London Calling
- Natalie Penry
- Mar 5
- 12 min read
Hello hello hello! I'm writing to you from one of my favorite cafés in Mahón, on this lovely, sunny afternoon - life could so be worse, you know? And it's worth mentioning: today marks five months in Spain! I'm valiantly trying to ignore the flip side of that (there are only three months left in the program 🥲)...and in the spirit of making the most of the time I have left, I have to fill you in on my recent adventures.
Many of my friends and family back home ask me constantly, "When's your next weekend trip?" or "Why aren't you traveling on the weekends more?" which are all valid questions...the reality is that due to a combination of several factors, it's not as easy as you may think to hop on a plane and go explore Europe. Menorca offers several flight destinations during the summer, but in the winter, you're pretty much limited to connections via Palma, Barcelona, or Madrid. Secondly, burnout has its time and place. Unlike my backpacking trip, I don't have planned "rest days" where I can recover from the toll of traveling; instead, I'm up and at 'em at school on Monday morning, needing to overcome the accumulated exhaustion in order to do the notoriously tiring job of educating Tomorrow's Bright Young Minds. Running nonstop doesn't have the same appeal when you have 'sponsibilities, and so I tend to really weigh the physical cost of my trips. Will it be more enriching than it is exhausting? Oftentimes the answer is yes, but this does keep me from say, weekending in Barcelona :( Finally, and probably the most impactful, Western Europe is not the affordable backpacking destination it once was. Over the past several years, prices for hostels, budget airlines, etc. have skyrocketed. For someone who's trying her best to travel within her budgeted Excursions Fund, I really need to justify the trips I'm taking.
That being said, there was an alignment in the stars a few months ago that covered all three Criteria for Travel During NALCAP (CTDN, not the catchiest acronym) and everything finally came to fruition a few days ago. Without further ado, let's take a little trip to London, shall we?
A Fateful Find
We'll start at the beginning...Back in December, the West End production of Hadestown announced that the five stars of its Original Broadway Cast would reunite for a limited one-month run in London to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the show's West End run. I am the girl I've always been, and I absolutely jumped at the chance to see such talented performers in such a unique setting - an OBC??? In the West End???? Literally when does this happen???
If we refer back to our CTDN (Criteria for Travel During NALCAP), I think we'll see that this opportunity more than meets the requirements.
Flights are hard to come by on the island in February, but there was a route from MAH-BCN-LGW that avoided ridiculously long layovers and hidden fees...
This would be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of excursion! Definitely enriching! Definitely worth multiple nights of no sleep! THE OBC IN THE WEST END!!!!
I would book it ~10 weeks in advance AND it would be happening during London's off-season for tourism - i.e. flights and accommodation would be manageable.
Satisfied that this Hadestown Trip met the CTDN, I entered myself in the presale so fast - legitimately during the one minute before class started. The next day (which happened to be my last day of work before Winter Break), I spent multiple hours in the online queue, waiting for an opportunity to buy tickets. This led to a rather stressful ride home from work on the bus and a very tense lunch in my flat, in which I'm sure my housemates were slightly taken aback by the sheer intensity with which I looked at my computer screen.
Luckily for everyone (because if it had gone poorly, it would've been everybody's problem), I was able to snag a center seat in the first row of the upper balcony for a very affordable price, and thus, the first domino fell. Now, I had a rather compelling reason to get myself to London for a Saturday night show in February! The next two dominoes - flights and accommodation - went down quickly too. I had my skeleton outline of a solo trip to England and a torturous eight weeks to wait until I needed to be at the airport. Time to play the album on repeat!
Gone, I'm Gone x Meet the Plastics
I've become mildly familiar with the 8:35 MAH-BCN flight procedure, having taken it a handful of times by now. On a Departure Day, I need to wake up at 5:55, be out the door by 6:35, and board the airport bus by 6:45. Menorca's airport in the off-season is sleepy, to say the least, and I'm inevitably left to kill a half-hour after breezing through security. The flight itself is a literal hop-skip-jump away, and it's not an exaggeration to say you spend more time in the airport than on the plane...
Once in Barcelona, it was a fairly-composed dash towards Passport Control. Since flying to London means leaving the EU, I got another coveted stamp and made my way to the gate just in time. The BCN-LGW connection is about 2.5 hours, plenty of time for me to have my brought-from-home snack (peanut butter banana sandwich, iykyk regarding the jelly), write in my journal, and stare at the window sleepily. Before long, the United Kingdom was in sight, and I was back on the ground in an English-speaking country!
