Day 2, our reason for traveling to the UK, Coldplay at Wembley Stadium. When they announced they would be performing 10 shows at Wembley I just had to try. This resulted in 2 straight days of 2AM wake up calls to try and buy tickets, and ended in one tired, frustrated and empty handed fan. I had given up on the idea of attending for a few months and then as we started planning our fall trip, I researched flights, found tickets for resale and made my pitch to Jason who went along with it.

Our second day in Wembley, we put the apartment rental fiasco behind us and were determined to have a better day. We booked a new place within a 5 minutes walk to Wembley Stadium and spent the day walking around the area and checking out the sights along Olympic Way near the stadium. We then walked over to a Coldplay fan event at Boxpark, an indoor venue, that was set up with activities, drinks, food vendors and music to get fans ready for the event. We spent some time there dodging the rain and enjoying some food, picked up some pre concert merch before heading back to get ready. The weather throughout the day was a bit cloudy and rainy so we were hopeful we could leave the ponchos behind before making our way to the show.

This was our 5th time seeing Coldplay and first time from the floor, or pitch. We wanted to take in the show from a new experience and had a great time once we found a spot we could see and not feel too crammed in. Since this wasn’t our first time we were fine not being up so close. The show was amazing and I’m thankful Jason was willing to go again.

(Editor’s note #1: being short while trying to watch a live performance is asking for trouble, especially at my age where my back and feet hurt about 30 minutes into their 2+ hour show)

Our last day in the UK required a few long uber rides to Central London and the airport so we were a bit short on time to put in some serious sight- seeing. We checked out Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The House of Parliament and Westminster Abbey once the rain shower ended. We also decided to take in some art culture and see Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theater which is celebrating 10 years this week. A great performance by the cast and overall a great quick stop in London and the UK before moving onto our next stop…Norway.

(Editor’s note number 2: is there any irony in the fact we watched the tenth anniversary of Hamilton in the Victoria Palace Theatre in downtown London? I think so. )