Westworld Alberta

Spring 2014

Westworld Alberta

Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/245179

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europe Don't Mind the (Age) Gap A bi-generational travel duo take London by Meghan Jessiman / photos by Mischa Oak "We will get into this," says Kathleen over her shoulder as we burst through the doors of the ridiculously chic downtown flat, near Buckingham Palace, that we're calling home for the week. "But first we need our dressing gowns!" It has become a late-night ritual during our weeklong London adventure: fluffy terry cloth robes, a bottle of wine and fits of laughter as we recount the events of the day – often after a visit to one of the city's stout-soaked pubs. The 30-year age difference between my friend Kathleen, a 50-something professional engineer, and me, a 20-something writer, has proved surprisingly, and pleasantly, irrelevant when exploring the Queen's city. We're an odd pairing on paper, though. When Kathleen and I first met at a gym in Calgary's Mission neighbourhood, neither of us guessed that we'd become friends, never mind international travel companions. But four years and as many countries later, it seems our relationship is the real deal. I benefit from the wisdom that comes with her age, while she reaps the rewards of my hipster-generation knack for the up-and-coming. As it turns out, girls really do just want to have fun – at any age. Culture Crawl Taking in a proper London theatre show tops our to-do list. With a few clicks of the mouse, we score tickets, at around £30 each, to a performance of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria in the West End. At first, I'm a little skeptical about this musical extension of The Wizard of Oz, but I take the word of my worldly travel companion, who has seen it before. And she's right: the experience – amid the circa 1930 theatre's art-deco-style columns and (above right) meghan jessiman p26_31_London.indd 27 scalloped flowers – is, well, pretty wicked. (Also thanks to her: I'll never again fail to preorder my intermission champagne.) Next up: Secret Cinema. Launched in 2007 by filmmaker Fabien Riggall, these thrice-annual events are part live theatre, part dining, part movie screening and 100 per cent entertaining (secretcinema.org). Armed with only an "employee number" and a "no-nonsense" dress code obtained on a website, Kathleen and I arrive in the early evening at a generic, 13-floor office building in the London suburb of West Croydon (it's an adventure). We quickly realize that we're about to be part of a liveaction revival of the 1985 Terry Gilliam film, Brazil – a satirical look at bureaucracy in the industrial world. From the get-go, we're berated by a bowler-hat-wearing "boss man" for queuing incorrectly. Inside "G.O.O.D. corporate headquarters," we interact with performers and other guests in faux offices and other recreated scenes from the movie. The event culminates with Brazil's final scene being projected on the outside of a building across the street, while actors bring it to life by rapelling down the building's exterior dressed as a S.W.A.T. team. As we exit the building, we both agree that we've never experienced – or even heard of – anything else like this, anywhere. Writer Meghan Jessiman (right) and travel pal Kathleen. S p r i n g 2 0 14 | w e s t w o r l d A l b e r ta 27 14-01-10 3:42 PM

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