We have been making the most of our time in London &
trying not to stress about all the downsides of our flat in Chelsea. We are in
a great position in many ways, although the nearest tube station is 15 minutes
walk away.
We decided to have a late breakfast at The Ivy, Chelsea, thinking of our cousin, Leigh, & her husband,
Simon, who had their wedding reception at The
Ivy, Covent Garden in 2013. It was an absolute treat with perfect scrambled
eggs nesting in smoked salmon & Jasmine pearls tea to drink. Wes sat
watching the beautiful people saunter in & out, including two followed by
paparazzi & two who flounced out as their usual table was occupied (shock,
horror!).
This photo is for
Squiz, who joined Wes in rating marmalades on our first trip to England back in
1975 – Wes gives the Ivy’s marmalade a 9/10 – if it had come with its own
spoon, it would have gotten the perfect score!
We then attended the Sloane Square Remembrance Day
services, which were remarkable, not just for the bells that rang at 11am, for
the 2 minutes silence (rigorously observed) but for the cessation of traffic
(police stopped all vehicles within cooee & there was complete silence). It
was very moving & we were pleased we had decided not to try and be part of
the bigger ceremonies going on.
We caught the tube into Covent Garden & spent ages
walking around there, before visiting The
National Portrait Gallery, which was so hot we had to abandon it after
spending time with Rubens & van Dyck. We crossed the road to St Paul’s and said hello to all the
famous theatre people commemorated there. Afterwards I sat on John Thaw’s seat
to write a postcard to Leanne & hope it returns home before we do!
Writing the postcard
& thinking about Morse!
We had time for a cuppa & half a Guiness before our
play started nearby at The Duchess
Theatre, where we encountered one of the rudest, least helpful Box Office
people I have ever met. We were rescued by a security person who advised us. I
had bought a special package with our tickets which included a donation &
gave us signed programmes, a copy of the script & a glass of wine, but I
didn’t know how to redeem any of them!
The Play Goes Wrong is an absolute hoot & we laughed until we cried. Wes
particularly appreciated it with his experience in amateur theatre & anyone
who has ever been involved in any amateur production would love it. Even if you
haven’t, you can’t help but empathise!
On Monday, we set off to Australia House to vote in the Victorian State Elections on the
first possible day available. It was a scream – we landed at the main door,
where a bored security guard directed us back outside to the third door on the
right, push the intercom button & they’ll look after you. We arrived there
just as three other people had found the intercom button (not easy) & were
gaining admittance, so we saved 5 minutes by joining them. There is room for
about 6 in the small area between two self-locking doors & you can’t move
out of one area until the other door is shut tight. Security was next & it
happened at an awkwardly placed table, which gave no-one any space to put
things down or to get out of the way of the one being wanded.
They took us in two at a time, so we chatted to the other
couple, who live in Geelong & barrack for St Kilda. We were enjoying our
footy chat when another staff member came to explain that the ballot papers
hadn’t arrived yet & had to be printed on demand two floors up! Eventually
it was our time to go in to a little room, no ID required, just name &
address & wait for your ballot papers. The actual voting was the easy part.
We then let ourselves out & did the double door lock thing all over again.
Outside Oz House after
voting! We were pleased to note that the footy chatting had continued on after
we left!
Our next stop was Chinatown where we found a restaurant
serving Dim Sum that opened at 11am, so spent some time there refuelling before
heading to our favourite London Church, St
Martin in the Fields, where we attended a lunchtime concert by the St
Martin’s Choral Scholars, who sang superbly & thoroughly entertained us for
about 45 minutes.
That night we attended the play, A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter starring Jim Broadbent at the Bridge Theatre. This is a very new theatre, great box
office, food & drink served all day, cloakrooms, toilets, plenty of staff
& oodles of room, but not easy to find the first time. We caught a cab, but
even then had to ask directions as it is at the back of other buildings. Our
taxi driver had just discovered he was going to be a first time father, with
the baby due on Brexit Day! We met a couple of Poms in the foyer who have lived
in America for the past 30 years, & they, like our taxi driver, didn’t
realise that Australia has compulsory voting & that our Government tries to
make it easy for us to vote, unlike the UK & USA.
We have no idea what got into the head of the playwright,
Martin McDonagh, in his wild imaginings of Hans Christian Anderson, but this
very modern play showcased Jim Broadbent & a couple of other excellent
actors very well indeed.
Foyer of the Bridge
Theatre
We had a free day on Tuesday, so headed back to The Ivy for breakfast again, before
catching the tube to Leicester Square & buying tickets to see Bohemian Rhapsody. We spent some time
in Jermyn Street admiring the beautiful bespoke men’s shoes & shirts etc.
The film was absolutely riveting & we loved every minute of it –
beautifully acted, written, directed, cast – stunningly good. Wes took me to
afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason’s Diamond
Jubilee Tea Salon as a special treat afterwards & what a treat it was. We
opted for the savoury delights with Jasmine pearl tea. You can see the
exquisite roses on our table, the beautiful tea service & the yummy food.
Needless to say we couldn’t eat all this & when they
offered us slices of cake afterwards, we declined, but were given a very
elegant doggy bag to take home with us.
I was talking to a woman on the tube who had been to see
her new dentist that afternoon – her previous one was called Mr Butcher & it was appropriate; the
new one is named Mr Cure & her
teeth were all fine – great story & one she no doubt enjoys sharing often.
We are finding the weather fine – temperatures of 13˚ or
14˚ most days & the London humidity makes it seem warmer than that. The big
problem is that once you get indoors the heating seems to be in the 20s &
we are quite hot & find it very stuffy.
Yesterday was another special day. We headed to the
Victoria & Albert Museum (within walking distance of our flat) where we
were meeting our friend, Andrea Spencer aka Bilby. We first met in the Northern
Territory in 1996 & have enjoyed infrequent get-togethers ever since. Bilby
caught the train from Maidenhead to London & we were most appreciative. We
arrived before her & were able to lose ourselves in 1600s Europe art, sculpture,
wall hangings & musical instruments for an hour or so. We then spent about
2 hours in the café chatting & catching up & it was wonderful.
We eventually had to go to Leicester Square to pick up our
tickets to our final play, The Height of
the Storm, starring Dame Eileen Atkins & Jonathan Pryce. This was an
excellent play with superb acting, as you can imagine with those two leads.
When I bought the tickets a couple of months ago, I took advantage of a package
available which included afternoon tea at Browns, which is just behind the
theatre. It was the perfect way to finish the day debriefing & enjoying the
ambience.
We arrived back to our flat feeling tired but stimulated
after our day. Bilby had suggested a film on Netflix that we might enjoy called
God’s Own Country, so we settled down
with a glass of red wine & watched it.
Today we are up early as we are off to Oxford for the day,
starting with lunch with our friends, Paul & Pauline Jackson. This is the
lunch that didn’t happen last week & we are so pleased they were able to
find another date that suited.
After that we are off for a walking tour of Morse, Lewis
& Endeavour, which should be a fun way to finish off our visit to the United
Kingdom.
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