Parliament and Billy Elliot

This week I accompanied a class field trip to tour Parliament. I did not get to do this the last time I was in London, so I was excited. No photography was allowed inside, so you'll have to just take my word for it: everything was beautiful. Elaborate wood trim/carvings, marble, and statues everywhere. And so much history!

Oliver Cromwell statue outside the Houses of Parliament.

Big Ben, a little bit of the London Eye, and the Houses of Parliament.

I also had the great pleasure of seeing "Billy Elliot." I have only seen a handful of musicals live in person, but I think that "Billy Elliot" is so far my favorite. It could be because at least half of the cast are children, and seeing cute children dance around is never a disappointment. Because of child labor laws, they have to rotate the cast of children, including the role of the main character, Billy Elliot. The night we saw the show, Billy was played by Scott McKenzie, who was absolutely precious and hands-down adorable, not to mention a mind-blowingly fantastic dancer. There was one scene where he had a solo dance that he absolutely aced, and the crowd went crazy applauding for him. He had to end the dance/scene with a serious face, but because of all the applause, you could see a little smile break across his face. This only encouraged the crowd (myself included). Little Scott was soon beaming, so the crowd kept going. Scott quickly pulled himself together, back to the serious face...but then broke into a huge smile again. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Off to Brighton tomorrow...hoping for good weather!