London 2013: Street performances

[dieastra]

This entry is especially for alumfelga who asked to see these ;)

In March 2013 I did another UK trip because of that JB guy. This time we went to Greenhithe / Bluewater which is a huge shopping center, I believe the biggest in whole UK. We went to a booksigning of John and his sister Carole there, and I took the opportunity to give her the action figure I had made of her Otherwise a booksigning is not really recommended for meeting your star, you stand in line for hours and then it is just a brief chat of one minute or so.

But of course my friend and I did some more nice sightseeing in London. This was one of the most relaxed London trips I've ever had. We had no certain plans other than going to see the musical "Billy Elliot" in the evening, we just looked if we found something interesting. At first we went to Trafalgar Square to go to the National Gallery, and afterwards to Covent Garden, where we saw two (already a bit elderly) men performing on high wheels and juggling and the like, but it was a real great and funny show with their comments, we laughed a lot and they deserved the money they collected afterwards.

I was just enjoying the show and not thinking of taking any pictures or even videos there, but before we went into the National Gallery we also watched some street performances. There was one man who would not talk at all, he just took willing people and nudged their arms and feet and general body into a certain direction, until they stood in a very weird way, and then the man would insert himself into the pose, and suddenly it made sense, and someone else would do a picture of it. Like a frozen action scene from James Bond for example.

But I also really liked the guy who had drawn flags from many countries with chalk, and the tourists from those countries then threw money onto "their" flag. It was really interesting to see from how many different countries the tourists in London where that day! Here are some pictures (as usual, behind the cut)

Comments

[dieastra.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, the crowds in London can be quite overwhelming. We have left trains go and wait for the next one if it was too much. Luckily they come every few minutes so you never have to wait long.

One time we had to walk from Baker Street a few stations, as one of the lines was closed. Immediately there were huge groups of people on the platform, and they soon started to close the entrance, so nobody would go down anymore, as it was not safe. They really manage it all well. Without the tube, they would be lost in such a big city.

That sounds nice, staying with families! Was this organized by the travel agency? It surely gives you a different view onto life in the UK. I like that.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

Staying with families was actually a kind of an insight in "real" life in Britain. That´s why I always tried to find such a trip. Yes, these travel agencies cooperate with certified groups of families almost in every town. There is a coordinator who distributes the tourists, of course they see to the needs and wishes of the clients.Or at least they try.
But it is also always a big adventure because you never know what kind of people you are staying with - and sometimes it is a surprise, especially for those who experience this for the first time of those you expect luxury.
I managed to stay with lots of people in England, Scotland and Wales and I always was lucky to meet nice people and only once the family were indifferent and took us tourist like a difficult insects (but still provided what they were supposed to).