I had been looking forward to this trip down to London for months and months now. I managed to get a ticket for AC/DC at Wembley Stadium so decided it was best to head down on the Friday and make a full weekend out of it. Plus then managing to fit in a show as well, that turned out to be Broadway transfer The Elephant Man, starring Bradley Cooper.
Friday
Also to do a little bit of shopping, not my favorite pastime but I did manage to get a couple of pretty cool things. One of the first I could not resist as it links so well into my re-obsession with An Affair to Remember.
I guess that started the trip off having a nice little film feel to it, and a lot of what happened after this links very nicely to the movies as well. Hence why I am writing this blog post, have felt very inspired to write many posts recently and hoping that I can keep it up.
Before my trip to the Theatre to see Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man I stopped in at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for some food. Which is just past Leicester Square in a very good central location I must add, that was very much a film linked part of my trip with Forrest Gump being the inspiration behind the restaurant. Having just ate a lot of food I decided a little walk around before heading a few minutes down the street to the theater was a very good idea. As you can see Bradley Cooper being in the play was well shown.
You can read my thoughts on the play and performances here – The Elephant Man Review. It really was fantastic to see an actor who is held in such high regard as Cooper. Really helping to see exactly why he has been nominated for an Oscar three times. I just hope he pushes on and continues to pick such good roles as he has had his fair share of bad films too.
I was sat in the Grand Circle in the second row, three seats in. So had a pretty good view of stage until the people in front of me decided they would constantly move throughout the performance. Always a risk when attending the theatre, but this wasn’t even a long show at all. Honestly when you pay over 100 pound for a ticket you hope that your view will not be restricted at all. After the standing ovation and many bows, it was time to head round to the stage door to try to get some photos of the actors coming out.
As you can read here my stage door experience with Bradley Cooper pretty much turned into how not to get a selfie with Bradley Cooper. Such a shame that I messed up my one and only opportunity, but I guess at least I can say a stood very close to him! You can also read my experience with Patricia Clarkson as well. After the disappointment I totally forgot to wait for Alessandro Nivola to come out as I headed back to my hotel for the night.
Saturday
I didn’t have a massive amount planned for the whole day as I would be waiting around until about 6pm to head across to Wembley Stadium for the AC/DC gig. So as I sat in the hotel room in the morning I decided that I would head to Oxford Street mainly to go to Nike Town. Possibly checking out a few other shops as well, this lead to a lot of walking in the day as I ended up all the way down at the Embankment, stopping at a few places on the way.
One of my stops was to the National Portrait Gallery which is a place you can head into for free. But they also have exhibitions on which you pay for, I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw that an Audrey Hepburn one had just started two days earlier. That luck was short-lived as when I headed inside it was sold out for the day. So I never got to go into that part so had a look round at all the other portraits instead. This is something you should then think about before traveling somewhere *note to self*
They did have a selection of items in the gift shop related to Audrey Hepburn. As you can see from the above photo I bought a coaster with a very appropriate quote on, as you can see another link to the movies and film world. I cannot get away from it ever, not that I would want too. I am about to reveal another link in the same building as well, a film which I love was also filmed in the National Portrait Gallery. This was the very reason I went all the way to the top floor . . .
Yes that very scene from Closer was filmed in the restaurant, I didn’t actually want anything so had to just deal with a sneaky look from the door. But it really was an incredible view of the London skyline. Maybe I should have just went in to have a coffee or something and had a look properly at the view.
The time had then come to get ready to head across to Wembley Stadium for the gig. My very first gig at the stadium although have been to a couple of football matches. I knew it was going to be special seeing AC/DC absolutely rock out with so many people in attendance. It sold out in 20 minutes don’t forget.
It was all pretty crazy but not in a bad way. In a good way of so many people being excited and enjoying the music a lot. I had a place probably in the middle of the pitch, couldn’t really see anything though but wanted to at least be there until my favorite song ‘Shook Me All Night Long’ had been on. Then retreated to a place in the stands a bit higher up so I could see the rest of it from there.
It took until midnight to get back to my hotel after actually getting on a tube away from the stadium very quickly. The place I had to change had nearly a 30 minute wait, but never mind my ears were still ringing!
Sunday
I regretted having booked my train home for 9:30am as had to leave the hotel before 8:30am to make sure I got there in plenty of time with no delays or anything. But that is when I came up with the 7 films for train lovers blog post. It was a pretty quick 3 hour journey home.
Where can my next trip lead me with links to the movies?
