It was an early rise this morning—nothing compared to if I were home and participating in the ANZAC ceremonies. I believe my colleagues in Sydney were reporting for work at 2 a.m. Even so, I made it to the Wellington Arch by 5 a.m., where an ANZAC Dawn Service took place. In attendance was Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh, along with numerous other high-ranking officials. It was a very moving service and quite eye-opening to be on the spectator side of things. You could feel the solemn reflection from the Aussies and New Zealanders in the crowd, quietly paying their respects.
Following the ceremony, I met up with Jake and we set off in search of coffee and breakfast. We came across an interestingly named food chain called Eggslut and decided to try it—surprisingly, a nice little breaky burger joint.
We caught a train out to Customs House station, then on to the ExCeL Centre, where the marathon expo and registration were taking place. Jake picked up his bib number, got his t-shirt, and we browsed through the massive amount of merchandise before heading back for lunch.
Lunch was at The Three Greyhounds pub near the Airbnb. Still buzzing from seeing Back to the Future the night before, we decided on a whim to book some last-minute tickets to the Michael Jackson musical, held at the Prince Edward Theatre just around the corner from the Airbnb.
Jake moved off to stay at the Bloomsbury Hotel for a few nights—part of his team’s package deal for the marathon. We met up again for dinner at a Spanish tapas place (in preparation for our upcoming trip to Seville) called Jamon Jamon. Then it was time for the second theatre show of the trip.
Once again, the show exceeded expectations. Thoroughly enjoyable—amazing dancing, great music, and strong storytelling. It really highlighted the characters in his life who influenced who he became—his father, Quincy Jones, the family pressure… a very well-told story.
Both Jake and I were quite exhausted from the day’s events. He headed to his new accommodation, and I filtered through the crowds back to the Airbnb. Even though the night was lively and pumping downstairs, I promptly fell asleep.
Tomorrow is an easy day—just a relaxed stroll around the area in preparation for the huge day on Sunday.
