The day started nice and early and a relatively easy check in and security. Then a quite average Breakfast. For anyone going through Heathrow, I recommend trying to get breakfast not at Bridges.
I had applied for an upgrade to Business Class but unfortunately the plane was full so I was stuck back in Economy. The new A380 didn’t really have too much special. The tv screens were actually the same size as my laptop screen so they are quite big but that is about it. It takes about 25 minutes to disembark because there are so many people on board. I was able to finish the episode of Top Gear I had started on decent.
I had heard that Singapore Airport was amazing and had lots to do. This turned out to be correct; free movie cinema, lots of shopping options, big games world thing! It was amazing! EXCEPT… it was in Terminal 2 and I was in Terminal 1. Although I had 13 hours to waste, the first 8 were occupied in the Terminal Hotel. I got a room with a bed and went to sleep!
After waking up and having a shower to freshen up I explored Terminal 1. Although I still had 4 hours to kill, I wasn’t game to venture out of the Terminal. I found not much that was exciting to eat so a toasted croissant it was. After waling through all of the Duty Free Shops and trying to convert prices in my head – I realised I didn’t have enough hand luggage to fit too much more in – so the Duty Free will have to wait until next time!
I still had a couple of hours so how does one waste an hour??? Simple – Get a one hour massage! After the massage I headed for the shower. As I walked out I was greeted by a girl in a bra and jeans! Both of us were very concerned that we were in the wrong shower but then discovered that they were a uni-sex set of showers / toilets. Anyway, after some awkward small talk I headed out to the lounge area. It was now 7:30pm so after a complimentary glass of water and cup of tea it was now time to head to the boarding gate. I had successfully survived 13 hours in Singapore airport – 8 of which were spent asleep and one was spent almost asleep!
When I left I thought that around one corner somewhere or on a ski slope or something I would run into someone I knew. I was only thinking during the massage that this still hadn’t happened. I thought between all the people I know, students I have taught, people I have done shows with that surely I would run into someone but I didn’t… UNTIL NOW!
As I am boarding my final flight I walk past the bulk head into the last section and discover a very familiar face… Arthur Frame – The Queensland Arts Council CEO – MY BOSS! We had joked before heading away that we would see each other but neither of of flights lined up. We never checked which flight out of Singapore we would be on… And to make the coincidence even more strange – I was sitting right behind him and his wife. So now I was satisfied that I did walk round a cornere and found someone I knew., Daniel would be jealous to know that his mate “Penny” was flying in Business Class and Arthur had njust finished having a lovely chat with her!
So I sit down in my seat – right behind my boss and his wife AND right next to Bra and Jeans girl from the shower! It was like a dodgy Hollywood script – I only say that because I have seen some dodgy scriptwriting in the movies I have seen on the plane. She had just been to Germany to spend New Year with her brother. She was a trained classical singer and was a hairdresser and managed some hair salons out near Jindalee / Indooroopilly. So we had many things to talk about – including how much she missed her boyfriend…
I think I achieved something new today… I made a flight attendant Moon Walk! True! We were discussing the Michael Jackson documentary and she was saying how much she like MJ’s music and I dared her to moonwalk – and she tried! It was one of the highlights of the holiday – maybe I was just really tired and thought it was good.
The flight in over Queensland was AMAZING. Everything is quite green and looking healthy, even Moreton Bay!
And now I am home. I have cleared customs and immigration and may have stopped in the duty free shop… My bags are unpacked and most things are put away!
And that is it! An amazing 4 weeks with a lifetime of memories – and I will always have the blog and photos to remember it by!
Monday, January 18, 2010
London Theatre Reviews
REVIEW: Jersey Boys - LONDON
I had heard about Jersey Boys but not too much. I knew some of the songs in it but that was about it. When Andrew went to Melbourne last year he saw it and really like it. For a show to get Andrew’s tick of approval I knew there must be something good about it. WOW! This is such a fantastic show. Good story, good music, awesome band. Although it was a “jukebox Musical” it actually told a real story – similar to The Boy From Oz and nothing like Mamma Mia!
I didn’t really know anything about Frankie Valli or The Four Seasons. I knew most of the music but didn’t know anything about them so it was a great history into a very influential music group, especially in American Music and the development of a “white pop / soul” type of sound.
Once again, the show is very minimalistic with it’s sets. This seems to be the trend in all new musicals. The less set there is the less stage crew to pay to shift it! Fly towers and hydraulic stages can allow you to do some pretty impressive things!
This show was so good! The harmonies of the four leads were fantastic. Everything in this production was so solid and tight. The standard of shows I have seen so far has been amazing. Everything is so professional with all of the actors and performers committed to it. Even the Band have to commit to choreography and costumes in this show!
REASON FOR SEEING: Was this or Phantom… have organized to go to Melbourne to see Drowsy Chaperone and wanted to see if this would be worth seeing as well - YES
BEST OF: Took title away from HAIR as best band! Tightest and slickest production. FANTASTIC!
*On everywhere – could have seen it in Chicago and Toronto and New York if I wanted to! That could have been a really interesting contrast but 5 productions in 2 months may have been a little over board…
REVIEW: The Lion King - LONDON
I saw The Lion King in Sydney a couple of years ago and was amazed by everything. I saw The Lion King in London a couple of days ago and have never been so disappointed in my life! The show was terrible. It was long and boring. The actors looked bored, they sounded bored. I am convinced I knew the dialogue and songs better than some of them. There was no enthusiasim in the cast at all. I hop I am getting the point across that this was the most boring show I think I have ever seen – and I have sat through lots. I actually considered walking out at interval (I had even thought of leaving once or twice before interval. But I had paid full price for this ticket. This was one of the shows I was really wanting to see and after my stuff up in New York with not reading the performance schedule properly, I really wanted to see it.
I actually can’t even think of anything that impressed me about the show at all. Obviously the costumes and sets were still pretty amazing but the people operating them weren’t. I know it was a Wednesday matinee and it was snowing outside and there were lots of school groups in the theatre but they are PROFESSIONAL actors.
Anyway, as you can see I wasn’t really impressed with this at all and won’t write any more because it will all be the same…
REASON FOR SEEING: Wanted to see it again. It has been here for 10 years
BEST OF: Nothing.
REVIEW: Avenue Q - LONDON
Lion King was the first show that I saw for the second time and was very disappointed, but thought Avenue Q would be a good way to cheer up but was hesitant as it would be the second time I was seeing it within 10 days…
YAY! It was fantastic. I would even say better than what I saw in New York. The actors were better puppeteers, better singers and looked like they were having more fun. They even voiced the characters much better.
It was fun picking up on some of the subtle differences between the two productions. Some include Gary Coleman – played by a man, but also having to explain a lot about him. Different Strokes didn’t really make it big in London and they don’t really know who Gary Coleman is and instead of being the ‘Superintendant’ he is ‘The Handy Man’. It must be hard re-writing a show that is based on a lot of American pop-culture and trying to adapt it to international audiences. I am sure there will be some changes when I see it in a couple of weeks in Brisbane. There were some other things but talking about them would spoil the show for you so you will just have to wait until you have seen it and THEN ask me!
The New York theatre was more like the Powerhouse so it suited the contemporary style of the show, this very old and grand theatre that we saw it in London, felt a bit strange to be laughing about racism, internet and in general how much life sux!
Rob came along as well and it was his first time seeing it. He hadn’t heard any of the songs before so didn’t know what he was in for… a show with puppets - what has this Nutley feller got me into? Must of liked it because he is going to take Kate there before it closes in March because HAIR is moving into that theatre after it finishes on Broadway.
REASON FOR SEEING: To see it in three places in three months! And it was so good the first time!
BEST OF: Even funnier than Broadway.
REVIEW: Blood Brothers - LONDON
I had heard stories about how good this show was and figured if it had been running for 21 years it must being doing something right… It isn’t working for Lion King but moving on…
Blood Brothers tells the story of a mother who decides to give up one of her twin boys as she can not afford to keep both of them. The story then develops with the one she gives away leading an amazing life and the other one struggling just to make ends meet. However they become best friends and the story goes from there. I don’t want to give too much away incase you haven’t seen it yet.
As the show started, I was certain they were still using the original DX7 keyboards the show was written on. The live band were great but the music / sound patches and synth drums have dated more than the original Starlight Express – and that is saying something!
Once yhou get your mind back into the early 80’s and can deal with some really not good keyboard sounds, this is an amazing show. Mel C – former Spice Girls – plays the converted role of the mother – Mrs. Johnson. She sang the role quite well but really didn’t know how to act – luckily the rest of thes cast were brilliant – not one weak link in the whole show.
This is a show that, for a change, relies on a really good story / book. There are no show girls or chorus lines in this show, just well placed songs that help develop the story. It is a really well put together piece of theatre.
When Natalie saw this show she said that she was crying for most of it. But Natalie can cry if a TV commercial is sad so I really wasn’t basing the emotional journey on her report… however, the ending, which I won’t reveal, even made me shed a tear. This is such an amazing rollercoaster of emotion. The show opens with the final scene so you kind of know how it ends but then jumps back to the beginning and takes you on the journey of how it gets there – personally I would have preferred not to know how it ended. But the story is so gripping and quite emotional that when you get to the end you just have to sit in your seat for a moment or two to process it.
The whole concept of debriefing a show is something I have found hard. Normally you go to the theatre with friends and are able to talk about what you just saw – good bits, bad bits etc etc etc and I have really missed that element. That is why I think this blog has been important for me at least, although it is only a one way dialogue – although you can comment on each post or facebook or email me anytime, but it has allowed me to process my thoughts and when I need to talk about something I can go back to some of these notes! 10 shows in 11 days wqas quite a lot to process!
Anyway, back to the show… There is not much more to say except anyone who comes to London who enjoys a musical that has a real storyline and isn’t a Mamma Mia Jukebox style with a loose storyline, really should see this show. If you were only going to do one show in West End – don’t do this one, you will feel miserable after it. If you are going to do two shows in West End DO THIS ONE and then see Jersey Boys or Avenue Q or Priscilla or any number of other FUN shows!
REASON FOR SEEING: Had heard LOTS of good reports about it.
BEST OF: Story. Emotion. Acting.
REVIEW: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – the Musical - LONDON
I was wrecked when I walked out of Blood Brothers, maybe it was a little bit of home sick (now reaching the four weeks away point), maybe it was a bit of a theatre overload (is that actually possible - NO), maybe it was a combination of a lot of things but I needed some cheering up!
I knew the perfect show for this. Some people may disagree, but for me, the most fun I have had at a show was Priscilla in Sydney. It was fun, loud, bright ‘fabulous’ costumes and just a great night. Every song is a hit and every costume is stunning. This production never made it to Brisbane because Andrew Lloyd Webber decided he wanted it in London! Oh Well!
The only members of the original cast to come over were Tony Sheldon and Pricilla (the Bus). Tony Sheldon is still amazing. Late last year he did his 1000th performance as Bernadette and still gets the biggest cheer every night. His is one of the best performances I have seen. He is so natural in the role…
Anyway, Not much has changed – which was good. It was fun to play ‘spot the aussie’ in the audience because they were the ones who would laugh at some of the very Australian jokes or would laugh at the young boy who had a very thick British accent trying to do an Australian accent which turned into a really thick Kiwi accent – Very funny. I actually think they had reduced the amount of lines and on stage time for the boy.
The other hilarious thing was the token dark skinned Londoner tyring to play the aboriginal tracker. He sounded more like David Beckham than Ernie Dingo!
The show previously opened with an outline of the Sydney Harbor Bridge but has now been replaced by the Tower Bridge. Other than some minor dialogue changes the show is unchanged.
Priscilla also stared the token Australian in West End (now that Phillip Quast is about to head home for Mary Poppins and Tamsin Carol is busy with Oliver) – JASON “Scott” DONOVAN! There was one scene when the three were discussing Kylie songs and that went on and on and on and he didn’t say too much except for “I rather fancied Scott myself”. He was the weakest link in the whole show – just wasn’t as into it as everyone else.
This was the perfect answer to Blood Brothers and the perfect way to feel nostalgic as this was the last show I was to see in West End – for this trip anyway!
REASON FOR SEEING: Needed Cheering Up, Support Australian Theatre Internationally and it is a REALLY good show
BEST OF: Costuems, sets, atmosphere!
I had heard about Jersey Boys but not too much. I knew some of the songs in it but that was about it. When Andrew went to Melbourne last year he saw it and really like it. For a show to get Andrew’s tick of approval I knew there must be something good about it. WOW! This is such a fantastic show. Good story, good music, awesome band. Although it was a “jukebox Musical” it actually told a real story – similar to The Boy From Oz and nothing like Mamma Mia!
I didn’t really know anything about Frankie Valli or The Four Seasons. I knew most of the music but didn’t know anything about them so it was a great history into a very influential music group, especially in American Music and the development of a “white pop / soul” type of sound.
Once again, the show is very minimalistic with it’s sets. This seems to be the trend in all new musicals. The less set there is the less stage crew to pay to shift it! Fly towers and hydraulic stages can allow you to do some pretty impressive things!
This show was so good! The harmonies of the four leads were fantastic. Everything in this production was so solid and tight. The standard of shows I have seen so far has been amazing. Everything is so professional with all of the actors and performers committed to it. Even the Band have to commit to choreography and costumes in this show!
REASON FOR SEEING: Was this or Phantom… have organized to go to Melbourne to see Drowsy Chaperone and wanted to see if this would be worth seeing as well - YES
BEST OF: Took title away from HAIR as best band! Tightest and slickest production. FANTASTIC!
*On everywhere – could have seen it in Chicago and Toronto and New York if I wanted to! That could have been a really interesting contrast but 5 productions in 2 months may have been a little over board…
REVIEW: The Lion King - LONDON
I saw The Lion King in Sydney a couple of years ago and was amazed by everything. I saw The Lion King in London a couple of days ago and have never been so disappointed in my life! The show was terrible. It was long and boring. The actors looked bored, they sounded bored. I am convinced I knew the dialogue and songs better than some of them. There was no enthusiasim in the cast at all. I hop I am getting the point across that this was the most boring show I think I have ever seen – and I have sat through lots. I actually considered walking out at interval (I had even thought of leaving once or twice before interval. But I had paid full price for this ticket. This was one of the shows I was really wanting to see and after my stuff up in New York with not reading the performance schedule properly, I really wanted to see it.
I actually can’t even think of anything that impressed me about the show at all. Obviously the costumes and sets were still pretty amazing but the people operating them weren’t. I know it was a Wednesday matinee and it was snowing outside and there were lots of school groups in the theatre but they are PROFESSIONAL actors.
Anyway, as you can see I wasn’t really impressed with this at all and won’t write any more because it will all be the same…
REASON FOR SEEING: Wanted to see it again. It has been here for 10 years
BEST OF: Nothing.
REVIEW: Avenue Q - LONDON
Lion King was the first show that I saw for the second time and was very disappointed, but thought Avenue Q would be a good way to cheer up but was hesitant as it would be the second time I was seeing it within 10 days…
YAY! It was fantastic. I would even say better than what I saw in New York. The actors were better puppeteers, better singers and looked like they were having more fun. They even voiced the characters much better.
It was fun picking up on some of the subtle differences between the two productions. Some include Gary Coleman – played by a man, but also having to explain a lot about him. Different Strokes didn’t really make it big in London and they don’t really know who Gary Coleman is and instead of being the ‘Superintendant’ he is ‘The Handy Man’. It must be hard re-writing a show that is based on a lot of American pop-culture and trying to adapt it to international audiences. I am sure there will be some changes when I see it in a couple of weeks in Brisbane. There were some other things but talking about them would spoil the show for you so you will just have to wait until you have seen it and THEN ask me!
The New York theatre was more like the Powerhouse so it suited the contemporary style of the show, this very old and grand theatre that we saw it in London, felt a bit strange to be laughing about racism, internet and in general how much life sux!