I had suspected that it might be a little trippy to be surrounded by English everywhere again. It's not that there isn't plenty of English in my everyday life, my job is literally speaking English, but there's a difference between being with native speakers in a non-native speaking country and being in England, where English is the expectation. For example, in Menorca, my ears automatically perk up if I catch a snippet of English, whether that's American English, British English, or ESL. When I got off the plane at Gatwick, almost everybody was speaking English, and my brain went a little haywire for a moment, like I needed to remember how to intentionally filter out nearby conversations. In a similar vein, anytime I need to ask an officer or official something in Spain, I'm speaking to them in castellano, and there's always a momentary panic where I'm thinking "oh my god, what if I misunderstand them and end up doing the exact opposite of what they say?" - I had that same slight panic asking a question to the Passport Control officer, only for her to respond in a language I (typically) have no trouble understanding. My first twenty minutes off the plane was a study in re-acclimating, I suppose.
Anyhoo, I was soon off on the Gatwick Express and into London proper! My hostel was located in Kensington Holland Park (literally in the park), a part of the city I hadn't really explored yet. I feel I should take this second to clarify: I have been fortunate enough to travel to London several times over the past three years or so, both for business (academia) and pleasure (backpacking), and thus have done most of the educational touristy things (museums, walking tours, etc.) and touristy touristy things (the London Eye, Harry Potter tours, etc.), as well as a small dip into local touristy things (nights out, Tesco runs, etc.) since I stayed with Bestie Carrie the last time I was in London! That all goes to say, I wasn't terribly concerned with jam-packing my schedule this time around. I intentionally chose a location that I hadn't seen a lot of and planned to spend the majority of my time there or in the West End.
Since my ticket for Hadestown was on Saturday night, my original intention was to stick around the neighborhood on Friday, just kind of explore. However, as I waited for check-in at the hostel, I was getting the itch to go do something - when in London, right? So, rather impulsively for me, I pulled up a list of current West End shows and bought a ticket to go see Mean Girls! Instead of meandering around Kensington Park for the evening, I needed to scrounge up some dinner and make my way to the theater ASAP.
For being my first West End show, I was dressed mortifyingly casual. I had only packed one nicer outfit intended for Hadestown; I opted to stay in my travel fit (jeans & a red top) for Mean Girls, though I did try to zhuzh myself up a bit. I decided against a formal dinner due to time constraints, and thus ended up walking to the nearest Tesco Express for that classic meal deal. Grocery store sushi, a crisp Cherry Coke Zero, brownie bites - these are luxuries I don't often find in Mahón! Before I knew it, it was time to get on the tube and head to the Savoy Theater!
In keeping with the spontaneous nature of the night, I didn't just buy a ticket for Mean Girls, I upgraded myself to the Ambassador Lounge Experience. This meant I got to arrive to the theater early and set myself up in a super cute little lounge with a few other people. We were served a Welcome Drink (glass of Prosecco) and given gourmet potato chips, the juxtaposition of which made me giggle - there I was, being so fancy with my glass of bubbly, munching away on crisps! I was also given a complimentary program for the show - if you didn't know, West End shows do not give out free Playbills, though the programs available for purchase are much higher quality than the ones at home - and had an usher assigned to take me to and from seat. When I initially bought my ticket, I picked the cheapest seat available. I was treating myself, but within limits, and was totally prepared to be squished in the upper balcony with a semi-obstructed view. The ushers (my new besties!) saw that and managed to get me an upgrade! Now, I was off center in the "dress" level (1st balcony) with an incredible view of the entire stage! I mean, how incredible?!
The show itself was phenomenal, of course. For having seen the original movie literally hundreds of times in the last 20 years, this was my first time seeing the musical live. I loved the fluid nature of the show, the use of scenic projections and sparse moving sets. The cast was, naturally, very talented, and it was surprisingly interesting to see how they interpreted the script & story for an audience in 2025. When the lights came up for intermission, I was already so very happy with my decision to see the show and thrilled I had another hour or so left!
I made my way back to the lounge for intermission for another glass of Prosecco and some ice cream. At first, I thought the ice cream was a funny little lux detail of the show, but I did some research independently, and apparently it's a West End tradition. People disagree about the origins of this particular intermission treat, though everyone lauds it as the perfect halftime snack since it's sweet, smells nice, and is quiet to consume during the second half of the show. I could get on board with that back home....Anyways! The ushers escorted us back to our seats as the interval wound down, and the second act was underway - it was just as amazing as the first act, in case you were worried ;)
It wasn't terribly late when the show ended, but I'd had a pretty long day by that point, so I made my way back to the hostel and promptly collapsed into sleep. Even hostel mattress can be overcome by sheer exhaustion...
