Outing

 Yesterday Hannah and I went to the big city to watch Andre Lloyd Webber Unmasked.

The concert was very good but a very tiring day!

We left early, but then got the slow train to the city.  The express takes about 30 minutes but that would of meant waiting on the cold platform for ages so we got on the local train, one hour but warm and comfortable.  I was surprised to see so many adverts for 'Go Travel' encouraging people to travel again. Even in the station they had a stand set up to look like a cafe with different destinations posted.

This is the stand they had at the station.

Looks very nice and did make me feel like going on an adventure but with this new virus I think it might be a few more months before I venture too far. Even with this trip I had Hannah checking daily for how many people had the virus!

Got there a bout 3 hours before the concert started so had a look round the stores. There's a massive book store so spent a long time in there.  Unfortunately I got over heated, so I found a quiet place to sit while Hannah had a look round!

After that we went to get lunch.  We had checked out the station's homepage before we went and found that there was a Burger King just 3 minutes walk from the station.  Burger King is not that popular here, MacDonalds are every where but not Burger King. The walk took more than 3 minutes as we were at the opposite end of the station.  I didn't think I was going to make it as by that time my knee was very painful.  We finally got there, I was so happy to get a place to sit down.  We ordered a double cheese burger.  Small but very filling, also the fries were really nice.

Burger King

After lunch it was time to get to the concert hall.  According to Google map it would take about 30 minutes to walk from the station.  I thought about it but after walking for a few minutes I realized that I couldn't do that.  So next choice was a bus but looking at the map we would have to walk a while to find the bus stop and again when we got off.  So I decided on a taxi!  Best choice as it dropped us at the door of the hotel.  The concert hall was part of a big hotel/ convention centre complex.  

Outside the concert hall

Door to go in, the straw like curtain on top is a New Year decoration

Poster for the concert.

We still had a bit of time to wait so had a look round.  I was amazed at the view looking back down the road we had just come down.

Looking straight down to the station.

There were a lot of rules in place to enter the venue.  Every body's temperature was checked using a wrist scanner, then we had to sanitize our hands and place our ticket stubs in a box.  

We had great seats, fifth row back!  One problem was the draft from the doors.  The doors were kept open and no heating, keeping the air flow fresh. I came prepared with a scarf and lap blanket!

The cast list.

The stage

The concert was introduced by a recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber.  Also between each set a short video of Sir Andrew was shown introducing the songs and giving some history of the musicals they came form.  Started with Jesus Christ Superstar.  Of the lyrics were in Japanese but even so I was moved by the actor who sang Gethsemane.  It's a hard song to sing but also act the part, especially in a concert.  But the actor did a good job of bringing in the emotion of the song.  There were songs from Joseph, Whistle Down the Wind, Phantom of the Opera, even a new song from Cinderella.  The concert finished with Stick to the Man from School of Rock.  The audience were on their feet clapping along.  Even though it was almost 3 hours it felt like just a few minutes.  

After we went to a cafe for a drink.  Hannah got a cake, I just had ice tea.

Hannah's cake

We managed to find a taxi to get back to the station then on the train again to get home!

I had a lovely day but I realized that unless I drop some weight these day trips are going to be full of pain for me.  I came home with a painful knee and back ache!

Hannah wants to go and see cats in March, I would love to go to so I have to do something about my weight and health!