Rob came along as well and it was his first time seeing it. He hadn’t heard any of the songs before so didn’t know what he was in for… a show with puppets - what has this Nutley feller got me into? Must of liked it because he is going to take Kate there before it closes in March because HAIR is moving into that theatre after it finishes on Broadway.
REASON FOR SEEING: To see it in three places in three months! And it was so good the first time!
BEST OF: Even funnier than Broadway.
REVIEW: Blood Brothers - LONDON
I had heard stories about how good this show was and figured if it had been running for 21 years it must being doing something right… It isn’t working for Lion King but moving on…
Blood Brothers tells the story of a mother who decides to give up one of her twin boys as she can not afford to keep both of them. The story then develops with the one she gives away leading an amazing life and the other one struggling just to make ends meet. However they become best friends and the story goes from there. I don’t want to give too much away incase you haven’t seen it yet.
As the show started, I was certain they were still using the original DX7 keyboards the show was written on. The live band were great but the music / sound patches and synth drums have dated more than the original Starlight Express – and that is saying something!
Once yhou get your mind back into the early 80’s and can deal with some really not good keyboard sounds, this is an amazing show. Mel C – former Spice Girls – plays the converted role of the mother – Mrs. Johnson. She sang the role quite well but really didn’t know how to act – luckily the rest of thes cast were brilliant – not one weak link in the whole show.
This is a show that, for a change, relies on a really good story / book. There are no show girls or chorus lines in this show, just well placed songs that help develop the story. It is a really well put together piece of theatre.
When Natalie saw this show she said that she was crying for most of it. But Natalie can cry if a TV commercial is sad so I really wasn’t basing the emotional journey on her report… however, the ending, which I won’t reveal, even made me shed a tear. This is such an amazing rollercoaster of emotion. The show opens with the final scene so you kind of know how it ends but then jumps back to the beginning and takes you on the journey of how it gets there – personally I would have preferred not to know how it ended. But the story is so gripping and quite emotional that when you get to the end you just have to sit in your seat for a moment or two to process it.
The whole concept of debriefing a show is something I have found hard. Normally you go to the theatre with friends and are able to talk about what you just saw – good bits, bad bits etc etc etc and I have really missed that element. That is why I think this blog has been important for me at least, although it is only a one way dialogue – although you can comment on each post or facebook or email me anytime, but it has allowed me to process my thoughts and when I need to talk about something I can go back to some of these notes! 10 shows in 11 days wqas quite a lot to process!
Anyway, back to the show… There is not much more to say except anyone who comes to London who enjoys a musical that has a real storyline and isn’t a Mamma Mia Jukebox style with a loose storyline, really should see this show. If you were only going to do one show in West End – don’t do this one, you will feel miserable after it. If you are going to do two shows in West End DO THIS ONE and then see Jersey Boys or Avenue Q or Priscilla or any number of other FUN shows!
REASON FOR SEEING: Had heard LOTS of good reports about it.
BEST OF: Story. Emotion. Acting.
REVIEW: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – the Musical - LONDON
I was wrecked when I walked out of Blood Brothers, maybe it was a little bit of home sick (now reaching the four weeks away point), maybe it was a bit of a theatre overload (is that actually possible - NO), maybe it was a combination of a lot of things but I needed some cheering up!
I knew the perfect show for this. Some people may disagree, but for me, the most fun I have had at a show was Priscilla in Sydney. It was fun, loud, bright ‘fabulous’ costumes and just a great night. Every song is a hit and every costume is stunning. This production never made it to Brisbane because Andrew Lloyd Webber decided he wanted it in London! Oh Well!
The only members of the original cast to come over were Tony Sheldon and Pricilla (the Bus). Tony Sheldon is still amazing. Late last year he did his 1000th performance as Bernadette and still gets the biggest cheer every night. His is one of the best performances I have seen. He is so natural in the role…
Anyway, Not much has changed – which was good. It was fun to play ‘spot the aussie’ in the audience because they were the ones who would laugh at some of the very Australian jokes or would laugh at the young boy who had a very thick British accent trying to do an Australian accent which turned into a really thick Kiwi accent – Very funny. I actually think they had reduced the amount of lines and on stage time for the boy.
The other hilarious thing was the token dark skinned Londoner tyring to play the aboriginal tracker. He sounded more like David Beckham than Ernie Dingo!
The show previously opened with an outline of the Sydney Harbor Bridge but has now been replaced by the Tower Bridge. Other than some minor dialogue changes the show is unchanged.
Priscilla also stared the token Australian in West End (now that Phillip Quast is about to head home for Mary Poppins and Tamsin Carol is busy with Oliver) – JASON “Scott” DONOVAN! There was one scene when the three were discussing Kylie songs and that went on and on and on and he didn’t say too much except for “I rather fancied Scott myself”. He was the weakest link in the whole show – just wasn’t as into it as everyone else.
This was the perfect answer to Blood Brothers and the perfect way to feel nostalgic as this was the last show I was to see in West End – for this trip anyway!
REASON FOR SEEING: Needed Cheering Up, Support Australian Theatre Internationally and it is a REALLY good show
BEST OF: Costuems, sets, atmosphere!
LONDON - All in 1
SORRY ABOUT THE LONG POST - limited time to break them into separate posts
ENGLAND – DAY 1 and 2 - RUGBY
So I made it out of America and started the flight over to London where they had had snow and lots of it and didn’t know what to do… I was so relieved to not be flying with American Airlines again. I was over it!
I was sitting on the edge in the centre three seats and there was a girl sitting on the other end with nobody in the middle – My Lucky Day! Not because of the girl but because of the space and the possibility to sit with my feet on the seat. Anyway we started talking and discovered we were both in New York for the same reasons – To see shows. She was on her way back home to London where she was working on sound for The Lions King . I didn’t get free tickets Anyway as would later turn out I would have felt bad telling her how bad the show was if I actually met up with her at the show or she did organize tickets… Anyway, our spare seat was quickly taken by a photographer who was on his way back to Kenya to have an interview to work at the World Cup. It was such a great flight because it was the first one since I left that I actually talked to the people I was sitting next to. Let me rephrase that, this was the first time people had talked back to me!
I eventually arrived in Heathrow and had the biggest grilling from customs / immigration that I had had my whole flight…
ACM (Angry Customs Man): What are you doing here
ME (Me): On Holidays
ACM: How long are you staying?
ME: About a week
ACM: That isn’t very definite. I can see you are leaving next Sunday
ME: (inner thought) Then why did you ask that question?
ME: (actually said) Yeah, Next Sunday morning.
ACM: Who are you staying with?
ME: (inner thought) read the card I just handed you with that on!
ME: (actually said) A family friend
ACM: How long has this ‘friend’ known you
ME: (inner thought) do I tell the truth?
ME: (actually said) about 25 years
ACM: but your not even that old!
ME: (inner thought) DUDE, Can you not count? Did you miss math at school to take extra “how to be annoying lectures”
ME: (actually said nothing – was waiting for him to realize!)
ACM: (redoing the math in his head…) so you met this person when you were born
ME: (inner thought) Yeah, I actually have a photographic memory and remember every doctor that was at the hospital and nurse and every visitor mum had!
ME: (actually said) A sudo Uncle. My Dad’s best friend so yeah, known me for ages
ACM: How much money do you expect to spend here?
ME: (inner thought) do you want to see the receipts from what I just spent in New York…
ME: (actually said) about 800 bucks ( I knew the English twat wouldn’t know what that meant)
ACM: (vacant look on his face and trying to change the subject but still in an angry voice) Why did you choose to come here in the coldest Winter we have had in 30 years?
ME: (inner thought) Actually, I have been planning this trip for the last 25 years but wanted to wait until it was really really cold and snowy and I knew the city would just shut down and it would be a waste of my time coming here
ME: (actually said) It was part of a round the world trip and I was in Niagara a week ago where we had about two feet of snow over night so a little snow won’t worry me!
ACM: Where are you off to after you leave here?
ME (actually said before inner thought happened) to that address in Rugby (pointing at my green slip)
ACM: NO, when you leave London
ME: (inner thought) I knew that’s what you meant but this game is still fun and I haven’t pushed too many buttons yet!
ME: (actually said) Back home to Brisbane
ACM: aren’t you going to Singapore?
ME: (inner thought) why do you keep asking me questions that you already know the answer to?
ME: (actually said) yeah – got 8 hour stop over in Singapore
ACM: Do you plan on doing any other touring into Europe while you are here
ME: (inner thought) unless they are showing Broadway Musicals somewhere else the answer is NO!
ME: (actually said) No, not this time. I plan on coming back and doing some more touring on another trip.
CM: (we dropped the A because he turned into every other customs person at this point…) Thank you, Enjoy your stay.
ME: (inner thought) so you can be nice
ME: (actually said) Cheers Mate, Have A Great Day!
And that is the end of Angry Customs Man!
So Hillary met me and we headed up to Rugby. There was so much snow everywhere! I had a little power nap due to the fact I had now been away for about 30 hours… Then Martin and I headed out to explore some of the sights of Rugby. We drove past the school where Rugby started and had a look at downtown Rugby. It is a large country town – large compared to a lot of the other places but still a small town really.
Then it was out for dinner and then home for an early night. Not before trying Mulled Wine – a wine that is designed to be drunk warm – a complete opposite from the ice wine I had been drinking about a week early.
After Hillary thinking I may have died during the night because it was about 11:30am when I finally woke up... Martin and I planned the day. We were going to head out to Shakespeare’s home town. We headed out via Warwick and saw the castle there and then headed out to Strafford. We found an old tudor style house that you could tour through and it gave a really good history of the style and the era. The amazing thing was how cold this house was – the poor people without their reverse cycle or their gas heaters… We checked out (from the outside only) the Shakespeare theatre. Only the outside because it is undergoing a major referb and they are putting in a new theatre or two.
Then it was getting cold, and dark – it was only 4:30pm – so we headed back to Rugby. Had some dinner and then sat down to some TV – the perfect Sunday evening and the perfect way to end my little stay in Rugby.
MONDAY - LONDON
The train from Rugby takes about 2 hours so it was a great time to catch up on some blog updates from New York! and some How I Met Your Mother episodes. I would have liked to look at the countryside abut most of it was covered in snow so it wasn’t anything too different from all of the snow photos I had taken. And it was all white.
The plan in London was to catch up with Rob. A mate from School. He has been over there for about 3 years now and is currently teaching geography at a boys school near Westminster. I got into Euston train station at about 2:00pm, and was able to leave my suitcase there while I went out and explored London for a couple of hours as Rob didn’t finish work until about 5:30pm.
SO I headed down to Leister Square. I knew this would be somewhere to get familiar with over the next couple of days as it was also ‘Theatre Land’. I then kept heading south. Past the museum, through Trafalgar Square, down a big important looking street. I walked through a little arch way and found myself in a giant open park. So I kept walking and then started to get scared as I saw two armoured guards and realised that that was Number 10 Downing Street. I kept walking and found ‘Big Ben’. And then kept heading down and found the Lambeth Bridge. So I walked over it – does that count as doing the Lambeth Walk? I headed along ‘South Bank’ up to the London Eye. It was already getting dark so I decided to maybe wait for a better day…It was then a walk across the Westminster Bridge and heading down to Victoria tube station to meet Rob. Outside Victoria station is Billy Elliot and Wicked!
Rob’s flatmates had people staying as well this week so there was a shortage of beds so we went out and bought an airbed from one of the most random shops. You go in to the front shop and look through the catalogue, choose your product – only knowing what it is from the description and the tiny picture in the catalogue. ANYWAY, you then have to go to a machine where you enter the code of the product and your credit card. You get a receipt and a counter to go to. You then wait and from the giant storeroom in the back your product magically eventually appears.
After a trip back to Euston to pick up my bag we headed to Clapham Common where Rob is now living. London is know for its Indian restaurants so Rob and I headed out to find one and some dinner. As it turns out there was one just around the corner, and to make it better it was really really yum.
And that is day one in London!
TUESDAY – LONDON
With no fancy vouchers and no people handing out half price vouchers on the streets, I headed out to find the TKTS booth to see what offers were available. Once again, I had pretty good luck turning up a couple of hours before the show and only being a single person I managed to get some really good seats. London had more to offer in the form of Matinee’s which was good because it meant I could catch up with Rob at night time. Jersey Boys or Phantom was my matinee choice and I chose Jersey Boys – kind of glad I did! I think if you aren’t going to see Anthony Warlow is there actually any point seeing Phantom?
I explored Theatreland a little bit more as this would be where I would be spending the next couple of days and I found the coolest shop in the world. This shop is dedicated to theatre Cd’s Dvd, music scores, old programs, memobillia as well as possibly the entire collection of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jnr… etc Cd’s. I could have spent every day and every dollar at this shop!
Anyway, I was excited to find a Pizza Hut for lunch! They have the restaurant here! Woo Hoo! This was actually more exciting because of the salad bar rather than the Pizza but the Pizza was an added bonus. As I have mentioned before, fresh fruit and vegetables can be hard to find so a salad bar was very exciting! SO much lettuce, corn, pineapple, beetroot, carrot… YUM YUM YUM.
Anyway, after the show I met up with Rob again and we had a walk through Soho before finding a nice Italian Restaurant for dinner.
WEDNESDAY – LONDON
It is snowing today! Yay Yay Yay! AS if I hadn’t had enough of it in Chicago, Toronto, Montréal, Niagara, Toronto, New York… Rob was hoping for a snow day but wasn’t that lucky so he went off to work and I headed out to The Lion King. The Lion King was near Covent Garden. So it was a good chance to explore that area today. I passed / found the SAVOY THEATRE. I didn’t take a photo because you actually couldn’t see it. The Savoy is down a little alleyway and is getting a major outside reform at the moment so it just would have been a picture of scaffolding! Out of interest, Legally Blonde I on there at the moment…
Anyway, the markets were great to walk around and explore. I found a string quartet that were playing but everything was so so so fast. Canon in D is normally about 4 minutes in its entiriety – just under 3 minutes with every repeat. The Can Can was really impressive as well! With it still snowing outside I headed into a pub and ordered a super traditional English meal – BANGERS AND MASH!
I then kept exploring the markets and garden area. Just like your normal markets but at least it was undercover and out of the snow!
After the disappointment that was The Lion King, I was planning to meet Rob for dinner before we both went to Avenue Q. The only problem was my mobile phone battery died! So it was an interesting process of charging my phone via my laptop enough to get robs number from my phone to then use a pay phone to try and contact him… anyway – we did find each other and found a bar for a couple of pre dinner drinks then found a great steak restaurant and then it was off to Avenue Q! Even better the second time round!
Day 3 in London had been done. One really disappointing show and one that was fantastic so it almost evened itself out!
It was strait home after the show as I was going to be doing a walking tour tomorrow . It was called The Beatles Magical Muster Tour and it would go to all of the famous Beatles sights in London.
THURSDAY – LONDON
I went to bed last night with the greatest intensions for today. However, my legs and feet and everything was starting to get sore. A combination of lots of walking, lots of sitting in uncomfortable theatre seats, sleeping on an air bed (which was actually quite good). So the walk didn’t happen as the thought of walking to the tube was an effort today! It also didn’t help that I woke up at 10am and needed to be in the city by 11am…
Anyway, today there was a matinee of Blood Brothers on and I was really keen to see it, so I did! I went through TKTS and was only able to get a balcony seat. That didn’t worry me too much – until I got to the theatre and discovered that everyone else up there was a school student. SO a quick trip back to the Box office and I was 8 rows from the front in the centre and didn’t have to pay to upgrade!
I also discovered a little street that was music heaven. There were shops dedicated to selling certain instruments. An Accoustic Guitar Shop, a Bass guitar shop, a saxophone and woodwind shop, a classical music CD shop, a sheet music shop, a keyboard shop, an old rockers shop selling only 50’s and 60’s style records. The list goes on! I resisted the urge to spend more money! Congratulations Matthew!
