La Boheme.. my first visit to an Opera!

A few weeks ago we went to the ballet.  I'd been to a ballet as a child but this visit was the first for a long time.

Today it was the turn of visiting an Opera... and this is a first for me (at my age this is surprising) and a first for Pete as well.  We went to see La Boheme at the London Opera House.. again a first a an experience.

However, we got up to London early -  in fact so early we had to wait till Pret opened at 8.00 a.m. for our breakfast... porridge - yummy!

Bush House

Australia House

Outside Somerset House

The Savoy Hotel

Charring Cross Station

Trafalgar Square

The Cenotaph

David Lloyd George

Winston Churchill

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Saw these in a window

we passed - literally - this patisserie!  scrummy!

We stopped for a cuppa and then visited The Banqueting House

It was here that Charles 1st had been beheaded and apparently had walked through

Trafalgar Square..

Then onto Covent Garden

Street Entertainer

Not quite sure what this was all about!

The Royal Opera House entrance from Covent Garden

A solitary soprano was singing down in the 'basement' level.  I wasn't terribly impressed!

We had a panini and I had a fresh apple juice... which was fresh apples crushed and served... excellent!

And finally onto the opera.  Well, I had kept an open mind as I wasn't at all sure about opera.  Some I've listened to on the radio hadn't really done much for me BUT... I was impressed.

Puccini, obviously, wrote this in Italian (his native tongue) but the Opera House had subtitles. I was a bit skeptical about this before going but it made all the difference.  I would have missed so much of the story-telling (although I knew beforehand what the story was).. and also the humour within the tale.

So at the end of this.. what did I think?  I really enjoyed it and was so glad I'd kept an open mind before going to hear it.