Day 4 - September 27

I felt better when I woke up this morning, but I still did get off to a bit of a late start. I usually watched BBC1 in the mornings at the hotel as they had a pretty decent morning programme and this morning I found out that about 8.50 a.m. they would have as their guest Ruthie Henshall - who played Fantine in the Tenth Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables at the Royal Albert Hall in 1995 - who would be talking about "making it in the West End". Of course I couldn't miss an opportunity to see her on TV, so after having had breakfast I went back to the hotel room and relaxed a bit.
Unfortunately the timing wasn't the best, so it wasn't until about 9.10 that Ruthie actually showed up!
It was quite an interesting interview, and while she wasn't one of my top favourites in TAC it was really nice to hear what she had to say about the business, about her way to success and so on!

When that was done, I collected my things and walked down to Bayswater Road, where I had to wait a while for the 274 bus toward Islington Angel. It was quite nice to take a bus ride where I'd never gone in London before, so the ride didn't feel like it took any time at all, although I think it is a fair bit to travel to get to Regent's Park and London Zoo.

I got off at the right bus stop and they had signs toward the Zoo, but it was about a 10-minute walk from the bus stop to the entrance. I was going to use my London Pass but had no idea how that worked, so I ended up going to the wrong place. It was no big deal, I was there just after they had opened, so there weren't a lot of people around and I could easily go back and head for the correct place.
I think I will be making a separate entry about the London Pass, because I really like the idea, and it was so smooth, they just swipe it through a machine and you're in! :-)

The Zoo was amazing of course, and I can't go into details about everything I did or saw!
They did do a bit of work, construction work and maintenance work, so you were allowed in all areas, which of course felt a bit sad - but I guess that a zoo that big always have to do something like that.
I was a bit disappointed that they had closed off a fair bit of the 'Outback' Area, where they had wallabies and emus, you could see them, but at a great distance ... would have loved to go closer there!
Also, there were no tigers at the zoo at the point. They were building a brand new, really large, habitat for the tigers, as they are running a major campaign to save the tigers, and while that was being done, the tigers had been transferred to another zoo ...

There were however, tons of other really cool stuff to look at. Lots and lots of different species of monkeys, the lions were really impressive, the have a new huge penguin pool that was awesome, the giraffes were totally cool ... the list goes on and on and on.
I didn't have time to go to all areas of the zoo, which was a shame when I had made my way there, but I had to collect my tickets for Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre around 2 p.m. - and I had no idea how long it would take me to get from the Zoo to Haymarket (knew I had at least one bus change on the way).
I walked around checking out the animals until about 12.15, then ended up in the souvenir shop - very very dangerous!!! I could easily have spent a fortune, all those ADORABLE stuffed animals, and other cool stuff they had ... wow!
I ended up buying the most gorgeous looking tiger as well as a cool magnet and some small presents, before heading out.

And then I couldn't find the exit! *lol* The signs weren't that easy to understand actually and I ended up walking another way, but found a very small exit there - and it was marked exit, it wasn't like I jumped a fence or something! :-)
Luckily for me, that entrance was just next to the bus stop!

Took a bus to Baker Street Station (and felt a bit guilty that I still haven't read any Sherlock Holmes books, meaning the only thing I know is that he lived at 221B Baker Street ... I think?? *embarrassed* ), and changed to another bus, which took me all the way down to Haymarket.
I still had a little time to spend so I went up to the HMV store and bought the cool Millennium DVD Box :-) before going back to Her Majesty's Theatre.
Collecting the tickets went quick and they had already opened the theatre so I bought programme/souvenir brochure at once and went to find my seat.

Won't say more of Phantom now, as I will write a separate review on it later on.

When the musical was over I realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (it was now about 5.30 p.m.) - oops! Headed up to Marble Arch had a late lunch/dinner at McDonald's, checked out some souvenir shops on Oxford Street and then went back to the hotel.