Weekend Fun and Nightlife

Cheap Entertainment - London Walks - The Theatre - Movies

Cheap Entertainment
When we first moved to London we were on a strict budget since Seth didn't have a job. So, for the first three months, our entertainment consisted mainly of walking around the city. The architecture and sights were different enough from Chicago to keep us entertained. Taking walks through unfamiliar neighborhoods is still one of our favorite pastimes. However, as soon as were had a double-income again, we also started going to the Theatre and spending some money on entertainment.

London Walks
These two hour walks have provided us with a good introduction to many parts of London. The guides are always entertaining and very knowledgeable. On each walk, we've learned historical facts about London. Even with all the historical lessons, the walk are never boring since the guides are often actors and actresses. They mix historical fact with fun anecdotes. We often pass on what we've heard on a walk to our visitors when we take them on short walking tours. Plus, we discovered our favorite pub while on a London Walk. The walks we've been on together include:

Since the walks are a good way to see the city if you're alone, Seth went on a few when Tara was away for work: Besides the two hour city walks, London walks offers day trips. Tara spend nearly a whole week in August of 1996 going on the Walks which take you outside of London on the train. London Walks has it's own web site at http://london.walks.com.

The Theatre

We've been to see many shows since moving to London. We especially love how we're a 5 minute walk from the Royal Albert Hall. We've been to many, many shows at the Royal Albert since it's just so convenient.
 
The Messiah  December 23, 1995 @ The Royal Albert Hall 7:30pm - £16.50
Crazy for you Sat. December 30, 1995 (with Tim, Jennie & Laurie)
Cirque du Solei  January 26, 1996 @ The Royal Albert Hall (had to leave work at 3pm) - £22.00
Penn & Teller  April 27, 1996 @ Sadler wells (with John Klinke)
Les Miserables in New York with Michelle
Miss Saigon Fri. May 10,1996 @ Theatre Royal - £32.50
Elvis Sat. June 1, 1996 - £15.75 (with Jeff and Kristen)
Fame June 3, 1996 for Tara's Birthday
Company June 7, 1996 with Leslie and her friend
BBC Proms in the Park  Hyde Park
Paint Your Wagon  The outside theatre in the park
Riverdance (with Gary and Carrie)
The Jeoffry Ballet  (with Gary and Carrie)
Oliver Mon. November 18, 1996 7:30pm @ London Palladium - £32.50
Martin Guere
Tommy
Shakespeare play The Globe Theatre - Tara only as a groundling
the other outside one At the outside theatre in the park
Cirque du Solei  @ The Royal Albert Hall
(w/ Nick, Em & Chicago women)
The Phantom of the Opera Seth only
Smokey Joe's Cafe Tara
Madame Butterfly @ The Royal Albert Hall in a box seat!
The Phantom of the Opera Seth & Tara together @ The Royal Albert Hall
Les Miserables Tara
Les Miserables Tara - AGAIN!! (with work colleagues: Andrew, Sam, Veeren and Cath)
Andrew Lloyd Weber's  50th Birthday Celebration @ The Royal Albert Hall

Movies

Movies are generally released here in London 2 to 3 months after they are released in America. But, Seth thinks he's figured out why. Possibly, the movies are released later to give the stars the chance to come to the premiers. Many stars come to Leichester Square in London for their movie's release. We once waited for Madonna. She was coming for the opening of Evita. All we ended up seeing was the silver Mercedes with two bodyguards running alongside.
Our favorite movie theatre is the Odeon in Leichester Square. It's an old style movie theatre with only one screen and a huge auditorium full of seats. Tara's favorite seats are the luxury seats in the front of the balcony. They are tall enough that she can rest her head on the back of the chair. They are worth every pence at 9 Pounds! That's over 15 U.S. Dollars to go see a movie.