Blood Brothers was a late matinee (3:00pm) so I stil had a little bit of time to kill so I found a café for lunch and tried to keep as up to date as possible with the blogging!
After a depressing, but good, couple of hours in Blood Brothers, I needed a pick me up and Pricilla was just the ticket. I had achieved my 5 shows in London and 5 shows in New York! I had remembered from Sydney that the Balcony is actually the best place to see Pricilla from! And I was correct!
There are no matinees tomorrow and Rob has organised dinner plans so that will probably be it for shows for me. I have some places I wouldn’t mind trying to fit isn such as: Buckingham Palace, Royal Albert Hall, London Eye, Theatre History Muesum… LOTS to fit in!
FRIDAY - LONDON
I had all these great ideas for today. The first place was a tour of Lords Cricket ground! I had planned to do the midday tour but took a wrong turn out of the subway and got there about 20 minutes late so I had to wait until the 2:00pm tour. The problem with Lords is it is in the middle of nowhere. It doesn’t really have anything around it so I managed to waste some time in the Lords shop and then found a sandwich bar just round the corner. Anyway, I made it to the 2pm tour. WOW. This was fantastic. The whole history of the ashes, going into the Long Room in the Pavillion, both team change rooms and the media box! The greatest sight – apart from the actual real ashes, was to see Lords covered in snow! It was incredible. The whole field – except for the pitch was snow.
Anyway, after this tour was finished it was now 4:15pm and starting to get dark. So I headed back to meet up with Rob. We were going by the overground train because it was easier from where we were to where we were going. The only problem was we may or may not have missed our station so ended up a little further away than initially planed… Anyway, we were heading to the Tate Gallery. Not for the art but for the bar up on top and the view looking out onto St Pauls cathedral. It was then a walk over the millennium bridge (very similar to the Goodwill Bridge) and a bus to convent garden to find a Mexican tapas restaurant. We arrived there at about 9:15pm and were told there was about an hour and a half wait… we found a Thai restaurant. Tonights dinner, apart from being my last one in London, was to meet Rob’s girlfriend Kate.
After dinner, Rob and I headed to another bar that was very crowded so it was then home for a good night sleep. We had lots to fit in tomorrow before I got on the train back to Rugby.
LONDON - SATURDAY
Today was what I thought was a typical London Day! Wet, Raining, Overcast – perfect weather for walking out in the rain at the markets! We headed out first for breakfast then up to the Camden markets. It was like your typical markets but I was in London! Rob and I managed to spend a couple of hours walking around, bought some trashy souvenirs etc.
We then headed into Kings Cross Station / St Pancrius station. This is where the Eurostar leaves and they also have the most amazing Champagne bar in the world! I also caught up with Michelle who had done a couple of shows with Savs and Sunnybank. She is now over there full time doing a theatre course. Unfortunately 4:46pm had arrived and this signalled the end of London!
A couple of hours later and I was back up in Rugby. Martin picked me up and after a quick stopover at his place for a shower and to get Hillary, we headed out to meet a friend of Martin’s – Terry. We then all headed out for a real country pub meal!
After dinner, it was home time and time to pack. I now have an extra 12kg of stuff that I didn’t bring with me – music books and programs add up! Anyway… the trip is now pretty much over. Just a trip to Heathrow in the morning and then a 12 hour flight to Singapore then 8 hours in Singapore then 8 hour flight back into Brisbane.
ENGLAND – DAY 1 and 2 - RUGBY
So I made it out of America and started the flight over to London where they had had snow and lots of it and didn’t know what to do… I was so relieved to not be flying with American Airlines again. I was over it!
I was sitting on the edge in the centre three seats and there was a girl sitting on the other end with nobody in the middle – My Lucky Day! Not because of the girl but because of the space and the possibility to sit with my feet on the seat. Anyway we started talking and discovered we were both in New York for the same reasons – To see shows. She was on her way back home to London where she was working on sound for The Lions King . I didn’t get free tickets Anyway as would later turn out I would have felt bad telling her how bad the show was if I actually met up with her at the show or she did organize tickets… Anyway, our spare seat was quickly taken by a photographer who was on his way back to Kenya to have an interview to work at the World Cup. It was such a great flight because it was the first one since I left that I actually talked to the people I was sitting next to. Let me rephrase that, this was the first time people had talked back to me!
I eventually arrived in Heathrow and had the biggest grilling from customs / immigration that I had had my whole flight…
ACM (Angry Customs Man): What are you doing here
ME (Me): On Holidays
ACM: How long are you staying?
ME: About a week
ACM: That isn’t very definite. I can see you are leaving next Sunday
ME: (inner thought) Then why did you ask that question?
ME: (actually said) Yeah, Next Sunday morning.
ACM: Who are you staying with?
ME: (inner thought) read the card I just handed you with that on!
ME: (actually said) A family friend
ACM: How long has this ‘friend’ known you
ME: (inner thought) do I tell the truth?
ME: (actually said) about 25 years
ACM: but your not even that old!
ME: (inner thought) DUDE, Can you not count? Did you miss math at school to take extra “how to be annoying lectures”
ME: (actually said nothing – was waiting for him to realize!)
ACM: (redoing the math in his head…) so you met this person when you were born
ME: (inner thought) Yeah, I actually have a photographic memory and remember every doctor that was at the hospital and nurse and every visitor mum had!
ME: (actually said) A sudo Uncle. My Dad’s best friend so yeah, known me for ages
ACM: How much money do you expect to spend here?
ME: (inner thought) do you want to see the receipts from what I just spent in New York…
ME: (actually said) about 800 bucks ( I knew the English twat wouldn’t know what that meant)
ACM: (vacant look on his face and trying to change the subject but still in an angry voice) Why did you choose to come here in the coldest Winter we have had in 30 years?
ME: (inner thought) Actually, I have been planning this trip for the last 25 years but wanted to wait until it was really really cold and snowy and I knew the city would just shut down and it would be a waste of my time coming here
ME: (actually said) It was part of a round the world trip and I was in Niagara a week ago where we had about two feet of snow over night so a little snow won’t worry me!
ACM: Where are you off to after you leave here?
ME (actually said before inner thought happened) to that address in Rugby (pointing at my green slip)
ACM: NO, when you leave London
ME: (inner thought) I knew that’s what you meant but this game is still fun and I haven’t pushed too many buttons yet!
ME: (actually said) Back home to Brisbane
ACM: aren’t you going to Singapore?
ME: (inner thought) why do you keep asking me questions that you already know the answer to?
ME: (actually said) yeah – got 8 hour stop over in Singapore
ACM: Do you plan on doing any other touring into Europe while you are here
ME: (inner thought) unless they are showing Broadway Musicals somewhere else the answer is NO!
ME: (actually said) No, not this time. I plan on coming back and doing some more touring on another trip.
CM: (we dropped the A because he turned into every other customs person at this point…) Thank you, Enjoy your stay.
ME: (inner thought) so you can be nice
ME: (actually said) Cheers Mate, Have A Great Day!
And that is the end of Angry Customs Man!
So Hillary met me and we headed up to Rugby. There was so much snow everywhere! I had a little power nap due to the fact I had now been away for about 30 hours… Then Martin and I headed out to explore some of the sights of Rugby. We drove past the school where Rugby started and had a look at downtown Rugby. It is a large country town – large compared to a lot of the other places but still a small town really.
Then it was out for dinner and then home for an early night. Not before trying Mulled Wine – a wine that is designed to be drunk warm – a complete opposite from the ice wine I had been drinking about a week early.
After Hillary thinking I may have died during the night because it was about 11:30am when I finally woke up... Martin and I planned the day. We were going to head out to Shakespeare’s home town. We headed out via Warwick and saw the castle there and then headed out to Strafford. We found an old tudor style house that you could tour through and it gave a really good history of the style and the era. The amazing thing was how cold this house was – the poor people without their reverse cycle or their gas heaters… We checked out (from the outside only) the Shakespeare theatre. Only the outside because it is undergoing a major referb and they are putting in a new theatre or two.
Then it was getting cold, and dark – it was only 4:30pm – so we headed back to Rugby. Had some dinner and then sat down to some TV – the perfect Sunday evening and the perfect way to end my little stay in Rugby.
MONDAY - LONDON
The train from Rugby takes about 2 hours so it was a great time to catch up on some blog updates from New York! and some How I Met Your Mother episodes. I would have liked to look at the countryside abut most of it was covered in snow so it wasn’t anything too different from all of the snow photos I had taken. And it was all white.
The plan in London was to catch up with Rob. A mate from School. He has been over there for about 3 years now and is currently teaching geography at a boys school near Westminster. I got into Euston train station at about 2:00pm, and was able to leave my suitcase there while I went out and explored London for a couple of hours as Rob didn’t finish work until about 5:30pm.
SO I headed down to Leister Square. I knew this would be somewhere to get familiar with over the next couple of days as it was also ‘Theatre Land’. I then kept heading south. Past the museum, through Trafalgar Square, down a big important looking street. I walked through a little arch way and found myself in a giant open park. So I kept walking and then started to get scared as I saw two armoured guards and realised that that was Number 10 Downing Street. I kept walking and found ‘Big Ben’. And then kept heading down and found the Lambeth Bridge. So I walked over it – does that count as doing the Lambeth Walk? I headed along ‘South Bank’ up to the London Eye. It was already getting dark so I decided to maybe wait for a better day…It was then a walk across the Westminster Bridge and heading down to Victoria tube station to meet Rob. Outside Victoria station is Billy Elliot and Wicked!
Rob’s flatmates had people staying as well this week so there was a shortage of beds so we went out and bought an airbed from one of the most random shops. You go in to the front shop and look through the catalogue, choose your product – only knowing what it is from the description and the tiny picture in the catalogue. ANYWAY, you then have to go to a machine where you enter the code of the product and your credit card. You get a receipt and a counter to go to. You then wait and from the giant storeroom in the back your product magically eventually appears.
After a trip back to Euston to pick up my bag we headed to Clapham Common where Rob is now living. London is know for its Indian restaurants so Rob and I headed out to find one and some dinner. As it turns out there was one just around the corner, and to make it better it was really really yum.
And that is day one in London!
TUESDAY – LONDON
With no fancy vouchers and no people handing out half price vouchers on the streets, I headed out to find the TKTS booth to see what offers were available. Once again, I had pretty good luck turning up a couple of hours before the show and only being a single person I managed to get some really good seats. London had more to offer in the form of Matinee’s which was good because it meant I could catch up with Rob at night time. Jersey Boys or Phantom was my matinee choice and I chose Jersey Boys – kind of glad I did! I think if you aren’t going to see Anthony Warlow is there actually any point seeing Phantom?
I explored Theatreland a little bit more as this would be where I would be spending the next couple of days and I found the coolest shop in the world. This shop is dedicated to theatre Cd’s Dvd, music scores, old programs, memobillia as well as possibly the entire collection of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jnr… etc Cd’s. I could have spent every day and every dollar at this shop!
Anyway, I was excited to find a Pizza Hut for lunch! They have the restaurant here! Woo Hoo! This was actually more exciting because of the salad bar rather than the Pizza but the Pizza was an added bonus. As I have mentioned before, fresh fruit and vegetables can be hard to find so a salad bar was very exciting! SO much lettuce, corn, pineapple, beetroot, carrot… YUM YUM YUM.
Anyway, after the show I met up with Rob again and we had a walk through Soho before finding a nice Italian Restaurant for dinner.
WEDNESDAY – LONDON
It is snowing today! Yay Yay Yay! AS if I hadn’t had enough of it in Chicago, Toronto, Montréal, Niagara, Toronto, New York… Rob was hoping for a snow day but wasn’t that lucky so he went off to work and I headed out to The Lion King. The Lion King was near Covent Garden. So it was a good chance to explore that area today. I passed / found the SAVOY THEATRE. I didn’t take a photo because you actually couldn’t see it. The Savoy is down a little alleyway and is getting a major outside reform at the moment so it just would have been a picture of scaffolding! Out of interest, Legally Blonde I on there at the moment…
Anyway, the markets were great to walk around and explore. I found a string quartet that were playing but everything was so so so fast. Canon in D is normally about 4 minutes in its entiriety – just under 3 minutes with every repeat. The Can Can was really impressive as well! With it still snowing outside I headed into a pub and ordered a super traditional English meal – BANGERS AND MASH!
I then kept exploring the markets and garden area. Just like your normal markets but at least it was undercover and out of the snow!
After the disappointment that was The Lion King, I was planning to meet Rob for dinner before we both went to Avenue Q. The only problem was my mobile phone battery died! So it was an interesting process of charging my phone via my laptop enough to get robs number from my phone to then use a pay phone to try and contact him… anyway – we did find each other and found a bar for a couple of pre dinner drinks then found a great steak restaurant and then it was off to Avenue Q! Even better the second time round!
Day 3 in London had been done. One really disappointing show and one that was fantastic so it almost evened itself out!
It was strait home after the show as I was going to be doing a walking tour tomorrow . It was called The Beatles Magical Muster Tour and it would go to all of the famous Beatles sights in London.
THURSDAY – LONDON
I went to bed last night with the greatest intensions for today. However, my legs and feet and everything was starting to get sore. A combination of lots of walking, lots of sitting in uncomfortable theatre seats, sleeping on an air bed (which was actually quite good). So the walk didn’t happen as the thought of walking to the tube was an effort today! It also didn’t help that I woke up at 10am and needed to be in the city by 11am…
Anyway, today there was a matinee of Blood Brothers on and I was really keen to see it, so I did! I went through TKTS and was only able to get a balcony seat. That didn’t worry me too much – until I got to the theatre and discovered that everyone else up there was a school student. SO a quick trip back to the Box office and I was 8 rows from the front in the centre and didn’t have to pay to upgrade!
I also discovered a little street that was music heaven. There were shops dedicated to selling certain instruments. An Accoustic Guitar Shop, a Bass guitar shop, a saxophone and woodwind shop, a classical music CD shop, a sheet music shop, a keyboard shop, an old rockers shop selling only 50’s and 60’s style records. The list goes on! I resisted the urge to spend more money! Congratulations Matthew!
Blood Brothers was a late matinee (3:00pm) so I stil had a little bit of time to kill so I found a café for lunch and tried to keep as up to date as possible with the blogging!
After a depressing, but good, couple of hours in Blood Brothers, I needed a pick me up and Pricilla was just the ticket. I had achieved my 5 shows in London and 5 shows in New York! I had remembered from Sydney that the Balcony is actually the best place to see Pricilla from! And I was correct!
There are no matinees tomorrow and Rob has organised dinner plans so that will probably be it for shows for me. I have some places I wouldn’t mind trying to fit isn such as: Buckingham Palace, Royal Albert Hall, London Eye, Theatre History Muesum… LOTS to fit in!
FRIDAY - LONDON
I had all these great ideas for today. The first place was a tour of Lords Cricket ground! I had planned to do the midday tour but took a wrong turn out of the subway and got there about 20 minutes late so I had to wait until the 2:00pm tour. The problem with Lords is it is in the middle of nowhere. It doesn’t really have anything around it so I managed to waste some time in the Lords shop and then found a sandwich bar just round the corner. Anyway, I made it to the 2pm tour. WOW. This was fantastic. The whole history of the ashes, going into the Long Room in the Pavillion, both team change rooms and the media box! The greatest sight – apart from the actual real ashes, was to see Lords covered in snow! It was incredible. The whole field – except for the pitch was snow.
