Towns and Villages: London Crawling (Days 4 & 5)

Happy New Year from London! Yesterday started off quite nicely with a bite to eat with my sister during her lunch break, which we had at Jubilee Place in Canary Wharf. We ate at Le Pain Quotidien, where I actually ate just last month with my other sister in Alexandria!

feast your eyes!

scoping out the best place to strike

After we gorged ourselves, Natalie went back to work for another hour while I walked around the mall. When she was finally done working, we headed to the underground to get downtown, but not before seeing her monstrous building looming overhead:

corporate is scary

We decided now was a fine time to see a show on West End, so we made our way to Shaftesbury Avenue to check out the shows. On the way, we passed by the South Bank where the NYE fireworks would be displayed:

I'm banking on there being good fireworks

Too bad you had to buy a ticket to watch up close. Boo!

eee!

We stopped by Her Majesty's Theatre where The Phantom of the Opera was playing (only my favorite musical of all time), but the house was full :(

but whyyyyy

I'll be back, my precious

So you can bet we'll be seeing it this weekend!

We did happen to see this on the cast list:

Ryan Gosling's Polish cousin?

Aunt Liz, why didn't you tell us??

Instead, we found discounted tickets at the Phoenix Theatre for Once!

I've only seen it once

We bought our tickets and killed time by dining at this supposedly Italian restaurant. The waiters all spoke in Italian, but the focaccia? Less than impressive.

strange plates with tumors, too

We couldn't just eat dinner without having dessert (we ARE Italian), so we found another Italian cafe to wash it down with some coffee and tiramisu:

this should be all meals

it's not an addiction, it's a lifestyle

Once our bellies were content, we returned to the theatre to enjoy a lovely production of Once with Ronan Keating. The stage setup was interesting, because the entire (small) cast remained on the sides of the stage when they were not in the scene, either sitting or playing their instruments. They also did their own set changes! My favorite part was when they sold ice cream at intermission. Second dessert and a show, mmm.

small theatre, loud pre-show

that's us!

that's me!

After the wonderful production, we raced home, changed into suitable NYE outfits, and caught a train to Camden Town. For the last half hour before 2015, we strolled along the streets, spying strange costumes and rowdy celebrations. After one bad decision to go to central London to catch some of the fireworks, where we were stuck like sardines in the streets, we decided to turn in for the night. And by turn in, I mean feast on pizza, eggs, and ice cream all from the comfort of our bedroom.

but at least we looked fab while doing it

After sleeping in for hours and hours, Natalie made us a delicious breakfast which was understandably gobbled up before any pictures could be taken. Then we hit up Mass at Westminster Cathedral!