Dear Friends, we are resting in our room
before packing and then going out to an early dinner at Giovanni’s and then Passion
Play, starring Zoë Wanamaker. Leigh & Jeff are joining Wes, Terry and I
at the play, and Simon & Kev are having dinner with us beforehand. This is
our last day in England, so I thought I would get a short Dispatch out to you
as I don’t know what the wifi will be like in Iceland.
As you are very aware, Australia was
appallingly bad in the Second Test at Lord’s and we were very disappointed
after the exciting First Test. We duly turned up each day, sat in our seats
until the sun got too hot, when we went for a walk in the shade, and usually
left at tea-time which meant we were back in our hotel in time to watch most of
the last session.
I usually went to the Ladies Toilets under
our stand, but one day I used the ones near the picnic area and discovered they
were flushed by pulling a chain – it was like going back in time – the newer
ones automatically flush of course!
Footy has continued to be a big topic with
the Suns toppling the Pies, the Crows enjoying an unexpected win against the
Cats, Carlton & North playing a nail-biter, ditto Port & St Kilda. I’ve
come in for a lot of ribbing because of my Collingwood allegiance!
We enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which was very
faithful to the book, had an excellent cast & set, and kept us spellbound. Wes
and I each managed to lose our Travel Cards at some stage during the evening,
so I am very pleased I packed our Oyster cards just in case. Our travel cards
were given by the Premium Tours in lieu of bussing us to and from Lord’s.
On Saturday we caught up with all of my
family that lives here – Jeff & Kev, Leigh & Simon, Mike, Kelly &
their son, Archie. We had not met Archie before, so bought him a Lord’s cricket
ball as a memento and he seemed to like it. The occasion was Mike’s 40th
birthday and we were thrilled to be part of the celebrations. Leigh very kindly
booked a French Restaurant within walking distance of our hotel and we ate
early which suited everyone.
This morning we had a very early breakfast
as we had gone to bed early the night before and set off for a walk before the
temperature reached the predicted 31°. We walked through Green Park, Hyde Park
and Whitehall Gardens, then over a bridge and along the Thames until we reached
The Globe theatre, which I was very keen to see. We were just in time for the
first tour of the morning and what a treat it was! Our guide, Val, was
passionate about the theatre and she really brought it all alive. As Zoë Wanamaker’s father, Sam, was the
driving force behind its reconstruction, it seemed like a good time to visit.
And now we can’t wait to come back and see a play there.
We continued our walk afterwards and went
back to Covent Garden area to book the table for tonight and see if we could
find some book bargains in Charing Cross Road. The table is booked but the
bargains were not to be found. I’ll be in touch again when I can – if not in
Iceland, then at Heathrow before we fly home on Sunday.
There
are two opening times for Whitehall Gardens, everything else is closing times –
I love it!
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