2010 England & Greece

London

I’d been to London several times and wanted to do something different, so I signed up for a photography class/tour with The Hairy Goat. www.hairygoat.net  Classes were limited to eight students, and I was fortunate that there were only two other students that day. We were requested to fill out questionnaires about our cameras and level of experience/knowledge in advance. Our instructor, Gilly, did research on our cameras and helped each of us during the three-hour class. Following lunch (on our own), Corrina, the company’s owner, took us on a historic tour while both Corrina and Gilly pointed out photographic opportunities. Corrina has a tremendous amount of knowledge on London’s history. She gave us tidbits about the city’s origins and filled us in on the history behind some of the buildings we passed. The weather was picture perfect and the tour extended beyond the time it was supposed to end—I think we were all enjoying the unusually pleasant weather.

Leadenhall Market

Following the tour I walked around Soho and Chinatown, again stopping for dim sum for dinner (I can’t get dim sum where I live). By the time I walked back to my hotel my legs were aching. Not even my stroll through the park eased the pain.

When I awoke the following morning my legs continued to ache. There was so much I wanted to do on my last day, but my entire body just refused to cooperate. So, I had a leisurely morning. In the afternoon I walked just a bit aimlessly.

“Wicked” was playing at a theater near my hotel and I had no problem getting a center seat. The audience went wild at the end. I thought it was good, but not great. The sets were fantastic, the costumes were beautiful and the performers were talented. I’m not sure why it didn’t impress me; perhaps it was because I was so tired. I read the book and it went deeper in the plot, and that may have had an impact on my impression.