After a great, but expensive night in Covent Garden, I figured it would be healthy to spend Friday with myself. Everyone needs some alone time now and then, right? I jumped out of bed hangover free, loving life and FINALLY staring at a beautiful sunrise. It was going to be a good day.
I grabbed some breakfast, got a shower and headed out into London for a brisk walk. After realizing truly how nice it was outside, I quickly turned around and went back to throw my running clothes on.
Running gives me lots of time to think and rock out to obnoxious music in the privacy of my own head. It is the perfect outlet. I headed down to Westminster via the bakerloo tube line (my favorite).
The paths were packed with people (most of which were runners training for the London marathon). There is a great pat that runs the length of the Thames from Westminster Abbey to the Millenium Bridge/Tate Modern gallery on both sides of the water. I took the advice of a random stranger and took it up and down both sides of the water. It was long, but much-needed. After releasing a monumental amount of endorphins, I finished by walking across London Bridge to the infamous Borough Market. Nothing like ending a run at food heaven.
The remainder of my day was rather dull. I didn't do much and it was glorious. That evening, however, spontaneity struck hard. I managed to convince myself that there was nothing more appealing at that moment than seeing a concert. This is London, right? There must be several to choose from on a random Friday evening in February! I was in luck. The London Philharmonic was playing at the Royal Festival Hall, overlooking the Thames, across from Waterloo station, in 20 MINUTES!
I threw some clothing on (not that I was naked), power walked down to the tube stop, got on, got off, walked the correct direction (towards the hall), purchased a nine pound ticket and slipped in right at 7:30 PM.
The thing about classical music concerts is that you don't actually need to see what is going on. As a result, I was pretty much at the top, but the acoustics were so good it didn't matter.
Getting a chance to apply some of what I've learned in my classical music class was really great. It's amazing how something like a classical concert can go from usually putting me into a deep sleep, to keeping me engaged the whole time merely because I knew a little bit about what was actually happening in the piece. Fascinating. I can't wait to go back.
I'm so proud!
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