LONDON TRIP REVIEWS

Feb 98

Visiting London for the second time in two years, me and my girlfriend also this time wanted to enjoy the thrill of West End. Before leaving Oslo, Norway, I called directly to New London Theatre to order tickets for Cats. My girfriend really wanted to see Cats, I was not that exited about it. Anyway, we got perfect seatings for fridays evening performance.

We used the day for 'traditional London shopping' including a visit to Harrods and Harvey Nichols. We had dinner before the performance at La Boheme, a good French cuisine located straight on the other side of the Theatre Royal main entrance. I realised the meaning of 'New London' when I saw the theatre. Didn't look that tasty, but when I saw the scenary I was amased. This theatre is made for Cats! I guess this was the main reason I liked the performance too. The dancers and singers dancing close to the audience, and of course the music. It's a simple story, but its enjoyable. My girlfriend loved it.

The next day we had beautiful February weather. A bit cold, but still the sun was with us. We lived in the Bayswater area, so we only had to walk ten minutes to get to Portobello Road Market. After walking all the way up without buying anything, we took a taxi to Warwick Avenue underground. This is where Little Venice is and Regent's Canal starts. It was so beautiful, and a perfect walk for two. All the boats, the canal, it was nice. A good tip is to stop for tea or a cake or even a breakfast at Cafe LeVille located on the bridge with view down to Little Venice. The place serve breakfast all day. But we shared a cheesecake since we've had our continetal breakfast in the morning. We then continued our walk to Regents Park and also up to Primrose Hill for magnificent view over London. The logical place to go next was of course down to Camden Market.

We took the underground down to Leicester Square in hope of getting half price tickets at the booth there. And yes, we got tickets for An Inspector Calls. It reminded me of Ibsen, quite surrealistic. I was a bit surprised by the ending, but I will not tell you why....Go see it if you can! The Garrick theatre was a fine experience too.

The last day we visited Victoria & Albert Museum, and we enjoyed it, the twentieth century department was a highlight. We then went for a walk in Hyde Park were people were running, playing tennis and football, but almost everyone was doing the same as we did; walking. We then went to Hard Rock Cafe and a big american meal. The next thing to do was to get to the airport and back to snowy Oslo. Maybe I'll go and see an Ibsen play this month.......

Regards

Arve Josefsen Oslo Norway /
Email : aj@dowjones.dk