The evening was good and bad, packed in like sardines - it soooooo felt like the long haul flight from hell once we were all seated plus the heat from the hot weather outside, lack of air inside and humidity levels made everyone sweaty and uncomfortable. Imagine that! No forget I just said that, don't - it wouldn't be a pretty picture. All I can say is don't be surprised if you see anyone waving their programme, fanning themselves to cool down. It airs this coming Sunday 2nd October - well you didn't think they filmed live did you?
I did keep my programme as a reminder but that's about all I have to say I was there.
It kinda shattered the whole illusion for me a bit. We were up singing, then down, then up to do it again for another take and that's pretty much how the whole evening went. Having said that Katherine Jenkins and Andrea Bocelli were AMAZING as was Beverly Knight and LeAnne Rimes who also performed. In fact even Katherine Jenkins had to perform again due to technical hitches - which of course was absolutely fine with us. I was moved to tears at her performance - both times and when Bocelli sang 'Amazing Grace' - well you just had to be there live. The applause that rang out afterwards went on for such a long time and was quite deafening. My hands took a beating I can tell you.
The conductor Paul Leddington Wright warmed up the audience like a pro. He had clearly done this time after time and even the floor manager was a 'wannabe comedian' but then I guess you have to jolly along the audience - all of whom have to keep smiling and be megga patient while they sort out the technical stuff inbetween. At one point we saw cameras approaching our area and then later they announced they had to re-take (while we re-sang) cos the playback showed someone yawning! It was at that point that hubby leaned over and whispered 'oops - I think that might've been me' LOL! Neither of us sleep well away from home so we were both kinda shattered I have to say - he was probably right.
Still I for one will be watching it this Sunday to see how it all came together. The backdrop and special effects were stunning and we all got to sing 'happy birthday' with a pyro-technic (firework to you and me) burst at the end. We just might be in the crowd - who knows? LOL
And because we had a couple of days we hunted down a few markets just for the experience. We headed to Camden Town which was bright, colourful, bustling and for me - a once is enough experience.
Don't get me wrong - there was no shortage of eye candy going on here and the 3D creations above the shops were fab to look at but it was all young, hip, trendy and soooooo not me I'm afraid. I can see why my daughter liked it. She suggested we give it a go and I'm glad we did but once is enough for me I think.
It IS worth doing at least once but I don't take well to pushing, shoving and busy over-crowded places.
When you look at this sampling of store fronts you can see why people are attracted to the markets. There are several markets all going off in different directions, some more cramped than others and if you look long enough you can even find a few 'flea market' type stalls but only a few. And for me it all started to look the same after a while. If you saw that 'knock off' bag once, you saw it a half dozen times or more before you'd even made it half way round.
And although this was a much less crowded area - still wall to wall people - there is so much to see everywhere you turn that I am glad I did it.
The creativity and design was so inspirational and every now and then I'd run across a stall or window display that was more MY kind of thing so I guess it has to be said maybe there's a bit of something for everyone. Don't want you to think I'm a moaning Minnie here folks LOL! These dresses were very 'retro' and yet somehow modern all at the same time and I love em', especially the red polka dot number.
And if you're wondering just why I shared this shot well look closer. First off it was a store with a floor to ceiling glass front which was pretty cool but it gets better. In every single panel there was an old hand crank sewing machine - seriously - how cool was that? It would've been even cooler for me if it was filled with hand sewn creations or a megga cool fabric store but hey - Camden Town is pretty much about clothing.
In addition if you look you can see the stores across the street, all bright colourful and 3D. It's like being on the set of a children's programme but for adults. LOL
I'm pretty sure hubby thought more of Camden Town than I did. After all there is one section of the market that is food, food, food - fast food that is - but again one stall is pretty much like the others. They practically shove 'free samples' in your mouth - all of it meat I might add so any veggies out there beware. I spent the entire time around this market saying 'thanks but I don't eat meat'. Hubby tucked into a nice mexican takeaway sitting on these really neat seats - the back end of motorbikes - how cool are they? And I eventually purchased some chinese food but as I sat there eating and 'inspecting' my surroundings I did think we might get 'jippy tummy' (or worse!) afterwards. I'm happy to say we did not thankfully - no ill effects at all.
And there is a whole lot more to Camden Town than you might think. We paused and watched this canal boat coming through the lock which involved opening and closing gates to change the water levels and is always fun to see.
Last but not least I'm sharing this stall which I thought was so pretty and which this snapshot really doesn't do justice to. There was an upper floor to this stall and inside was beautifully draped with frilled curtains and floral fabrics. They had some stunning handmade bags and fabric roses here. If the market had've been full of stores like this one I'd have been in creative heaven. In fact today as I was on the net I discovered there were fabric stalls in the Greenwich market - I soooooo wish I had known that! We visited Petticoat Lane market and Old Spitalfields market as well - all on the same day. I really got to grips with the London buses this trip around and didn't just rely on the underground but I'd have happliy gone to Greenwich if only I'd known! Next time I think - I'm pretty sure there'll be a next time to London - there's so much to see and do that I imagine you could spend a lifetime visiting and still never see it all.
Since I was born and partly raised there you could argue it's my home and there have been more than one place I have called home in my lifetime but give me quiet, pretty, rural Suffolk any day of the week.
That's where I now call home.
Hugs
Suezie
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