Anyway, after this tour was finished it was now 4:15pm and starting to get dark. So I headed back to meet up with Rob. We were going by the overground train because it was easier from where we were to where we were going. The only problem was we may or may not have missed our station so ended up a little further away than initially planed… Anyway, we were heading to the Tate Gallery. Not for the art but for the bar up on top and the view looking out onto St Pauls cathedral. It was then a walk over the millennium bridge (very similar to the Goodwill Bridge) and a bus to convent garden to find a Mexican tapas restaurant. We arrived there at about 9:15pm and were told there was about an hour and a half wait… we found a Thai restaurant. Tonights dinner, apart from being my last one in London, was to meet Rob’s girlfriend Kate.
After dinner, Rob and I headed to another bar that was very crowded so it was then home for a good night sleep. We had lots to fit in tomorrow before I got on the train back to Rugby.
LONDON - SATURDAY
Today was what I thought was a typical London Day! Wet, Raining, Overcast – perfect weather for walking out in the rain at the markets! We headed out first for breakfast then up to the Camden markets. It was like your typical markets but I was in London! Rob and I managed to spend a couple of hours walking around, bought some trashy souvenirs etc.
We then headed into Kings Cross Station / St Pancrius station. This is where the Eurostar leaves and they also have the most amazing Champagne bar in the world! I also caught up with Michelle who had done a couple of shows with Savs and Sunnybank. She is now over there full time doing a theatre course. Unfortunately 4:46pm had arrived and this signalled the end of London!
A couple of hours later and I was back up in Rugby. Martin picked me up and after a quick stopover at his place for a shower and to get Hillary, we headed out to meet a friend of Martin’s – Terry. We then all headed out for a real country pub meal!
After dinner, it was home time and time to pack. I now have an extra 12kg of stuff that I didn’t bring with me – music books and programs add up! Anyway… the trip is now pretty much over. Just a trip to Heathrow in the morning and then a 12 hour flight to Singapore then 8 hours in Singapore then 8 hour flight back into Brisbane.
Friday, January 15, 2010
REVIEW - West Side Story
This brand new production of West Side Story has had some reworking from the original creative team. Some things work REALLY REALLY well, others I am still questioning!
The first and most obvious thing is that the show is bi-lingual. A lot of the PR dialogue is in Spanish. This ads another dimension to the show. In most, only the boys speak it showing how they want to hang onto their original culture and the girls will speak in English showing how they are trying to adapt and adopt the new American culture. There are a couple of scenes between Anita and Bernado where he speaks to her in Spanish and she answers back in English. This builds some great tension between the two of them.
I guess this is the show I knew the best before seeing it so can be most critical of it. Everyone I spoke to however does agree with me on the following points though. The Dream Ballet doesn’t work anymore! The first major change is a young boy soprano walks out and olds hands with Tony and Maria and sings Somewhere while everyone dances around them. The next thing that didn’t work was that the ballet doesn’t end with the Rumble which turns into the nightmare – it ends all happily ever after! That was really somewhere where the re-write didn’t work.
That aside, the dancing was AMAZING. Possibly the best I have seen in any musical EVER. The Jets boys – especially Baby John were fantastic! A lot of the choreography was a recreation of the original, but it was meant to be, but some of the new bits were great.
The set reminded me of the Savoyards production in some ways. Except these guys had a fly tower. The one thing which I think Savs / Jack as director achieved was setting up separate territories for Jets and Sharks which this production lacked.
Some of the arrangements in the music had changed slightly as well. Baby John and A-Rab are now left out of Krupke. I don’t know what the reason for this is but I didn’t like it. Maybe because I was A-Rab and would have missed out on singing a great song.
Anyway, West Side Story is definitely one of the greatest pieces of Musical Theatre – in my opinion. It combines all elements that others don’t – it has comedy, drama, dance, great orchestrations and music and is really well written. I am looking forward to seeing it again at QPAC
REASON FOR SEEING: LOVE IT, Was interested in the bi-lingual of it, To see something a little bit more ‘traditional’; Broadway with a full Orchestra etc…
BEST OF: Best dancing (only dancing show I saw though – Broadway actually has a lack of dance musicals at the moment – not including Burn the Floor and Stomp… and visually the best show – sets, lighting, costumes – Jets always were wearing orange somewhere and sharks purple.
The first and most obvious thing is that the show is bi-lingual. A lot of the PR dialogue is in Spanish. This ads another dimension to the show. In most, only the boys speak it showing how they want to hang onto their original culture and the girls will speak in English showing how they are trying to adapt and adopt the new American culture. There are a couple of scenes between Anita and Bernado where he speaks to her in Spanish and she answers back in English. This builds some great tension between the two of them.
I guess this is the show I knew the best before seeing it so can be most critical of it. Everyone I spoke to however does agree with me on the following points though. The Dream Ballet doesn’t work anymore! The first major change is a young boy soprano walks out and olds hands with Tony and Maria and sings Somewhere while everyone dances around them. The next thing that didn’t work was that the ballet doesn’t end with the Rumble which turns into the nightmare – it ends all happily ever after! That was really somewhere where the re-write didn’t work.
That aside, the dancing was AMAZING. Possibly the best I have seen in any musical EVER. The Jets boys – especially Baby John were fantastic! A lot of the choreography was a recreation of the original, but it was meant to be, but some of the new bits were great.
The set reminded me of the Savoyards production in some ways. Except these guys had a fly tower. The one thing which I think Savs / Jack as director achieved was setting up separate territories for Jets and Sharks which this production lacked.
Some of the arrangements in the music had changed slightly as well. Baby John and A-Rab are now left out of Krupke. I don’t know what the reason for this is but I didn’t like it. Maybe because I was A-Rab and would have missed out on singing a great song.
Anyway, West Side Story is definitely one of the greatest pieces of Musical Theatre – in my opinion. It combines all elements that others don’t – it has comedy, drama, dance, great orchestrations and music and is really well written. I am looking forward to seeing it again at QPAC
REASON FOR SEEING: LOVE IT, Was interested in the bi-lingual of it, To see something a little bit more ‘traditional’; Broadway with a full Orchestra etc…
BEST OF: Best dancing (only dancing show I saw though – Broadway actually has a lack of dance musicals at the moment – not including Burn the Floor and Stomp… and visually the best show – sets, lighting, costumes – Jets always were wearing orange somewhere and sharks purple.
REVIEW - HAIR
HAIR was the start of a new breed of musical. It has not much of a storyline but is full of hit songs. It is almost a ‘Jukebox Musical’ but in reverse… Many of the songs became Hit Songs because of the stage show.
I knew nothing about the show before walking in except it was a bit hippie and they get naked and there were some songs I would know! WOW! This show was fantastic! Everyone had great voices! Such a strong and full chorus sound. The stage was covered in carpet and rugs with some scaffold / old ladder looking things against a brick backdrop. The band were onstage and just fitted in with the set. There was a giant truck as part of the set as well.
The show opens and Burger – the lead, introduces himself and straight away makes you feel like you are part of the show. You walk out at the end wanting to hug everyone!
The story revolves around boys / young men burning their letter to go into the army. One of them decides not to; and the show ends with a very simple yet very powerful scene. Sorry to give the plot away. The lighting in every show has been outstanding. All shows have very simple sets and rely heavily on lighting. Gone are the days of long scene changes and scene change music. I think today’s audience are getting more intelligent and are able to accept that all we need is a vacuum cleaner onstage and we know we are in the family house.
Seeing the band were great and the cast interacted with them as well. It added to the whole free spirit feeling of the show and although everything would have been blocked and choreographed, it had this freedom and freeness to the whole production – in a good way.
HAIR made it’s name for the controversial nudity. I can assure you this was done in good taste and wasn’t lets get naked because we should! And everyone, except the band, got naked – and they were all shapes and sizes. The lighting and blocking of this scene gave such an impact. Well done to the director!
In summary, HAIR was fantastic. A great fun show, with a very American feel and message that probably wouldn’t resonate as strong with Australian audiences. I wouldn’t rush out to see it again in a hurry, only because it is a show that you should see but you can then say you’ve seen it and probably don’t need to for a while after.
REASON FOR SEEING: Iconic Rock Musical. Probably won’t see it staged in Australia
BEST OF: Best band / orchestra – AMAZING!
I knew nothing about the show before walking in except it was a bit hippie and they get naked and there were some songs I would know! WOW! This show was fantastic! Everyone had great voices! Such a strong and full chorus sound. The stage was covered in carpet and rugs with some scaffold / old ladder looking things against a brick backdrop. The band were onstage and just fitted in with the set. There was a giant truck as part of the set as well.
The show opens and Burger – the lead, introduces himself and straight away makes you feel like you are part of the show. You walk out at the end wanting to hug everyone!
The story revolves around boys / young men burning their letter to go into the army. One of them decides not to; and the show ends with a very simple yet very powerful scene. Sorry to give the plot away. The lighting in every show has been outstanding. All shows have very simple sets and rely heavily on lighting. Gone are the days of long scene changes and scene change music. I think today’s audience are getting more intelligent and are able to accept that all we need is a vacuum cleaner onstage and we know we are in the family house.
Seeing the band were great and the cast interacted with them as well. It added to the whole free spirit feeling of the show and although everything would have been blocked and choreographed, it had this freedom and freeness to the whole production – in a good way.
HAIR made it’s name for the controversial nudity. I can assure you this was done in good taste and wasn’t lets get naked because we should! And everyone, except the band, got naked – and they were all shapes and sizes. The lighting and blocking of this scene gave such an impact. Well done to the director!
In summary, HAIR was fantastic. A great fun show, with a very American feel and message that probably wouldn’t resonate as strong with Australian audiences. I wouldn’t rush out to see it again in a hurry, only because it is a show that you should see but you can then say you’ve seen it and probably don’t need to for a while after.
REASON FOR SEEING: Iconic Rock Musical. Probably won’t see it staged in Australia
BEST OF: Best band / orchestra – AMAZING!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
New York - Day 5
Well today was the last day and I had a little bit of shopping to do! I also had a couple of sight seeing things I wanted to do. I had a late late check out (4:00pm) so I had the whole day to keep exploring. I headed back to the Rockefeller Centre and took a tour of the NBC studios. It was really interesting. We went into the studio where they film Saturday Night Live. This studio is quite old and was originally built as a radio studio. The acoustics were so good when they built it that Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland would use it as the warm up venue before walking across the road to play Radio City Music Hall! NBC has produced some classic television – Seinfield, Friends, House, The Office… just to name a few!
PHOTOS OF NBC STUDIOS
Then is was up up up up up to the ‘Top of the Rock’. What a great view of New York City. Oh, I forgot to mention earlier – IT WAS SNOWING TODAY! So I was on the top of the Rockefeller Building in the middle of New York getting covered in snow – what an amazing experience. HOWEVER – due to the snow there was some limited visibility but I still got some great photos.
PHOTOS FROM TOP OF THE ROCK
Some super last minute shopping and then it was time to finish packing and head out to the airport. As you may have heard, London has had a lot of snow so not many flights were actually leaving JFK because they couldn’t land so I was about to be “flying away on a wing and a prayer” – on my way to see what excitement was at the airport…
I was one of the lucky ones…
So that is New York. It is an amazing place. The city does never sleep. It is always a hive of activity and has some of the most noticeable land marks in the world. Daniel got angry when I said I hadn’t taken too many pictures but if you have seen one you have seen them all. There are only so many times you can take a picture of the Empire State! But I did take some…
This was a bit of a self indulgent trip for me and seeing lots of shows was fantastic. Next time maybe one or two days more to fit in some more sights – or just more shows… who knows. New York – it’s a helluva town!
PHOTOS OF NBC STUDIOS
Then is was up up up up up to the ‘Top of the Rock’. What a great view of New York City. Oh, I forgot to mention earlier – IT WAS SNOWING TODAY! So I was on the top of the Rockefeller Building in the middle of New York getting covered in snow – what an amazing experience. HOWEVER – due to the snow there was some limited visibility but I still got some great photos.
PHOTOS FROM TOP OF THE ROCK
Some super last minute shopping and then it was time to finish packing and head out to the airport. As you may have heard, London has had a lot of snow so not many flights were actually leaving JFK because they couldn’t land so I was about to be “flying away on a wing and a prayer” – on my way to see what excitement was at the airport…
I was one of the lucky ones…
So that is New York. It is an amazing place. The city does never sleep. It is always a hive of activity and has some of the most noticeable land marks in the world. Daniel got angry when I said I hadn’t taken too many pictures but if you have seen one you have seen them all. There are only so many times you can take a picture of the Empire State! But I did take some…
This was a bit of a self indulgent trip for me and seeing lots of shows was fantastic. Next time maybe one or two days more to fit in some more sights – or just more shows… who knows. New York – it’s a helluva town!
New York - Day 4
I was all ready to leave when I discovered that my phone had died during the night because I hadn’t charged it since going to Niagara… So instead of leaving at 11am it was mid-day when I left today. So far the only direction I hadn’t headed was south. Due to the amount of walking, I wasn’t sure how far south I would get before my legs would have had enough – and my shoes! I headed out to the glamorous 5th Avenue! I had bought my ticket for tonight’s show already so was ready for a whole day of exploring – well what was left of the day. The annoying thing is that you normally have to start to head back about 4:00pm / 4:30pm as it starts to get dark and cold really quickly.
I found Madison Park where I saw my first real live squirrels
INSERT PICTURE OF SQUIRRELS
Then it was time to walk up 7th avenue where I found the other famous venue in New York – Madison Square Garden! Billy Joel played 12 SOLD OUT concerts here – a record! I was keen to tour but the next one left at 4:30pm and I didn’t feel like waiting around for 45 minutes. And there was a Rodeo setting up inside which did not interest me all that much.
Today was a beautiful sunny day and anytime you found the sunlight you would stop and enjoy it for a little while and then keep walking. After exploring the foyer of MSG I started to keep heading up 7th avenue which leads straight back into Times Square. Only a short amount of time for some shopping before it was back to the hotel to get ready for In The Heights – my final Broadway show (for this trip at least!)
After the show I headed down to a little tucked away bar called ‘The Rum Pig’. Crazy name for one of the nicest, sophisticated bars I have ever been into. It is very quiet and there is a lady who plays and sings Jazz standards. She has an organ that she plays on. So she sets up the rhythm and uses the pedals and everything. It was amazing. The thing we discover (Mark and Jacqui were there as well) is that everyone in New York can sing! All of these randoms were getting up to sing and were actually good! But the woman was a cross between Diana Krall and Judy Garland – amazing!
Our very own Jacqui got up there and did a couple of numbers as well! Then was asked to get up and sing a couple more by a lovely man named Mark who bought us all a round of drinks! Cheers Mark!
PHOTO OF JACQUI SINGING
PHOTO OF US AND MARK
After this it was time to head back home and start packing… who knew what wonders were waiting for me at JFK airport tomorrow…
I found Madison Park where I saw my first real live squirrels
INSERT PICTURE OF SQUIRRELS
Then it was time to walk up 7th avenue where I found the other famous venue in New York – Madison Square Garden! Billy Joel played 12 SOLD OUT concerts here – a record! I was keen to tour but the next one left at 4:30pm and I didn’t feel like waiting around for 45 minutes. And there was a Rodeo setting up inside which did not interest me all that much.
Today was a beautiful sunny day and anytime you found the sunlight you would stop and enjoy it for a little while and then keep walking. After exploring the foyer of MSG I started to keep heading up 7th avenue which leads straight back into Times Square. Only a short amount of time for some shopping before it was back to the hotel to get ready for In The Heights – my final Broadway show (for this trip at least!)
After the show I headed down to a little tucked away bar called ‘The Rum Pig’. Crazy name for one of the nicest, sophisticated bars I have ever been into. It is very quiet and there is a lady who plays and sings Jazz standards. She has an organ that she plays on. So she sets up the rhythm and uses the pedals and everything. It was amazing. The thing we discover (Mark and Jacqui were there as well) is that everyone in New York can sing! All of these randoms were getting up to sing and were actually good! But the woman was a cross between Diana Krall and Judy Garland – amazing!
