January is flying by. I really can't believe it! With a year of some pretty heavy traveling under our belts, Andrew and I decided we need to take advantage of some more London-y things in the new year. So the weekend of the 8th, we went to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Best part about it? It was Free!!!!
The National Gallery shows a bunch of Western European paintings from the 13th to 19th Century. I am a big art lover, but honestly, this was not my fav art museum I've ever been to. Many of the paintings had religious themes, which aren't really my favorite. I felt like the majority of those were of the "fire and brimstone" theme, which can get rather gruesome. But the day was absolutely gorgeous outside (which has been extremely rare in London so far this year) with sunshine and warm temps so I'm really happy we got out and about.
This was also the day I discovered the cafe mocha at Starbucks. I'm not sure how I have never had one of these before, but it was absolutely divine! Basically, it's hot chocolate with a lovely caffeine kick! I love a good cappuccino as much as the next person, but man, this was just glorious! It's my drink of the moment :)
Travelzoo and Groupon are a daily staple of mine. We had a dinner and show deal that came due on Friday the 14th. We got pizzas at this really cute place called Fire & Stone in Covent Garden. The menu was pretty extensive, breaking the pizza into region themes - Europe, the Americas, Australasia, etc... I never thought pizza could make you nostalgic, but the Texas, Acapulco, and Cape Town respective toppings made me think of the times I had been to these places! I ended up ordering the Athena - Roasted red pepper sauce, mozzarella, tomatoes, spinach, barrel-aged greek feta cheese and pine nuts, all drizzled with pesto sauce - and Andrew went with the Texas - Barbecue sauce, mozzarella, barbecued rump steak, roasted red onions, roasted field mushrooms and sun-dried tomato salsa. Any pizza in a brick oven has my seal of approval, but these were unexpectedly yummy! A few glasses of wine and a side salad later (greek for me to keep up with my theme of the evening) and then off to the Lion King!
The Lion King. My parents took me when I was probably 14 or 15 to see it in New York and I remember being blown away by the costumes and well, come on, who doesn't love the Lion King story?! But Andrew had never seen the musical so when this promotion came up, we jumped on it! From the second the curtain went up, I didn't stop smiling the entire time! After seeing the London Wicked, I was expecting great things from the Lion King. Honestly, I think we may have seen some understudy performances, especially with grown up Simba. But other than that, the costumes still wowed, the main characters were still fabulous (for the most part) and little kid Nala was the cutest thing I have ever seen. The British accents made some of the characters' speaking voices hard to understand for me, which I was expecting. Nothing kept me from singing all the songs, most likely to the annoyance to those sitting around me. It always baffles me that I can't remember what I did yesterday, but Disney songs, it doesn't matter how much time elapses, I can sing you every word. It was such a great night. Definitely made me feel like we were taking advantage of the great things London has to offer :) And let me just say, the lady who played Rafiki... phenomenal. 
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