Way Down, Hadestown
Saturday morning was overcast, chilly, damp - in other words, my ideal conditions. I was beyond excited to get up and meander about the park. Adding to that excitement? Access to overpriced white girl coffees! If you know me, you know that I'm not a big coffee drinker, but there is something so quintessentially main character about taking a walk with an iced latte. I strolled around Kensington Park for over an hour, people-watching and dog-watching and breathing in that lovely, freshly-rained air. Obviously, Menorca is a very lovely, very natural place, and yet, something about being in a public park like that was so totally wonderful.
After I had gotten my fill of the park, I made my way to the Tube for a trip to the East End of London...after months of playing hostess to a few visitors, it was my turn to be someone's special guest star, none other than the Incomparable Liv Owens, another Hoosier-turned-Outlander-Abroad. Liv was so kind as to take me on a local's tour of Brick Lane, one of their favorite spots in the city. We feasted on some extremely yummy beigels (not mispelled, check the pic!) and, of course, a pint of Guinness. It's so strange to spend time with someone from a previous era of your life, especially that of childhood/adolescence, when you're an adult. Here was this person who reminded me so much of home, of everything known and familiar...and yet, Westfield has not been home, has not been known nor familiar for years. The Natalie that Liv knew (and vice versa) hasn't existed for quite some time. As I headed back to the hostel after our afternoon together, I was struck by this perspective, like an internal compass had been spinning wildly until it finally found some sense of orientation. In some ways, I really have grown up.
Internality has its time and place, and thus, I did set aside my reflective mindset to get prepared for the whole purpose of the premise of this trip: Hadestown! I got to the Lyric Theater ridiculously early, and I was still several people back in line...it was nice to chat with some of the others waiting, though. Since this was a limited engagement run with the OBC, everyone coming to see the show had a sense of intentionality - no one just stumbled up to TKTS at the last minute, if you know what I mean. The opened the doors a few minutes early to accommodate the already-sprawling line of patrons, and I was inside rather quickly!
After acquiring a program, the specialty "Ares" cocktail, and a plan-ahead "Hermes" mocktail for intermission (this was a treat-yourself kind of trip), I climbed lots and lots and lots of stairs to the upper balcony. My seat was center of the first row in the upper level, so unobstructed view as long as I stood straight up at the edge of my seat, unintentionally giving me a two-hour posture practice. This seat felt very reminiscent of my last great Theater Adventure (SparkNotes: at 16, I bought 1 ticket for "To Kill a Mockingbird" on Broadway w/Jeff Daniels, only informing my parents of this after the ticket was purchased because surely they'd be okay with me flying myself to NYC over winter break...that seat was also center of the first row of the highest balcony!) and I was positively giddy with excitement as I waited for the metaphorical curtain to rise.
The show was absolutely phenomenal. I mean, anytime you get to see truly talented individuals showcasing their talents, that's amazing. Seeing this particular group of talented individuals felt extra special - knowing that an icon like André de Shields may not have another Broadway run in him or seeing IRL couple Reeve Carney & Eva Noblezada fall in love onstage, well, it all added to the magic. While OBC member Patrick Page was out with a hurt Achilles, his replacement Phillip Boykin was just as incredible and I loved his chemistry with Amber Gray. I could sit here and ramble on about the intentionality of the direction, about the use of movement and light to add layers to the visual narrative, but I'll spare you that in this format...just know, it was well worth leaving the EU for ;)
I didn't want the night to end, though all good things must come to curtain call. My commute back to the hostel was uneventful, and knowing I had a painfully-early train to catch the next morning, I quickly made my way to bed, dreaming of Orpheus & Eurydice & the Fates.
The travel back to Menorca was relatively uneventful, and yet, it felt everlasting, in the way that going home always does. Still, I think the whole day (and for several days after), I was almost floating with contentment. I hadn't realized how much I missed both live performances and community engagement. Every now and then, I'll go to a local jam session with friends here, but there's no equivalent for community theater or a national tour. I suppose that's one of the side effects of living on an island, and it's made me even more grateful for opportunities like this.
In the days of work following my getaway, I happened to be talking with some students about vacations. During the speaking task, I kept trying to wiggle my solo-travel agenda into the conversation. I love a friend/family vacay as much as the next person, but look at how enlightening, how freeing a solo trip can be! Look at all you can see and all you can do! If they learn one thing from me this year, I hope it's that they too can leave things behind in pursuit of a great adventure. Bring friends along if you can, but don't let anyone's stagnation stop you from seeing the world - you'll never get a sense of how tight your bubble is until you leave it, you know?
I feel I've waxed poetic enough as it is...Greek epics tend to have that effect on people! With London all wrapped up, stay tuned for a Carnaval Recap in the coming days...I still haven't quite recovered from that holiday yet...
Hasta Luego!
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