Our very own Jacqui got up there and did a couple of numbers as well! Then was asked to get up and sing a couple more by a lovely man named Mark who bought us all a round of drinks! Cheers Mark!
PHOTO OF JACQUI SINGING
PHOTO OF US AND MARK
After this it was time to head back home and start packing… who knew what wonders were waiting for me at JFK airport tomorrow…
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
REVIEW - Next To Normal
I bought the soundtrack to this show a couple of months ago. There was lots of hype over it. It didn’t win the Tony for Best Musical but did win Best Score and as a Musical Director that is sometimes more interest to me! The CD hadn’t really done anything for me because I sort of found the story hard to follow but was determined to see something I had never seen and all the reviews were very positive… I am SO glad I went. I don’t want to talk too much about it because it will give away major plot elements which will spoil it for you.
But basically a ‘mom’ is trying to keep her family under control while she is falling apart. She is going a bit mental, and sees some therapists etc… Such powerful performances from everyone involved. A new actor had just taken over as the son and it was his first performance and he looked so natural – I know they are professional and you expect that – but the rest of the cast are the same that there has been since it’s pre-broadway trials and this guy fitted in perfectly. I didn’t realize this until after the show when I got home, but it now made sense why he got some extra loud claps and cheers!
The set was AMAZING. Three levels of scaffold split into three. Basically 9 performance spaces with the band separated throughout all of them. All very simple but so effective. I didn’t quite get to ‘tear’ status (I think I may have been the only one in the theatre who didn’t) but definitely had the lump in the back of the throat…
This is a very well crafted piece of theatre. The music is great! It is on of the most faultless performances I have ever seen.
REASON FOR SEEING: Something Brand New, Lots of hype
BEST OF: Best overall show
But basically a ‘mom’ is trying to keep her family under control while she is falling apart. She is going a bit mental, and sees some therapists etc… Such powerful performances from everyone involved. A new actor had just taken over as the son and it was his first performance and he looked so natural – I know they are professional and you expect that – but the rest of the cast are the same that there has been since it’s pre-broadway trials and this guy fitted in perfectly. I didn’t realize this until after the show when I got home, but it now made sense why he got some extra loud claps and cheers!
The set was AMAZING. Three levels of scaffold split into three. Basically 9 performance spaces with the band separated throughout all of them. All very simple but so effective. I didn’t quite get to ‘tear’ status (I think I may have been the only one in the theatre who didn’t) but definitely had the lump in the back of the throat…
This is a very well crafted piece of theatre. The music is great! It is on of the most faultless performances I have ever seen.
REASON FOR SEEING: Something Brand New, Lots of hype
BEST OF: Best overall show
REVIEW - Avenue Q
Avenue Q is set in a suburb just outside of New York. It combines actors and puppets. Basically Sesame for Grown Up’s. Classic songs such as “It Sucks To To Be You”, “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist” and “I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today” just to name a few. It was a small theatre, slightly bigger than the Cremorne at QPAC but not as big as The Playhouse. I have loved this show ever since I got the soundtrack ages ago. A little known fact is that it was released the same year as Wicked and although Wicked won almost every award at the Tony awards (the American theatre awards), it missed out on the big main super one - Best Musical which went to Avenue Q!
The great thing to read in the Playbill is that although the show is now Off-Broadway, it is still the same set and same orchestrations. Normally shows downsize for off-Broadway but this is such a small and tight show that you really can not cut down on too much. All of the cast were great. Some of the actors were better as certain characters. The lead guy plays two characters Princeton – the lead and Rod – the similarities with Bert from Sesame Street are not hidden at all!!!! His Rod was fantastic! But the Princeton just lacked a little bit of something… The same with the guy who played Nicky (Ernie from Sesame Street) and Treckie Monster (Cookie Monster), His Nicky wasn’t quite right but totally nailed the Treckie Monster!
It was so good to see the storyline that goes along with this show! I know every song inside out and now know what some of the things are actually talking about! There is ‘Full Puppet Nudity” in one of the funniest scenes I have seen on stage! This is such a fantastically simple show yet so funny. It will be in Brisbane soon. Don’t take your Grandma to it, or your children – but do take your friends. It is a great laugh and it will be interesting to see how the Australian cast go.
REASON FOR SEEING: To see something Off Broadway AND to have seen something in Broadway, West End, Brisbane within 3 months!
BEST OF: Funniest show, a fun night at the theatre
The great thing to read in the Playbill is that although the show is now Off-Broadway, it is still the same set and same orchestrations. Normally shows downsize for off-Broadway but this is such a small and tight show that you really can not cut down on too much. All of the cast were great. Some of the actors were better as certain characters. The lead guy plays two characters Princeton – the lead and Rod – the similarities with Bert from Sesame Street are not hidden at all!!!! His Rod was fantastic! But the Princeton just lacked a little bit of something… The same with the guy who played Nicky (Ernie from Sesame Street) and Treckie Monster (Cookie Monster), His Nicky wasn’t quite right but totally nailed the Treckie Monster!
It was so good to see the storyline that goes along with this show! I know every song inside out and now know what some of the things are actually talking about! There is ‘Full Puppet Nudity” in one of the funniest scenes I have seen on stage! This is such a fantastically simple show yet so funny. It will be in Brisbane soon. Don’t take your Grandma to it, or your children – but do take your friends. It is a great laugh and it will be interesting to see how the Australian cast go.
REASON FOR SEEING: To see something Off Broadway AND to have seen something in Broadway, West End, Brisbane within 3 months!
BEST OF: Funniest show, a fun night at the theatre
New York - Day 3
I didn’t have as long to explore the city today as I had to fit in a matinee and an evening show, so this could be quite short.
I headed up to the North of Times Square and found the Lincoln Centre. Lots of big names in Jazz play here – nobody I knew was on this week but I am sure they all would have been amazing. The architecture also starts to change as you head out of Times Square. Less flashing lights and less Starbucks – they are EVERYWHERE!!!!!!. I think once I got past Central Park I only saw 3 in the 20 blocks I walked!
I had a turkey and salad sandwich for lunch which was quite nice. The only problem was I think the put half a turkey on the bread and then a token piece of each salad (could you slice your cucumber any thiner…?). By now, my fresh fruit, salad and vegetable cravings were growing. Anyway, it was time to go to HAIR! I ended up sitting next to a reviewer and a guy who had seen the movie when it was first released and wasn’t really into musicals but LOVED Hair and was coming to see his first Broadway Show – he even looked the part with the long ponytail down his back – however he was about as balding as Dad on top!
I have now officially danced on Broadway! To those of you that thought I couldn’t do it –I did it! The end of Hair the audience are invited up onto the stage to dance and we were all singing and clapping “Let The Sun Shine”. I will talk more about the show in the review but the WHOLE stage was covered with carpet and rugs – no bare stage! So yeah – I have now danced on Broadway!
After Hair I decided to head to Lion King… Only problem was Lion King didn’t do Wednesday nights, only matinee! My Bad! Oh well… The next on the list was West Side Story. For West Side my half price vouchers didn’t start until next week and the cheap TKTS were for about W row so I decided to try my luck at the lottery. For the lottery, you turn up at the theatre at 5:30pm, put your name in a box and then at 6:00pm they draw out the first 18 names for front row tickets… I didn’t win… So I walked inside and decided to pay full price for the show – I had scored so well with every other ticket I decided to lash out a bit and West Side Story is up there for me as one of the greatest musicals EVER! It was so worth it – except for the large Indian family who were sitting beside me. They were all leaning on each other because they didn’t fit in the seats. Lucky for me, on the other side was a couple who were leaning in being very romantic (I think he had bought her these tickets as a Christmas Present) so I was able to lean to that side a bit. I got excited when my Fat Indian didn’t come back after interval… but he did – halfway through the dream ballet WITH FRENCH FRIES from the Maccas next door and then proceeded to share them with his brother and dad…. GRRRRRR!!!!!
After the show I headed back to the hotel for a night cap! I was still in awe of the dancing in West Side but still furious at the people next to me. I went to the bar at the hotel where I met two other aussies who are traveling around the world making a TV commercial. It was great to chat with them, we discussed the cricket test, I told them about my adventures in Toronto which was there next stop, it was great. Anyway, the bar closed and I was about to head to bed when a text came through from Mark. So off I headed up 9th Ave to the cnr of 49th to a quiet little bar to catch up with him again. His brother, Sister, Cousin and couple of friends were there as well as another friend Jaqui. Jaqui is the Musical Director of Company (the singing group that Andrew is in) and was teaching at ADPI for ages. Anyway, at 2:00am when we left I decided it was far too cold to walk so I caught a cab. I am only telling you this to make a point that besides trips to and from Airports, this is the only time I have EVER caught a cab on my holiday. The rest has been walking or the occasional train and of course the streetcar in Toronto!
I headed up to the North of Times Square and found the Lincoln Centre. Lots of big names in Jazz play here – nobody I knew was on this week but I am sure they all would have been amazing. The architecture also starts to change as you head out of Times Square. Less flashing lights and less Starbucks – they are EVERYWHERE!!!!!!. I think once I got past Central Park I only saw 3 in the 20 blocks I walked!
I had a turkey and salad sandwich for lunch which was quite nice. The only problem was I think the put half a turkey on the bread and then a token piece of each salad (could you slice your cucumber any thiner…?). By now, my fresh fruit, salad and vegetable cravings were growing. Anyway, it was time to go to HAIR! I ended up sitting next to a reviewer and a guy who had seen the movie when it was first released and wasn’t really into musicals but LOVED Hair and was coming to see his first Broadway Show – he even looked the part with the long ponytail down his back – however he was about as balding as Dad on top!
I have now officially danced on Broadway! To those of you that thought I couldn’t do it –I did it! The end of Hair the audience are invited up onto the stage to dance and we were all singing and clapping “Let The Sun Shine”. I will talk more about the show in the review but the WHOLE stage was covered with carpet and rugs – no bare stage! So yeah – I have now danced on Broadway!
After Hair I decided to head to Lion King… Only problem was Lion King didn’t do Wednesday nights, only matinee! My Bad! Oh well… The next on the list was West Side Story. For West Side my half price vouchers didn’t start until next week and the cheap TKTS were for about W row so I decided to try my luck at the lottery. For the lottery, you turn up at the theatre at 5:30pm, put your name in a box and then at 6:00pm they draw out the first 18 names for front row tickets… I didn’t win… So I walked inside and decided to pay full price for the show – I had scored so well with every other ticket I decided to lash out a bit and West Side Story is up there for me as one of the greatest musicals EVER! It was so worth it – except for the large Indian family who were sitting beside me. They were all leaning on each other because they didn’t fit in the seats. Lucky for me, on the other side was a couple who were leaning in being very romantic (I think he had bought her these tickets as a Christmas Present) so I was able to lean to that side a bit. I got excited when my Fat Indian didn’t come back after interval… but he did – halfway through the dream ballet WITH FRENCH FRIES from the Maccas next door and then proceeded to share them with his brother and dad…. GRRRRRR!!!!!
After the show I headed back to the hotel for a night cap! I was still in awe of the dancing in West Side but still furious at the people next to me. I went to the bar at the hotel where I met two other aussies who are traveling around the world making a TV commercial. It was great to chat with them, we discussed the cricket test, I told them about my adventures in Toronto which was there next stop, it was great. Anyway, the bar closed and I was about to head to bed when a text came through from Mark. So off I headed up 9th Ave to the cnr of 49th to a quiet little bar to catch up with him again. His brother, Sister, Cousin and couple of friends were there as well as another friend Jaqui. Jaqui is the Musical Director of Company (the singing group that Andrew is in) and was teaching at ADPI for ages. Anyway, at 2:00am when we left I decided it was far too cold to walk so I caught a cab. I am only telling you this to make a point that besides trips to and from Airports, this is the only time I have EVER caught a cab on my holiday. The rest has been walking or the occasional train and of course the streetcar in Toronto!
New York - Day 2
I slept so well last night! I had a giant King Size bed to myself.
Today I decided to head in a different direction to where I was yesterday. I headed out to see the Rockafella Centre. I knew there was a Nintendo Shop there and was keen just to check it out. But as I turned the corner I saw this…
INSERT PICTURE OF RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL
Radio City Music Hall. Quite possibly the most famous performance venue in the world! This was an amazing sight to behold. I arrived just in time to join in a tour. WOW! The photos help tell the story but it was fantastic. So much history. Every second picture was Judy Garland and Vince Minnelli. No Peter Allen pictures on the tour… As I sat in the very back row of the 2nd balcony I still had the most amazing view of the stage. They were in the middle of bumping out The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Unfortunately it finished on December 30th so I missed out by a couple of days. I did however get to meet a Rockette as part of the tour
INSERT PICTURE OF ME AND JENNIFER - ROCKETTE
I was the only person who spoke English on this tour so there weren’t too many questions being asked so it was left to me to do all of the talking. The lady who was taking us on the tour was so surprised that this 20 something kid from Australia:
1) actually knew about Radio City Music Hall,
2) had heard of the Rockettes and knew about them
3) knew who Vincent Minnelli was
4) laughed at her joke about Aretha Franklin
5) and was able to have a proper conversation with the Rockette about rehearsals and dancing styles and production elements
Anyway, this place is amazing and next time in New York I would love to see a show in here. There is so much history and grandness to this amazing building. It has just gone through a multi million dollar makeover and has been restored back to it’s former glory. Definitely a highlight of New York!
After some more exploring of the Rockefeller centre and looking at the people ice skating, I headed back into Times Square to start to consider tonight’s show. I had a heap of vouchers to go through and Next To Normal was the winner. Walked up to the box office and got house seats again fro cheaper than what everyone else was paying at the TKTS booth for 2nd row from the back! Score! I also found a great little bookshop called the Drama Bookshop. It had plays and books about theatre and film and was a great resource for anyone semi interested in theatre!
It was an early start – 7pm, so there wasn’t much time to get back, shower and head out to the theatre. I decided tonight was time for the ultimate Pizza Off. I had fallen in LOVE with the Chicago Deep Dish and now it was time to try the New York Style… And the winner is…. CHICAGO!
After the show I caught up with Mark. Mark played Cosmo in Singin’ in The Rain with Savs and we have been great mates since then! He was in New York checking out the theatre scene as well. He was there for a bit longer than me before heading back home to start working on Mary Poppins!
Day 2 in New York was over and what a day it was – I was now ready for Day 3 but which two musicals would I see…
Today I decided to head in a different direction to where I was yesterday. I headed out to see the Rockafella Centre. I knew there was a Nintendo Shop there and was keen just to check it out. But as I turned the corner I saw this…
INSERT PICTURE OF RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL
Radio City Music Hall. Quite possibly the most famous performance venue in the world! This was an amazing sight to behold. I arrived just in time to join in a tour. WOW! The photos help tell the story but it was fantastic. So much history. Every second picture was Judy Garland and Vince Minnelli. No Peter Allen pictures on the tour… As I sat in the very back row of the 2nd balcony I still had the most amazing view of the stage. They were in the middle of bumping out The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Unfortunately it finished on December 30th so I missed out by a couple of days. I did however get to meet a Rockette as part of the tour
INSERT PICTURE OF ME AND JENNIFER - ROCKETTE
I was the only person who spoke English on this tour so there weren’t too many questions being asked so it was left to me to do all of the talking. The lady who was taking us on the tour was so surprised that this 20 something kid from Australia:
1) actually knew about Radio City Music Hall,
2) had heard of the Rockettes and knew about them
3) knew who Vincent Minnelli was
4) laughed at her joke about Aretha Franklin
5) and was able to have a proper conversation with the Rockette about rehearsals and dancing styles and production elements
Anyway, this place is amazing and next time in New York I would love to see a show in here. There is so much history and grandness to this amazing building. It has just gone through a multi million dollar makeover and has been restored back to it’s former glory. Definitely a highlight of New York!
