Around London in 16 days – William, London

1. Les Mis

Les Mis is one of the most full out musicals of all time – the Tchaikovsky of plays. To give you a taste of how emotional it was: my dad was over awed just by reading the summary of the play! Les Mis is the world’s longest running musical, still showing in the Sondheim Theatre. The production of the play absolutely nails the intensity of the original text – using microphones attached to the actors to make them sound more bright and loud: which gives it an unbelievable passion. The trauma-inducing tunes, competing with anything that has ever been composed, with multiple sounds struggling to get on top of each other, have moved audiences of the past and present.

2. Performance by Yuja Wang

By far one of the greatest experiences I’ve had in London, although not as inundating and emotional as Les Mis, Yuja Wang’s performance conveyed, I think, a rather more profound message to the audience: handing the torch of meaning and the baton of life to each individual who survived the nine encores; yes, that’s right, nine phases of deepening insane intensity shared by the remnant of the audience. Each time she came back looking even more humbled by the growing applause and cheers than before. She played a few pieces of Brahms to pay respect to the death of Radu Lupu a few days back – this almost brought me to tears, but the comedic end of the concert lightened up the experience.

3. The British Museum 

The British Museum gave off a rather wondrous atmosphere: the Museum itself is an architectural beauty; the building was filled absolutely to the brim with artefacts. As I strode into the building, I was filled with fascination at the great expanse of objects. The Stonehenge exhibition was new and especially engaging; special lighting and particularly designed spaces made it an immersive experience.

4. Kew Gardens

Straight after waking up, we headed towards Kew Gardens from the underground. Once we handed over our tickets, the feeling of freedom filled my heart as the bright sun of day and the wide expanse of the park with trees waving back and forth. After a long journey, we decided to take a nap on the grass with the sun shining directly onto our closed eyes – a refreshing cool breeze blew our souls into nature.

5. Mousetrap

Click here to find out about the mystery…: 

6. Hyde park

Click to find out the combination of nature and culture…

7. Cycling in London

It’s about time to get dangerous and exciting! Cycling around London without helmets sounds absolutely safe! Through Hyde Park Corner and Trafalgar Square, cars rushed past us as the cold wind almost threw us off our bikes. This is a necessary way to experience London – the constant whooshing by of ancient buildings and grand monuments gives a great introduction to the city. Although not as quick and relaxing as taking a car, riding bikes lets you perceive the environment in a more open way, with all your vision engulfed by the Capital.

8. Dream of Gerontius

Dream of Gerontius was one of the most soothing experiences of my whole life – being jet lagged, my skin absorbed more music than my ears! Surprisingly, although I was extremely tired, before the music started I was not nodding off. After the tidal wave of music immersed our eardrums with the mixture of soothing cellos, warm trumpets and the deafening screech of violins – I fell asleep… at least I could empathise with Gerontius.