very informative. I kept telling Sian afterwards that I felt like I knew everything about her country now haha. So that was the end of the main tour at Madame Tussauds, but for reals, THE BEST WAS YET TO COME!!!
The tickets Aissa got was not just for the main show, but a special sideshow they are doing for the next few months…THE MARVEL 4-D EXPERIENCE!!!
(Pardon the language)
But I was like a kid in a mothafuckin’ candy store.
They had a Hugh Jackman figure of him as Wolverine. With replica claws next to him that were cutting metal and you could take a picture holding them! They had a giant Hulk statue that literally reaches for you! They have had a Spidey statue that if you paid for a picture made it look like you were crouching with him on the roof of his pad! And when you went upstairs they had a replica of Iron Man and little arc reactors that you could take pictures with! And across from him was Sam Jackson-Nick Fury with designs for the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier behind him!
AND THEN THEY PUT YOU IN A ROOM (much like the planetarium, but bigger) AND THE BIG SHOW STARTS!!
The gist: Marvel Heroes are getting commended in England. Their meeting spot: Of course Madame Tussauds. But when they show up, nobody’s around and they find a letter telling them to go home..who would do such a thing?! THAT BASTARD DR. VICTOR VON DOOM, THAT’S WHO. The heroes then take the next ten minutes whooping his ass, saving England, and getting a big shiny medals.
So what’s the 4-D part you ask? Well during the show if Spider-Man shot web at the screen, Iron Man fired his repulsor rays, or Hulk smashed his hands together for a his signature blast of air, air would blow into our faces. If Hulk threw a robot into water, mist would splash at us. And most crazy of all when Wolverine stabbed a robot, his claws would poke us in the back; it was really unnerving but super funny. Ughhhh it was the best, I loved it!! Once it finished we checked out the gift shop, and jumped on the train to Big Ben!!
When you get off the train it’s hard to believe, but Big Ben is literally right next to the station. It took me a moment to realize because I guess I expected this big epic reveal. But it was right there and it looked and I know some people might be like ok, what’s so cool about a giant clock. But I gotta say, IT WAS AMAZING. Just seeing something that big, with that much history you can’t help but be in awe. I think the funniest thing is that I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it. I didn’t matter the angle or how far or close I was, I just wanted to keep shooting.
We decided to get a move on, we were on our way to see the London Eye! As we were crossing the bridge, we all took a moment to look at the Thames. It was big.
Haha.
When we got to the London Eye they told us they had a video for us to watch before we actually got on. And can you believe it…IT WAS ANOTHER 4-D ADVENTURE!! TWO 4-D’S IN ONE DAY IS MIND-BLOWING!!!
The video was overall purty sweet. It involved this girl and her father going on the London Eye and experiencing the whole excitement and diversity of being in London. It was also from the perspective of a gull watching everything from the skies. I found this kinda funny because most people here feel those birds are ‘rats with wings’, so no love for the seagull. But the video had more mist and wind and fake snow and Dragons coming at us, like I said purty darn sweet.
After the video we were taken to the Eye itself.
MASSIVE.
It is literally just incredible to look at.
We then got in line (or queue as they say down here), and waited for our bubble.
When it comes up, it’s kind of funny, but you have to jump into it. It’s not fast or dramatic at all, but in some ways, it still kind of freaked me out, jumping into something you could potentially miss (My James Bond moment for the day—jumping into a bubble).
The girls and I were in the company of a bunch of older couples and family. Everyone was pretty chill, excited I’m sure to see everything.
As The Eye starts it doesn’t feel like you’re moving at all. You will notice, if you look at the gears, that it’s just rotating very slowly. When you finally stop thinking about the mechanics of everything you remember to look out the window and see London from the skies.
It’s the kind of sight that makes you stop to take a deep breath.
As usual I took pictures of everything…especially more of Big Ben. (You can’t judge I just found out yesterday Kique and Gabi did the same!!)
Two funny things happened while we were up there:
- There were two Middle Eastern brothers on board, and both seemed really eager to go on. As soon as we started going up, the older one got seriously freaked out, and laid down on the bench inside the bubble for the rest of the ride. His brother sat next to him, just laughing. It was kind of funny.
- In the bubble across from us, a man proposed to his girlfriend and we got the full view.
She said ‘Yes’!
I did get a picture haha.
It was a lot of fun, and we even got to take a funny picture at the end of the ride (which they charge you for). Once we got off (another successful bubble jump for me) we were starving and the girls took me to some restaurants for dinner. Italian won over all and I found myself in a very fancy looking place.
Sidenote: I will take this moment to make notice of the INCREDIBLY GORGEOUS waitress working inside. She did not serve us, but SWEET LORD. It was hard not to stare…in fact I think it could be understood as a great compliment haha.
But I digress, Sian and I got our drinks as Aissa was outside, making business, taking phone calls doing as she does. Sian was super confused because she didn’t understand what Aissa was doing. As soon as she came back in she revealed another big surprise!
SHE GOT TICKETS TO GO SEE ‘WICKED’! CRAZY RIGHT A SHOW IN LONDON!!!
Aissa said a trip to London would not be complete unless you see a show here. We ate quickly, enjoyed our food, paid our check (I silently waved goodbye to GORGEOUS WAITRESS) and we were on our way.
Oh man, everything looked incredible at night. Every building glowed with intensity. The Themes reflected all of this and shimmered with same intensity. There were street musicians on the bridge and loads of people walking by. It’s what you expect the hustle and bustle of nightlife in London to be like.
We took the tube and soon enough found ourselves outside the playhouse. There were so many people there to see the show. Aissa easily got our tickets and we headed to our seats. I was once again in observation mode, looking at all the set pieces, costumes, and posters in the lobby. Everything looked awesome!!
Aissa got us some really kick ass seats. And the set design looked so cool, it included a giant dragon overlooking all of us at the top of the stage. Funny enough, a couple of American girls were in front of us from Minnesota, they were glad they didn’t have to explain where that was to us.
The show started and the dragon overhead started moving and blowing smoke. Winged monkeys entered the stage, setting the scene up while also managing to scare the crap out of me. And then chorus entered and began their first song.
It was awesome!! I haven’t been to a show in so long, but I was totally blown away at how good everything was. The acting, the songs, the choreography, it was a helluva show. For those who don’t know (and I’m pretty sure you all already do), ‘Wicked’ is a take on ‘The Wizard of Oz’ from the perspective of the Wicked Witch, who’s actually a misunderstood good guy. I gotta give serious props to the ladies who played Glinda and Elphaba, FANTASTIC!! When ‘Defying Gravity’ was over at the first half of the show, I’m pretty sure the whole audience was in chills.
UHHHH SO DAMN GOOD. We were so jazzed when the show finished. I couldn’t stop smiling, what an epically epic day.
I think this is how everyday should be.
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Make sure to give yourselves a day where you can see and do anything, I don’t think we do it enough : ).
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It was so big, that I didn’t feel bad at all about taking the next day off. At least I got caught up on some writing.
Till next time guys and gals,
Toby
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