After some more exploring of the Rockefeller centre and looking at the people ice skating, I headed back into Times Square to start to consider tonight’s show. I had a heap of vouchers to go through and Next To Normal was the winner. Walked up to the box office and got house seats again fro cheaper than what everyone else was paying at the TKTS booth for 2nd row from the back! Score! I also found a great little bookshop called the Drama Bookshop. It had plays and books about theatre and film and was a great resource for anyone semi interested in theatre!
It was an early start – 7pm, so there wasn’t much time to get back, shower and head out to the theatre. I decided tonight was time for the ultimate Pizza Off. I had fallen in LOVE with the Chicago Deep Dish and now it was time to try the New York Style… And the winner is…. CHICAGO!
After the show I caught up with Mark. Mark played Cosmo in Singin’ in The Rain with Savs and we have been great mates since then! He was in New York checking out the theatre scene as well. He was there for a bit longer than me before heading back home to start working on Mary Poppins!
Day 2 in New York was over and what a day it was – I was now ready for Day 3 but which two musicals would I see…
New York - Day 1
Prior to leaving Brisbane, New York was going to either make or break the trip. New York was the going to be the first time I would fly into and airport and have no idea what to do or where to go. I also had nobody to meet up with and nothing planned for the 5 days I was there… How quickly all of that changed!
After leaving Sam and Amanda’s at what can only be described as Stupid-O-Clock (6:00am – I know that is a normal time - but it was still pitch black outside AND was about -1oC or -2oC) I arrived at Toronto and lined up in the queue with the hundreds of other people. As you may be aware, security in Airports across the world – especially ANYTHING flying into USA has been stepped up since the attempted bombing on Christmas Day.
“Hello, and thank you for choosing to fly American Airlines. We just want to let you know that we actually don’t care about you at all! Due to the new terror levels and heightened security, please allow extra time for check in as we haven’t added any extra staff. Please also note that although there are over 200 people waiting to check in and it is only 7am, we will still only have 3 staff working. Once again, thank you for flying American”
Well, nobody actually said that but it was what I am sure they were thinking!!!!!!!
So I had my first full body search! I didn’t look dodgy – EVERYONE was being padded down and they went through my whole carry on bag. I had to even turn my laptop on to prove it was fine! Anyway, this whole process actually went quite well. A good thing about flying from Toronto into New York is that you get to go through customs in Canada so when you arrive at JFK it is like walking straight off a domestic flight.
Nothing to describe on the flight really. Our flight attendant looked like Bubba from Forrest Gump! He was probably about twice the size!!!!! We were only in a tiny tine aircraft so that was an experience as he walked up and down the aisle serving our drinks! I celebrated, with a Pepsi, that that would be the last American Airlines / small domestic plane I would have to be in for a while! Bring on the A380
Anyway, 400 words in and I haven’t made it to New York – this could be long! I will warn you now that I have decided to not really ‘review / talk too much about the shows I saw in this entry – they can all have their own special one!
The great thing in both Toronto and New York is that a cab ride to / from the airport is a fixed price so it doesn’t matter what time it is it will always be about the same price. Just a tip for those traveling here. I checked into the Four Points by Sheraton – thank you Sam!. It was on 40th between 8th and 9th. To put it into proximity for you, the Times Square / Theatre district area runs from 40th to 50th and from 6th to 9th, so I was in the bottom corner. It was about an 8 minute walk and I was standing in the middle of Times Square!
INSERT MAP OF WHERE I STAYED
After checking in it was time to explore the town! I was in the foyer just chatting with the concierge about 1) where I was, and 2) how to get to where I wanted to be. Another guy was there and he was asking the same thing. He was over from the West Indies to visit his girlfriend who had been working here for about 3 months now and still had another 3 months to go. I tried to ditch him at all costs. His first questions to me was “hey man, mind if I hang wit;’ chew for a bit. I am tryin’ to find my way too”. So far so good. A little how’s the weather chat on the way up the street and he then asked me if I smoke – NO! and then preceded to list of about 8 other illegal drugs and if I did them or if I knew how to get them… MISSION: Ditch this guy! This proved a little harder than expected. I told him I was here to see Musical Theatre! He didn’t know what I was talking about but latched onto the “music” element and preceded to tell me how much he loves singing… this was going to be much harder than expected. I started walking into every theatre I could – just to get an idea of performance times and costs. I thought after I walked into West Side Story I had succeeded… but NO! Grrrrr…..
We then walked all of the way up 7th avenue to Central Park. I then thought I had got rid of him when we walked past the little carriages on the back of a bike – he tried to convince me that we should ride one. I declined the offer and said he needed to take his girlfriend on one. Anyway. I just kept walking, occasionally loosing him as he would try and chat up anything female that passed us but he still managed to catch up. I finally had success when I went in to buy my Avenue Q tickets. While I was down stairs at the theatre getting cash out of the ATM he decided he needed to go to the toilet! Instead of finding the toilet, he decided the lift was a great place! He was escorted out and must have gone back to the hotel. I bought my ticket and kept exploring the awesomeness of the Big Apple!
I have found the worlds 2nd greatest collection of sheet music (the first one is amazon.com). You name an artist or musical and the music was there. A lot of the musicals were available in Vocal Selections or even Full Score format! I was very calm and only bought 4 books. A couple of musicals and I found the 2 Billy Joel Anthologies I have been wanting for about 10 years. They cost about $100 each at home… I only paid $30 for each of them – A great deal
I headed back to the hotel – I hadn’t gotten lost so was very proud of myself! A quick shower and then out to dinner and my first Broadway Musical – even if it was Off-Broadway… Avenue Q!
After leaving Sam and Amanda’s at what can only be described as Stupid-O-Clock (6:00am – I know that is a normal time - but it was still pitch black outside AND was about -1oC or -2oC) I arrived at Toronto and lined up in the queue with the hundreds of other people. As you may be aware, security in Airports across the world – especially ANYTHING flying into USA has been stepped up since the attempted bombing on Christmas Day.
“Hello, and thank you for choosing to fly American Airlines. We just want to let you know that we actually don’t care about you at all! Due to the new terror levels and heightened security, please allow extra time for check in as we haven’t added any extra staff. Please also note that although there are over 200 people waiting to check in and it is only 7am, we will still only have 3 staff working. Once again, thank you for flying American”
Well, nobody actually said that but it was what I am sure they were thinking!!!!!!!
So I had my first full body search! I didn’t look dodgy – EVERYONE was being padded down and they went through my whole carry on bag. I had to even turn my laptop on to prove it was fine! Anyway, this whole process actually went quite well. A good thing about flying from Toronto into New York is that you get to go through customs in Canada so when you arrive at JFK it is like walking straight off a domestic flight.
Nothing to describe on the flight really. Our flight attendant looked like Bubba from Forrest Gump! He was probably about twice the size!!!!! We were only in a tiny tine aircraft so that was an experience as he walked up and down the aisle serving our drinks! I celebrated, with a Pepsi, that that would be the last American Airlines / small domestic plane I would have to be in for a while! Bring on the A380
Anyway, 400 words in and I haven’t made it to New York – this could be long! I will warn you now that I have decided to not really ‘review / talk too much about the shows I saw in this entry – they can all have their own special one!
The great thing in both Toronto and New York is that a cab ride to / from the airport is a fixed price so it doesn’t matter what time it is it will always be about the same price. Just a tip for those traveling here. I checked into the Four Points by Sheraton – thank you Sam!. It was on 40th between 8th and 9th. To put it into proximity for you, the Times Square / Theatre district area runs from 40th to 50th and from 6th to 9th, so I was in the bottom corner. It was about an 8 minute walk and I was standing in the middle of Times Square!
INSERT MAP OF WHERE I STAYED
After checking in it was time to explore the town! I was in the foyer just chatting with the concierge about 1) where I was, and 2) how to get to where I wanted to be. Another guy was there and he was asking the same thing. He was over from the West Indies to visit his girlfriend who had been working here for about 3 months now and still had another 3 months to go. I tried to ditch him at all costs. His first questions to me was “hey man, mind if I hang wit;’ chew for a bit. I am tryin’ to find my way too”. So far so good. A little how’s the weather chat on the way up the street and he then asked me if I smoke – NO! and then preceded to list of about 8 other illegal drugs and if I did them or if I knew how to get them… MISSION: Ditch this guy! This proved a little harder than expected. I told him I was here to see Musical Theatre! He didn’t know what I was talking about but latched onto the “music” element and preceded to tell me how much he loves singing… this was going to be much harder than expected. I started walking into every theatre I could – just to get an idea of performance times and costs. I thought after I walked into West Side Story I had succeeded… but NO! Grrrrr…..
We then walked all of the way up 7th avenue to Central Park. I then thought I had got rid of him when we walked past the little carriages on the back of a bike – he tried to convince me that we should ride one. I declined the offer and said he needed to take his girlfriend on one. Anyway. I just kept walking, occasionally loosing him as he would try and chat up anything female that passed us but he still managed to catch up. I finally had success when I went in to buy my Avenue Q tickets. While I was down stairs at the theatre getting cash out of the ATM he decided he needed to go to the toilet! Instead of finding the toilet, he decided the lift was a great place! He was escorted out and must have gone back to the hotel. I bought my ticket and kept exploring the awesomeness of the Big Apple!
I have found the worlds 2nd greatest collection of sheet music (the first one is amazon.com). You name an artist or musical and the music was there. A lot of the musicals were available in Vocal Selections or even Full Score format! I was very calm and only bought 4 books. A couple of musicals and I found the 2 Billy Joel Anthologies I have been wanting for about 10 years. They cost about $100 each at home… I only paid $30 for each of them – A great deal
I headed back to the hotel – I hadn’t gotten lost so was very proud of myself! A quick shower and then out to dinner and my first Broadway Musical – even if it was Off-Broadway… Avenue Q!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Niagara Falls Chapter
After a quick call to the travel agent to postpone my New York flight by one day – it was decided that upon returning from the snow we would head down to check Niagara Falls and maybe sample some of the local produce…
The Niagara region is a relatively new wine making region but has found a specialty with Ice Wine. This is made from grapes that they pick when it is between -5oC and -12oC. Luckily for us today is one of those days so we got to see some freshly picked and crushed frozen grapes.
INSERT PHOTO OF FROZEN GRAPES
After a pleasant train ride from Toronto to Niagara, we were met by ‘Dave’ our tour guide. We managed to be the only 3 people crazy enough to book a wine tour on 2nd of January so we had a 15 seater bus all to ourselves!
PICTURES OF TRAIN RIDE
Sam and Amanda had previously explored the area so we were able to go to some of their favourites and learn about some new wineries. They pride themselves on their Ice Wine here! When they found out I was from Australia and enjoyed red wine they were rather embarrassed. NOTHING I tried all day actually found the back of the pallet. Now I know that sounds like wine connoisseur speak and yes I am starting to sound like my father but they don’t understand what a BIG red means – No it IS NOT a Kangaroo – but yes I do have three for a pet thank you for asking…
Dave (the bus driver) was a local so gave a great history of the area – sometimes going right off the beaten track through un ploughed snow roads just to show us the little B&B his parents use to own!
In all we visited 6 wineries
INSERT PHOTOS OF WINERIES
As a special ‘Goodbye To Canada’ I bought a bottle of Sparkling Rose Ice Wine – the only type in the world! Ice wine is sold in tiny bottles so when we got back to Toronto there was enough for about 1 small glass each. It retails for $80 a bottle so I was expecting something pretty amazing as it had one a Best Sparkling Wine award at some wine show in Europe – Think Zibibo Rosa as a desert wine!
INSERT PHOTO OF ME WITH ROSE ICE WINE
After a big day we headed out to the Casino for dinner. Tonight I had the BEST cooked steak I have EVER had – and I have eaten A LOT of Steak! Medium Rare – more towards the Rare side. No sauce. The juiciest cow ever! The oven roasted fries and fresh beans and red pepper (NO YOU CRAZY NORTH AMERICANS – IT IS CALLED CAPSICUM – AND YES YOU CAN EAT IT AND YES IT IS QUITE TASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! – just had to get that out of my system) that went with it were also cooked to perfection.
After dinner we headed, on Dave the bus drivers recommendation to R5. R5 is a piano bar / lounge with a cocktail book / menu that does include $10 000 cocktail with a diamond ring in it. And yes, if you were wondering, you do get to keep the glass!
The scene was something to behold, sitting by a fireplace in large comfy lounges, a girl playing everything from Oasis to Billy Joel to Beatles to songs made famous by the cast of Glee, Niagara Falls out the window, snow falling everywhere – oh and of course – a French Martini! Wonderful! We then went for a walk through the casino but it wasn’t that exciting, so we headed out and went home.
INSERT PHOTO OF PIANO BAR
The next morning we were restricted to indoor activities as there was so much snow outside.
INSERT PHOTO OF SNOW IN NIAGARA
I was determined to try and see the falls so I convinced Sam that we should just brave the weather and walk out to the look out. The results are as follows…
INSERT PHOTOS OF SAM AND I AT THE FALLS
After a Starbucks to defrost (P.S. I am typing this in Word and Facebook has a red squiggle underneath it but Starbucks is spelt correctly – go figure!) it was time to pack up and jump on the train to Toronto.
The whole time in Canada was fantastic. 11 days in total and I got to do some amazing things – Ski a 6km trail, sort of see the falls, spend a New Years on the snow with snow falling everywhere, try some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten, and hang out with two very cool, awesome and wonderful friends!
Thank you Canada and Thank You Sam and Amanda.
In Here...
... Life is Beautiful
... The Girls are Beautiful
... Even the Orchestra is Beautiful
The Niagara region is a relatively new wine making region but has found a specialty with Ice Wine. This is made from grapes that they pick when it is between -5oC and -12oC. Luckily for us today is one of those days so we got to see some freshly picked and crushed frozen grapes.
INSERT PHOTO OF FROZEN GRAPES
After a pleasant train ride from Toronto to Niagara, we were met by ‘Dave’ our tour guide. We managed to be the only 3 people crazy enough to book a wine tour on 2nd of January so we had a 15 seater bus all to ourselves!
PICTURES OF TRAIN RIDE
Sam and Amanda had previously explored the area so we were able to go to some of their favourites and learn about some new wineries. They pride themselves on their Ice Wine here! When they found out I was from Australia and enjoyed red wine they were rather embarrassed. NOTHING I tried all day actually found the back of the pallet. Now I know that sounds like wine connoisseur speak and yes I am starting to sound like my father but they don’t understand what a BIG red means – No it IS NOT a Kangaroo – but yes I do have three for a pet thank you for asking…
Dave (the bus driver) was a local so gave a great history of the area – sometimes going right off the beaten track through un ploughed snow roads just to show us the little B&B his parents use to own!
In all we visited 6 wineries
INSERT PHOTOS OF WINERIES
As a special ‘Goodbye To Canada’ I bought a bottle of Sparkling Rose Ice Wine – the only type in the world! Ice wine is sold in tiny bottles so when we got back to Toronto there was enough for about 1 small glass each. It retails for $80 a bottle so I was expecting something pretty amazing as it had one a Best Sparkling Wine award at some wine show in Europe – Think Zibibo Rosa as a desert wine!
INSERT PHOTO OF ME WITH ROSE ICE WINE
After a big day we headed out to the Casino for dinner. Tonight I had the BEST cooked steak I have EVER had – and I have eaten A LOT of Steak! Medium Rare – more towards the Rare side. No sauce. The juiciest cow ever! The oven roasted fries and fresh beans and red pepper (NO YOU CRAZY NORTH AMERICANS – IT IS CALLED CAPSICUM – AND YES YOU CAN EAT IT AND YES IT IS QUITE TASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! – just had to get that out of my system) that went with it were also cooked to perfection.
After dinner we headed, on Dave the bus drivers recommendation to R5. R5 is a piano bar / lounge with a cocktail book / menu that does include $10 000 cocktail with a diamond ring in it. And yes, if you were wondering, you do get to keep the glass!
