Theatre heaven and a tiring shopping trip

After wandering around the historic Tower of London, I rushed into the city to go to West End Live, an annual two day festival held in Trafalgar Square where every musical that is on af West End performs a few of their songs to showcase their show. I was in a rush to get there because I wanted to see Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables which were on at lunchtime. The event was completely free, which meant that unfortunately I spent 45minutes queueing up to get in. As a result, I completely missed the Phantom and caught the end of Les Mis from afar. Once I got in, I saw a few amazing performances from the casts of Annie, Mamma Mia, Thriller Live (a Michael Jackson tribute) and 5 guys named Mo (a new musical opening in August). I enjoyed dancing and singing along with the large crowd and also enjoyed a refreshing cup of the traditional Pimms and lemonade.

Michael Jackson impersonater performing Billy Jean

First drink of Pimms in the UK

After having an amazing time at West End Live I headed to Oxford Street for the London shopping experience. 1.5miles long with 1.5million square metres of retail space, Oxford Street is a shopaholics  dream destination. Personally, Oxford Street was not the greatest place to visit, it was overwhelmingly busy, imagine central Sydney on Boxing Day but twice as busy. It was exhausting walking around and trying to avoid bumping into people whilst also scanning for a bargain. I ended up purchasing a denim skirt and a pair of comfy shorts before heading back to the hostel. I had planned on going to Harrods but after walking around Oxford Street for a few hours I could not bear the thought of walking into another shop, might try to head there another day but there are plenty of other places I want to see first.

Today I am spending the afternoon and night at the Queens Tennis Club to watch the grand final of the Aegon Championships (aka Queens). I was hoping to cheer on an Aussie, especially after two of our young upcoming players defeated the great Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, but they did not make it further after those victories. Lopez and Cilic are competing for the title today. I will also see the semi final and grand final of the doubles final. Cilic is also in the doubles semi final, so it will be interesting to see his energy levels after playing the singles grand final.

Schedule for today's finals