We recently stayed in London for almost a week - I've been to London before but only as a stopover to somewhere else. This time I had the opportunity to do all the things you are supposed to do, including checking off some lifetime goals.
In no particular order:
The Mousetrap
Famous play and perennial pub quiz answer, The Mousetrap is a mystery by Agatha Christie. First staged in 1952 it is (technically) still in its initial run. We missed the big counter in the foyer but apparently the performance count is past 30000 now.
Expectation: I've been mildly curious about The Mousetrap ever since I heard about it as a kid but I am not really much of a fan of Christie. My wife is a huge fan so I knew she would enjoy it.
Reality: It's perfectly fine, if a little old fashioned. I actually disliked the solution (which I will not spoil) - Christie is an absolute master of keeping you guessing right to the end but in this case I thought the resolution was one of her weaker efforts. It probably played a lot better in the 1950s.
Wicked
You have to see one big show in London, I think it is a the law or something. Wicked was never on my list of must-sees but I remember it won a bunch of awards back in the day.
Expectation: Big budget musicals are usually pretty fun.
Reality: Wicked is good but slightly disappointing. It has a whole "Hey gang, lets put on a show!" vibe that I found undercut the quite sad story it was trying to tell. Still the stage design is amazing, including a large animatronic dragon that plays no part in the plot.
London Eye
Well, we were there.
Expectation: Overpriced but relaxing trip into the sky
Reality: Overpriced but not very relaxing as we had to queue for 30 minutes just to get on, and then you are stuck with a dozen other people in a big tube. Still the views are nice and the oncoming thunderstorm really livened up the experience. As I think the old saying goes, there is no safer place in a lightning storm than halfway to the clouds in a big metal structure.
Madame Tussauds
This is one of those things that sounds really cool when you are a child.
Expectation: This was going to be a boring look at some ugly, stale wax figures.
Reality: I looooved Madame Tussauds. It's cheesy as all hell but they have done a really good job of making the experience fun. It is basically a series of photo opportunities where you can insert yourself into different scenes and come out with your photo library brimming with silly selfies.
My favorite was the David Attenborough waxwork, just chilling amongst all the Avengers, Spice Girls, and James Bonds.
Ride in a London Taxi Cab
Expectation: A taxi ride with some local colo(u)r
Reality: Exactly as promised, our driver struck a conversation that made the trip pass even more quickly than the road rules they were ignoring.
Pick & Cheese
Toot, toot! All aboard the cheese train!
This was not on my bucket list but a happy find. For literally decades I have been saying to anyone who would care to listen (mainly my long-suffering wife) that sushi trains are the apex of food service technology and that all cuisines should be delivered via conveyer belt.
At last someone shares my vision! The concept is simple - sit at the bar and grab the cheeses that look interesting as they glide by in little glass domes as you steadily build the plate tower of shame.
Starlight Express
Another show that I was vaguely aware of, having seen a documentary about it when I was a kid and it was brand new.
Starlight Express, in all its 80's glory
Expectation: I wasn't sure how well this would age given its very 80s aesthetic.
Reality: I knew I was going to enjoy it as soon as I walked into the purple foyer and encountered the largest mirror ball I have ever seen. I've always suspected that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote most of his stuff due to dares from people down the pub, and this mad production on roller-skates is no exception. I laughed, I cried, I wondered about the production's insurance premiums.
Sherlock Holmes Museum
Both my wife and I are big fans of Sherlock Holmes.
Expectation: Overpriced cash-in.
Reality: Overpriced but actually pretty well done. Its main problem is that 221B Baker Street is not very large so the rooms are very cramped but it contains some pretty interesting stuff. One of the in-costume docents enlivened things by standing very still and pretending to be a mannequin on display. It wasn't part of the tour, just something he liked to do.
Novelty Automation
And now onto the main attraction and secretly the real reason I wanted to spend some time in London. Novelty Automation is the brainchild of Tim Hunkin, a personal hero of mine who made a very educational TVThe Secret Life of Machines - which has been uploaded to Hunkin's Youtube Channel in a remastered and slightly expanded form. I recommend the episodes on the Sewing Machine and the VCR but they are all good. show that fascinated me as a teenager.
Expectation: I was going to have a bit of silly fun.
Reality: I am pleased to report that Novelty Automation was everything I could have wished for and more. For £28 you get enough slugs to use every machine once and there is a huge variety of amusements to enjoy and puzzle over.
More than being just mechanical games, most of the machines display the ethos of the creator. Sometimes this is in the form of a pointed comment on modern consumerism while other times it is just the simple pleasure of a machine that charges £1 and then unexpectedly punches you in the balls.
Absolutely cracking stuff which we both enjoyed.