The scene was something to behold, sitting by a fireplace in large comfy lounges, a girl playing everything from Oasis to Billy Joel to Beatles to songs made famous by the cast of Glee, Niagara Falls out the window, snow falling everywhere – oh and of course – a French Martini! Wonderful! We then went for a walk through the casino but it wasn’t that exciting, so we headed out and went home.
INSERT PHOTO OF PIANO BAR
The next morning we were restricted to indoor activities as there was so much snow outside.
INSERT PHOTO OF SNOW IN NIAGARA
I was determined to try and see the falls so I convinced Sam that we should just brave the weather and walk out to the look out. The results are as follows…
INSERT PHOTOS OF SAM AND I AT THE FALLS
After a Starbucks to defrost (P.S. I am typing this in Word and Facebook has a red squiggle underneath it but Starbucks is spelt correctly – go figure!) it was time to pack up and jump on the train to Toronto.
The whole time in Canada was fantastic. 11 days in total and I got to do some amazing things – Ski a 6km trail, sort of see the falls, spend a New Years on the snow with snow falling everywhere, try some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten, and hang out with two very cool, awesome and wonderful friends!
Thank you Canada and Thank You Sam and Amanda.
In Here...
... Life is Beautiful
... The Girls are Beautiful
... Even the Orchestra is Beautiful
Monday, January 4, 2010
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow...
Internet is FREE in the Hotel but SLOW! I will add some photos when I get a chance, for now the story is a good start!
DAY 1 – December 27th 2009
After the whirlwind that was 4 days in Toronto – it was time to repack and head ‘up north’. We flew with a new-ish airline company called Porter. It leaves off a tiny little island in the middle of the lake – only just big enough for a small plane to take off from and you need to get the Ferry across!
Because we were heading into Montreal we started to practice our French! Quebec is a French speaking state. French is their first language here so everything is written in French, everyone speaks French and only if you are very lucky is there some English around… Par les vous English?
Sam and Amanda’s flat mate Oli picked us up and drove us up to Mount Tremblant. The drive was amazing! When you go skiing in Australia you have to drive up a huge mountain, pay a stupidly large amount of money to enter a National Park, stop halfway up to put chains on (Go Team Matt and Barry – still the fastest team there every was!)… you get the picture. When you go skiing in Canada you just drive down the road, you already have winter tyers on and just park at any number of chairlifts along the side of the road and go skiing. However, as easy as this sounds we were heading somewhere a little bit more fancy.
Mount Tremblant – This place has been voted the Best place to Ski on the Eastern side of North America for about the last 15 years (It helps that there actually are no other ski resorts on the Eastern side of North America but we will just let it slide.) This place is BEAUTIFUL! The pictures speak for them selves…
PICTURES OF MT TREMBLANT TO COME
The one sad thing about this place is that this is the resort where Natasha Richardson (Liam Neeson’s wife) tragically died after a skiing accident. I wasn’t reminding you of her work in the Walt Disney classic – The Parent Trap… I was actually wanting to draw attention to her fantastic portrayal of Sally Bowles in the Sam Mendes 2000 Broadway Revival of Cabaret. This production was what the Australian one was based on which had some influence on ours… That is why it is worth mentioning Natasha Richardson.
Natasha Richardson Singing MAYBE THIS TIME
After arriving in the mountain, we decided to do some exploring, find out where our Dinner was going to be and pick up our skis which we had rented. In North America – you do not HIRE skis – you RENT them. You HIRE people to work for you and you RENT objects… The Chicagoians were a little confused when I mentioned that I already had my ski hire sorted…
After the hard day we had had so far (1 hour plane ride, 1 hour car ride, explore the village…) we decided to start what would become an evening ritual… our Spa and Sauna…
PHOTOS OF SPA TO COME
We managed to survive on Wheet-a-bix (cheap imitation) and Toast and Vegemite (the three of us managed to consume a whole tube in only 5 days!) for breakfast and just a cup of soup for lunch all very cheap option so we lashed out a little bit on dinner each night. Sam and arranged with the concierge to book some restaurants for us each night. With so many choices on the mountain it would have been annoying for us to have gone through and decided on one so Shaun did the hard work for us!
Dinner on night 1 was at an Italian restaurant. The food was alright but the service wasn’t that great. It is customary to tip about 15% in North America – due to the average service I think the tip may have been between 9% and 10%. Mr Chai didn’t want to be frowned upon as leaving a small tip so I paid for this one… As we left the restaurant the waiter said “Merci, Bon Soir” to Amanda, “Merci, Bon Soir” to Sam and just smiled at me… oh well crappy service = crappy tip!
PHOTO OF OUR ROOM FROM ITALIAN RESTAURANT TO COME
DAY 2 – December 28th 2009
It was our first day on the snow. I hadn’t been skiing for 2 and a half years so it took a while to get my snow legs back but I sorted it out in the end! Sam and Amanda had the advantage of skiing in Japan last Christmas / New Year so were a little bit ahead of me (that is my excuse and I am sticking to it!).
The snow is totally different to Australia. Even though I have been skiing maybe 5 or 6 times in all different conditions I wasn’t prepared for this: Real Powder, Long Ski Trails, Snowboarders who can ACTUALLY snow board and EVERYONE is really really REALLY good! At least we looked the part…
PHOTO OF US ON SKI LIFT TO COME
As we headed up the ski lift we discovered how long some of the runs actually were. The average was about 2km but we did find one that was over 6km long… it was a Marathon! Especially the first time on the first day when we kind of missed the turn off for the easy green trail and found the hard green / blue trail. (Another point of difference between Australian skiing and Canadian Skiing – the “easiest route” green is about the same as our normal green – the blue back home is about the same as some of their green runs… I didn’t try any black runs so can’t really comment but you can figure it out for yourself!
I had 4 stacks on the first day – the last one was a big one which included my beanie, ski’s and poles sprawled out all over the trail. I guess stacks like this are why everyone was wearing helmets – except the crazy Australians!
CRAZY AUSTRALIAN PHOTO TO COME
After a hard day of skiing it was off to the Spa and Sauna as part of our ritual, upstairs for a pre-dinner drink while we waited for the shower to be free (the actual trend that occurred was Amanda and Matt would spend longer in the Sauna to allow Sam optimal bathroom time – he even wore a beanie everywhere so didn’t need to do his hair but still managed to take the longest in the bathroom!)
Dinner tonight was at a BEAUTIFUL French restaurant. I can not begin to explain how good it was but the photos speak for them selves…
PHOTOS OF AMAZING FRENCH DINNER TO COME
We also called back home to our friend Chris to wish him a Happy Birthday.
Maybe it was the food, maybe it was the company, maybe it was the atmosphere, maybe it was the wine… but to me this is one of those nights I will remember for the rest of my life. It was just an amazing and wonderful experience with great food, beautiful wine and amazing friends! AND to top it off – SNOW! IT started snowing out side and didn’t stop all night!
DAY 3 – December 29th 2009
I ask you – what do you consider cold? Standing in the Freezer section of the supermarket trying to decide which cheese is the lowest in fat? Or maybe walking into a cold room at a bottle shop? Maybe running out to the car in winter without a jumper to get something you left there? Jumping into a pool at midnight in Stanthorpe in the middle of winter after just spending the previous couple of hours in a hot tub that was cooking at a nice 40oC? How does -25oC NOT INCLUDING THE WIND CHILL FACTOR OF 35km/ph WINDS SOUND TO YOU? That was what we had to deal with on our second day of skiing. Any part of your skin that was exposed would start to burn!
Today was the day we explored the North side of the mountain a little bit more. This side was a bit more protected from the wind. Although I has survived the first day of skiing with just wearing my sunglasses, today saw the need to buy goggles (Unfortunately the ones from School Ski Trip in 2001 had finally perished… The sunglasses just weren’t going to cut it today.
SOME GENERAL SKI PHOTOS TO COME
We were brave and did go back after lunch – although many didn’t, we braved it. We knew what would be waiting for us when we got back to the hotel! A hot spa and sauna. The new experience in the spa tonight was frozen hair! With a little bit of water in your hair, the outside temperature was so cold that our hair actually froze. Now we have all seen the cartoons where hair breaks off when it freezes – well it doesn’t, it is all a lie! I have been using hair product in my hair for a while now but nothing sets as rock hard as this ice! Even Amanda had a frozen pony tail!
Dinner tonight was at a great Steak house called “Bulls Eye”. Here my almost 3 week craving for Garlic bread was solved and everyone was relived. I think Sam and Amanda were sick of me reading the appetisers searching for Garlic bread only to be let down again and again and again – and to make it better – CHEESY GARLIC BREAD – and the people rejoiced!
PHOTOS OF DINNER @ BULLS EYE TO COME
DAY 4 – December 30th 2009 - New Years Eve Eve
Oli (Sam and Amanda’s flat mate) was spending the holidays with his family in Quebec so today he brought his brother Simo up for some snow and skiing fun. The skiing was so much more pleasant today without the cold winds. The disadvantage we had today was the cloud cover – it was really thick and you really couldn’t see more than about 10 metres in front of you. Some sections were so thick that your visibility became about 5mThe mountain is so huge and there are so many trails and lifts and then and offshoot here and an offshoot there you could easily get lost. The good thing with skiing though is that if you do get lost there is one simple way out – DOWN!
Oli and Simo didn’t quite understand when we told them to bring their ‘togs’ to join us in the Spa so they went and spent some time with family who were close while we ritual-ed and then headed to Fat Marti’s for dinner. Oven roasted chicken wings are something I would recommend to anyone travelling to Tremblant!
PHOTOS OF FAT MARTI DINNER TO COME
An earlish night tonight to prepare for the New Years Eve festivities AND I had to be up early to Skype into the New Years Eve parties back home! Although before bed Sam, Amanda and I got into a deep discussion of great events of the last decade – all the TV shows were having their own but we wanted to try and thing of some more Australian things.
DAY 5 – December 31st 2009 - New Years Eve
The sacrifices I make! I got up early (8:00am) and braved the outside cold and checked in with the two parties I would have been at if I was at home. The Kee household was first – with a full room (including an awake Hunter) it was so good to Skype in and say hi to everyone. Then it was to the festivities at The Nutley household. It felt strange because it was almost midnight, everyone was in short and t-shirts. I was just waking up and was in my winter warmest… HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Today was probably the nicest day to be on the snow. Great visibility, some fresh snow falling, no wind, bearable temperatures – it was lovely!
SOME MORE GENERAL SKIING PHOTOS TO COME
I was starting to get a really sore though – four days in a row of serious skiing. The last time I went skiing with Sam I came home with a partial dislocation in my thumb and shoulder – I was NOT going to let it happen this time! Sam on the other hand was looking to be a bit fancy and do a little jump – only to discover is was fresh snow and a bush underneath.
Of course there was the last spa and sauna - a fantastic new ritual! Does anywhere in Bright have a spa and Sauna???
New Years Eve dinner was at the restaurant of the hotel we were staying at. This was the first meal where we actually had fluent French speakers with us (Oli and Simo) but was the first time our orders had been stuffed up!
It was then upstairs for a New Years Bubbles as we weren’t sure what we could consume at the street party.
PHOTO OF OLI LEARNING ABOUT TYPEWRITERS TO COME
PHOTO OF CHEERS TO NEW YEARS TO COME
It was snowing and I was in Canada for New Years!!!!! I was very excited! And then to top it off there was Fireworks on the Snow. The light bounces off the snow and also reflects in the sky from all the snow flakes that are falling. This is another one of those nights that I will never forget. Bon Annee!
Some of us partied on until about 2:30am
PHOTO OF THE PARTY PEOPLE TO COME LATER
Others like Sam and Oli decided that it was better to go to sleep at about 12:45am BORING!
DAY 6 – January 1st 2010
Today was our last day on the mountain. I was up early and decided to take a walk around Tremblant one last time. There had been some fresh snow so I headed into the village for some final photos.
SOME MORE MOUNTAIN PHOTOS TO COME
We all then packed into the car and headed back to Oli’s parents place. Although we were getting the train back to Toronto, we had a couple of hours in between so went and met Oli’s parents. They welcomed us with hot drinks and provided a yum snack for the train ride home. I was convinced to play their piano – if only to stop Sam singing Baby Elephant Walk!!!!!!!!! It was good to play considering it had almost been three weeks since I had last played.
A 4 hour train ride later and we were back in Toronto – just long enough to do one load of washing and sleep the night before another early start. A train ride to spend the weekend at Niagara!
DAY 1 – December 27th 2009
After the whirlwind that was 4 days in Toronto – it was time to repack and head ‘up north’. We flew with a new-ish airline company called Porter. It leaves off a tiny little island in the middle of the lake – only just big enough for a small plane to take off from and you need to get the Ferry across!
Because we were heading into Montreal we started to practice our French! Quebec is a French speaking state. French is their first language here so everything is written in French, everyone speaks French and only if you are very lucky is there some English around… Par les vous English?
Sam and Amanda’s flat mate Oli picked us up and drove us up to Mount Tremblant. The drive was amazing! When you go skiing in Australia you have to drive up a huge mountain, pay a stupidly large amount of money to enter a National Park, stop halfway up to put chains on (Go Team Matt and Barry – still the fastest team there every was!)… you get the picture. When you go skiing in Canada you just drive down the road, you already have winter tyers on and just park at any number of chairlifts along the side of the road and go skiing. However, as easy as this sounds we were heading somewhere a little bit more fancy.
Mount Tremblant – This place has been voted the Best place to Ski on the Eastern side of North America for about the last 15 years (It helps that there actually are no other ski resorts on the Eastern side of North America but we will just let it slide.) This place is BEAUTIFUL! The pictures speak for them selves…
PICTURES OF MT TREMBLANT TO COME
The one sad thing about this place is that this is the resort where Natasha Richardson (Liam Neeson’s wife) tragically died after a skiing accident. I wasn’t reminding you of her work in the Walt Disney classic – The Parent Trap… I was actually wanting to draw attention to her fantastic portrayal of Sally Bowles in the Sam Mendes 2000 Broadway Revival of Cabaret. This production was what the Australian one was based on which had some influence on ours… That is why it is worth mentioning Natasha Richardson.
Natasha Richardson Singing MAYBE THIS TIME
After arriving in the mountain, we decided to do some exploring, find out where our Dinner was going to be and pick up our skis which we had rented. In North America – you do not HIRE skis – you RENT them. You HIRE people to work for you and you RENT objects… The Chicagoians were a little confused when I mentioned that I already had my ski hire sorted…
After the hard day we had had so far (1 hour plane ride, 1 hour car ride, explore the village…) we decided to start what would become an evening ritual… our Spa and Sauna…
PHOTOS OF SPA TO COME
We managed to survive on Wheet-a-bix (cheap imitation) and Toast and Vegemite (the three of us managed to consume a whole tube in only 5 days!) for breakfast and just a cup of soup for lunch all very cheap option so we lashed out a little bit on dinner each night. Sam and arranged with the concierge to book some restaurants for us each night. With so many choices on the mountain it would have been annoying for us to have gone through and decided on one so Shaun did the hard work for us!
Dinner on night 1 was at an Italian restaurant. The food was alright but the service wasn’t that great. It is customary to tip about 15% in North America – due to the average service I think the tip may have been between 9% and 10%. Mr Chai didn’t want to be frowned upon as leaving a small tip so I paid for this one… As we left the restaurant the waiter said “Merci, Bon Soir” to Amanda, “Merci, Bon Soir” to Sam and just smiled at me… oh well crappy service = crappy tip!
PHOTO OF OUR ROOM FROM ITALIAN RESTAURANT TO COME
DAY 2 – December 28th 2009
It was our first day on the snow. I hadn’t been skiing for 2 and a half years so it took a while to get my snow legs back but I sorted it out in the end! Sam and Amanda had the advantage of skiing in Japan last Christmas / New Year so were a little bit ahead of me (that is my excuse and I am sticking to it!).
