First, I had a once in a lifetime experience. The Olympic Torch had finally showed up in London, and I jumped at the opportunity to see it. It was incredibly difficult to figure out what time the torch would show up at certain spots, so I just had to wing it really. The official website said that the torch would arrive at Trafalgar Square around 3:40, and I decided to go there since it was a very central location I knew how to get to since I went there all the time for other events and to get to other places. So, I got to Trafalgar Square around 3, and I asked a police officer what time the torch was coming since it looked pretty empty. He told me the torch would arrive at 5. I was fine though, I walked around and explored a few souvenir shops for any last minute gifts and souvenirs I possibly wanted.
My friend and I met up, and we hunted down an excellent spot to watch the torch come by. Unfortunately, the police officer was wrong, it wasn't supposed to come until 5:30, although it was about ten minutes late. Even so, we got to see the torch. I took a video of the torch going past, and you can see it at the beginning of this post. I'm sorry about the noise and the quality.
To go out on a high note, my friend and I headed over to the Savoy Theatre to try and get Danny DeVito's autograph. Danny was in a show with Richard Griffiths (Uncle Vernon from Harry Potter). My friend had gone to get Danny's the night before when I saw Sweeney Todd, but she hadn't gotten Richard's. So, we headed over in hopes of me getting Danny's autograph and her getting Richard's. Unfortunately, Danny didn't come out. It was the next to last performance, and his wife, Rhea Pearlman, was visiting. It was understandable that he didn't come out to sign autographs, he probably just wanted to head back to his apartment and spend some time with his wife. Luckily, Richard came out. There are actually two stage doors, one that Danny would come out and one that Richard would come out. In order to get from one to the other (you can see the one from the other but can't get to them), you have to run completely around the block, which we ended up doing, in the middle of the night, in flip flops, past a handful of pubs with patrons staring at us like we were freaks.
We made it just in time. Richard was, without a doubt, one of the most miserable men I've met in my life. A guy we had been talking to at the stage door when waiting for Danny had warned us about that, but we were still a little surprised at just how miserable he was. One person asked him for a photo together, and he told her off, saying things such as "why should I take a picture with you" and "my image is my image." He did sign autographs though, although he didn't seem too pleased about it
With this one final autograph, I got a total of five celebrity autographs, and that doesn't include the Reduced Shakespeare Company and the cast of Shrek. Not bad if I do say so myself.
After the stage door, my friend and I headed over to Trafalgar Square one last time to get a picture in front of the Olympic Countdown. I really wanted a photo with it being less than 24 hours. There were so many people there, it was almost a repeat of getting the photo at Abbey Road. Normally, multiple people would go up to get a photo at the same time, and it worked unless a big group went up for a photo, but that was understandable. The worst part was the guy who went up and ushered everyone else away from the countdown to get a photo without anyone else in it. I told my friend to just go up, he was being arrogant anyway, but she wasn't. I got my photo though, my last photo of me in London.
So, that wraps up my trip to London. I'll probably have a few reflection/themed posts in the next few weeks about London, but this is it. It's been a wild ride, and I had a blast. Thank you for putting up with my near daily posts, and I really do apologize for the delay for these last few posts. Thank you all for reading this, I really do appreciate it.
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