The snow is totally different to Australia. Even though I have been skiing maybe 5 or 6 times in all different conditions I wasn’t prepared for this: Real Powder, Long Ski Trails, Snowboarders who can ACTUALLY snow board and EVERYONE is really really REALLY good! At least we looked the part…
PHOTO OF US ON SKI LIFT TO COME
As we headed up the ski lift we discovered how long some of the runs actually were. The average was about 2km but we did find one that was over 6km long… it was a Marathon! Especially the first time on the first day when we kind of missed the turn off for the easy green trail and found the hard green / blue trail. (Another point of difference between Australian skiing and Canadian Skiing – the “easiest route” green is about the same as our normal green – the blue back home is about the same as some of their green runs… I didn’t try any black runs so can’t really comment but you can figure it out for yourself!
I had 4 stacks on the first day – the last one was a big one which included my beanie, ski’s and poles sprawled out all over the trail. I guess stacks like this are why everyone was wearing helmets – except the crazy Australians!
CRAZY AUSTRALIAN PHOTO TO COME
After a hard day of skiing it was off to the Spa and Sauna as part of our ritual, upstairs for a pre-dinner drink while we waited for the shower to be free (the actual trend that occurred was Amanda and Matt would spend longer in the Sauna to allow Sam optimal bathroom time – he even wore a beanie everywhere so didn’t need to do his hair but still managed to take the longest in the bathroom!)
Dinner tonight was at a BEAUTIFUL French restaurant. I can not begin to explain how good it was but the photos speak for them selves…
PHOTOS OF AMAZING FRENCH DINNER TO COME
We also called back home to our friend Chris to wish him a Happy Birthday.
Maybe it was the food, maybe it was the company, maybe it was the atmosphere, maybe it was the wine… but to me this is one of those nights I will remember for the rest of my life. It was just an amazing and wonderful experience with great food, beautiful wine and amazing friends! AND to top it off – SNOW! IT started snowing out side and didn’t stop all night!
DAY 3 – December 29th 2009
I ask you – what do you consider cold? Standing in the Freezer section of the supermarket trying to decide which cheese is the lowest in fat? Or maybe walking into a cold room at a bottle shop? Maybe running out to the car in winter without a jumper to get something you left there? Jumping into a pool at midnight in Stanthorpe in the middle of winter after just spending the previous couple of hours in a hot tub that was cooking at a nice 40oC? How does -25oC NOT INCLUDING THE WIND CHILL FACTOR OF 35km/ph WINDS SOUND TO YOU? That was what we had to deal with on our second day of skiing. Any part of your skin that was exposed would start to burn!
Today was the day we explored the North side of the mountain a little bit more. This side was a bit more protected from the wind. Although I has survived the first day of skiing with just wearing my sunglasses, today saw the need to buy goggles (Unfortunately the ones from School Ski Trip in 2001 had finally perished… The sunglasses just weren’t going to cut it today.
SOME GENERAL SKI PHOTOS TO COME
We were brave and did go back after lunch – although many didn’t, we braved it. We knew what would be waiting for us when we got back to the hotel! A hot spa and sauna. The new experience in the spa tonight was frozen hair! With a little bit of water in your hair, the outside temperature was so cold that our hair actually froze. Now we have all seen the cartoons where hair breaks off when it freezes – well it doesn’t, it is all a lie! I have been using hair product in my hair for a while now but nothing sets as rock hard as this ice! Even Amanda had a frozen pony tail!
Dinner tonight was at a great Steak house called “Bulls Eye”. Here my almost 3 week craving for Garlic bread was solved and everyone was relived. I think Sam and Amanda were sick of me reading the appetisers searching for Garlic bread only to be let down again and again and again – and to make it better – CHEESY GARLIC BREAD – and the people rejoiced!
PHOTOS OF DINNER @ BULLS EYE TO COME
DAY 4 – December 30th 2009 - New Years Eve Eve
Oli (Sam and Amanda’s flat mate) was spending the holidays with his family in Quebec so today he brought his brother Simo up for some snow and skiing fun. The skiing was so much more pleasant today without the cold winds. The disadvantage we had today was the cloud cover – it was really thick and you really couldn’t see more than about 10 metres in front of you. Some sections were so thick that your visibility became about 5mThe mountain is so huge and there are so many trails and lifts and then and offshoot here and an offshoot there you could easily get lost. The good thing with skiing though is that if you do get lost there is one simple way out – DOWN!
Oli and Simo didn’t quite understand when we told them to bring their ‘togs’ to join us in the Spa so they went and spent some time with family who were close while we ritual-ed and then headed to Fat Marti’s for dinner. Oven roasted chicken wings are something I would recommend to anyone travelling to Tremblant!
PHOTOS OF FAT MARTI DINNER TO COME
An earlish night tonight to prepare for the New Years Eve festivities AND I had to be up early to Skype into the New Years Eve parties back home! Although before bed Sam, Amanda and I got into a deep discussion of great events of the last decade – all the TV shows were having their own but we wanted to try and thing of some more Australian things.
DAY 5 – December 31st 2009 - New Years Eve
The sacrifices I make! I got up early (8:00am) and braved the outside cold and checked in with the two parties I would have been at if I was at home. The Kee household was first – with a full room (including an awake Hunter) it was so good to Skype in and say hi to everyone. Then it was to the festivities at The Nutley household. It felt strange because it was almost midnight, everyone was in short and t-shirts. I was just waking up and was in my winter warmest… HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Today was probably the nicest day to be on the snow. Great visibility, some fresh snow falling, no wind, bearable temperatures – it was lovely!
SOME MORE GENERAL SKIING PHOTOS TO COME
I was starting to get a really sore though – four days in a row of serious skiing. The last time I went skiing with Sam I came home with a partial dislocation in my thumb and shoulder – I was NOT going to let it happen this time! Sam on the other hand was looking to be a bit fancy and do a little jump – only to discover is was fresh snow and a bush underneath.
Of course there was the last spa and sauna - a fantastic new ritual! Does anywhere in Bright have a spa and Sauna???
New Years Eve dinner was at the restaurant of the hotel we were staying at. This was the first meal where we actually had fluent French speakers with us (Oli and Simo) but was the first time our orders had been stuffed up!
It was then upstairs for a New Years Bubbles as we weren’t sure what we could consume at the street party.
PHOTO OF OLI LEARNING ABOUT TYPEWRITERS TO COME
PHOTO OF CHEERS TO NEW YEARS TO COME
It was snowing and I was in Canada for New Years!!!!! I was very excited! And then to top it off there was Fireworks on the Snow. The light bounces off the snow and also reflects in the sky from all the snow flakes that are falling. This is another one of those nights that I will never forget. Bon Annee!
Some of us partied on until about 2:30am
PHOTO OF THE PARTY PEOPLE TO COME LATER
Others like Sam and Oli decided that it was better to go to sleep at about 12:45am BORING!
DAY 6 – January 1st 2010
Today was our last day on the mountain. I was up early and decided to take a walk around Tremblant one last time. There had been some fresh snow so I headed into the village for some final photos.
SOME MORE MOUNTAIN PHOTOS TO COME
We all then packed into the car and headed back to Oli’s parents place. Although we were getting the train back to Toronto, we had a couple of hours in between so went and met Oli’s parents. They welcomed us with hot drinks and provided a yum snack for the train ride home. I was convinced to play their piano – if only to stop Sam singing Baby Elephant Walk!!!!!!!!! It was good to play considering it had almost been three weeks since I had last played.
A 4 hour train ride later and we were back in Toronto – just long enough to do one load of washing and sleep the night before another early start. A train ride to spend the weekend at Niagara!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A Turkey Lurkey Christmas
Welcome to Canadia! Toronto in particular. I arrived after the awesomeness of Chicago and I brought the Snow!!!!!
It was so good to see Sam and Amanda and Simba (the cat) again! They welcomed me into their Penthouse that has amazing views of Toronto.
Some of the AMAZING views from Sam and Amanda's 52nd story Penthouse - The tallest residential building in Toronto!
After a celebration “Welcome Nutley to Canada” drink...
...we started to discuss the all important Christmas Eve dinner! Sam and Amanda started to list off amazing food options for dinner. We settled on Copacabana Brazilian Steak House! Here they cook the meat on large skewers and then bring it to you at the table. They also serve the yummiest BBQ-ed pineapple EVER!
Me cutting the Yummiest Pineapple EVER for Amanda, The waiter was very impressed and said I was better than some of the staff!
After strolling the streets of Toronto we headed to a Christmas Eve Midnight Mass. Unfortunately we chose the worlds most traditional service which was slow, long and in Latin – we may have snuck out before it finished. You all know how I like my Christmas carols – fast and with a sense of joy and a real reason to celebrate the reason for the season… This was the total opposite! Anyway, as we were leaving early – we were getting death stares from everyone. The church was packed, the aisles were packed, the entrance on each side was packed… as we then walked outside we discover the gates were closed and security had been called in and there were over 150 people locked outside due to fire restrictions they couldn’t let anyone else in. It was crazy! Anyway, we walked home singing our own carols at reasonable speeds. However, we got stuck with the 11th day of Christmas…
So it turns out Santa did get my email and came to Canada! (Caliese was worried)
All of our stockings on Christmas morning... Matt, Oli (Sam and Amanda's flat mate), Sam, Amanda, Simba
We awoke Christmas morning to coldness but no snow – oh well… After Sam made us a yummy traditional breakfast of French Toast, Bacon, REAL Maple Syrup AND Eggnog – with a splash of Bacardi!
A "Traditional" Canadian Breakfast!
The theme of Sam and Amanda’s presents from me and other family was Australia
The "Australian" themed presents...
In a similar way, the theme of my presents from them was all things Canadian!
Me getting into the Canadian spirit!
After the festivities of present giving was over, we decided to rock it out with some Rock Band – Beetles style! It was only a couple of hours between waking up, doing presents and then heading out for our traditional Christmas Day evening meal. We went out to a fancy restaurant so we got dressed up. There were carollers and turkey and everything traditional!
Merry Christmas - See! We DID get dressed up!
Sam's FAVOURITE!!!!
With a full belly, we headed back home for a little more Rock Band before bed. We needed our sleep before braving the Boxing Day sales…
The big shopping centre in the middle of Toronto - LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE!
After spending the morning out and about doing some shopping – I bought some Egg Muffs (really called Ear Muffs but Amanda has a dyslexic moment while writing out shopping list so from this day forward they shall be known as egg muffs…), we were in search of more Traditional Canadian Food… and we found the Ultimate - Traditional Canadian Buffalo Wings and Ribs! YUM! This place had over 100 different flavours of sauce to choose from – amazing. Although the Canadians still do not understand what Spicy Hot is. We have previously been to Blue Smoke in New Farm where they have “3rd Degree Burn” flavour – nothing here is anywhere close to that.
Anyway – back to Canadia. After heading back home and preparing for our early start, we went out to Amanda’s favourite restaurant. But to get there, we needed to ride the Street Car! YAY! I had now successfully utilised Subway, Train, Plane, Cab, and now Street Car! The Queen Mother was the restaurant and amazing food and good wine was had by all. Some other highlights of the nights included watching cars get towed away across the street, taking photos of me with the CN tower coming out of my head, and outlasting everyone in the place.
CN Tower with it's Christmas festive lights popping out of the top of my head.
Sam and Amanda 'fighting' over food... again - I hate it when Mum and Dad fight!
We walked home! Again, it was cold and slightly snowing but it was great fun. It was a great way to end the Toronto chapter of my great adventure – little did I know how awesome the next chapter on the snow was going to be.
This song was the theme to our whole Christmas Celebrations…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kH7ZfdHNow
In Here...
... Life is Beautiful
... The Girls are Beautiful
... Even the Orchestra is Beautiful
It was so good to see Sam and Amanda and Simba (the cat) again! They welcomed me into their Penthouse that has amazing views of Toronto.
Some of the AMAZING views from Sam and Amanda's 52nd story Penthouse - The tallest residential building in Toronto!
After a celebration “Welcome Nutley to Canada” drink...
...we started to discuss the all important Christmas Eve dinner! Sam and Amanda started to list off amazing food options for dinner. We settled on Copacabana Brazilian Steak House! Here they cook the meat on large skewers and then bring it to you at the table. They also serve the yummiest BBQ-ed pineapple EVER!
Me cutting the Yummiest Pineapple EVER for Amanda, The waiter was very impressed and said I was better than some of the staff!
After strolling the streets of Toronto we headed to a Christmas Eve Midnight Mass. Unfortunately we chose the worlds most traditional service which was slow, long and in Latin – we may have snuck out before it finished. You all know how I like my Christmas carols – fast and with a sense of joy and a real reason to celebrate the reason for the season… This was the total opposite! Anyway, as we were leaving early – we were getting death stares from everyone. The church was packed, the aisles were packed, the entrance on each side was packed… as we then walked outside we discover the gates were closed and security had been called in and there were over 150 people locked outside due to fire restrictions they couldn’t let anyone else in. It was crazy! Anyway, we walked home singing our own carols at reasonable speeds. However, we got stuck with the 11th day of Christmas…
So it turns out Santa did get my email and came to Canada! (Caliese was worried)
All of our stockings on Christmas morning... Matt, Oli (Sam and Amanda's flat mate), Sam, Amanda, Simba
We awoke Christmas morning to coldness but no snow – oh well… After Sam made us a yummy traditional breakfast of French Toast, Bacon, REAL Maple Syrup AND Eggnog – with a splash of Bacardi!
A "Traditional" Canadian Breakfast!
The theme of Sam and Amanda’s presents from me and other family was Australia
The "Australian" themed presents...
In a similar way, the theme of my presents from them was all things Canadian!
Me getting into the Canadian spirit!
After the festivities of present giving was over, we decided to rock it out with some Rock Band – Beetles style! It was only a couple of hours between waking up, doing presents and then heading out for our traditional Christmas Day evening meal. We went out to a fancy restaurant so we got dressed up. There were carollers and turkey and everything traditional!
Merry Christmas - See! We DID get dressed up!
Sam's FAVOURITE!!!!
With a full belly, we headed back home for a little more Rock Band before bed. We needed our sleep before braving the Boxing Day sales…
The big shopping centre in the middle of Toronto - LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE!
After spending the morning out and about doing some shopping – I bought some Egg Muffs (really called Ear Muffs but Amanda has a dyslexic moment while writing out shopping list so from this day forward they shall be known as egg muffs…), we were in search of more Traditional Canadian Food… and we found the Ultimate - Traditional Canadian Buffalo Wings and Ribs! YUM! This place had over 100 different flavours of sauce to choose from – amazing. Although the Canadians still do not understand what Spicy Hot is. We have previously been to Blue Smoke in New Farm where they have “3rd Degree Burn” flavour – nothing here is anywhere close to that.
Anyway – back to Canadia. After heading back home and preparing for our early start, we went out to Amanda’s favourite restaurant. But to get there, we needed to ride the Street Car! YAY! I had now successfully utilised Subway, Train, Plane, Cab, and now Street Car! The Queen Mother was the restaurant and amazing food and good wine was had by all. Some other highlights of the nights included watching cars get towed away across the street, taking photos of me with the CN tower coming out of my head, and outlasting everyone in the place.
CN Tower with it's Christmas festive lights popping out of the top of my head.
Sam and Amanda 'fighting' over food... again - I hate it when Mum and Dad fight!
We walked home! Again, it was cold and slightly snowing but it was great fun. It was a great way to end the Toronto chapter of my great adventure – little did I know how awesome the next chapter on the snow was going to be.
This song was the theme to our whole Christmas Celebrations…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kH7ZfdHNow
In Here...
... Life is Beautiful
... The Girls are Beautiful
... Even the Orchestra is Beautiful
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