POSH - The Play

Emily & I continued our celebration of the fact that we were entering into our 40th year on the planet with our 6th month in a row of doing something together, fabulous and in each others company and thankfully this time Dusan was able to join us. Emily had to work late so Dusan and I started the evening off at Pizza Express... I know! Calorific right? But yummy all the same and despite the fact we were eating on Saint Martins Lane in the heart of London's theater district the service was fast, friendly and efficient and we were able to get two courses and be out in under 50 minutes, leaving just time to wander 100 yards down the street to the Duke of York Theatre. Emily had arranged to meet us outside and so I just had time to collect the tickets from the box office before our arranged meet time. The trouble with buying tickets online is you never really know where you will be sat so we were pleasantly surprised when despite being in the Upper Terrace we had the Front Row, so our view was fabulous. Of course the downside is that there is less leg room than a Ryanair jet seat in the back row. Seriously, you would have thought that they could have an overhang and somewhere to put your feet! Still, we had a great view and that's what counts. We sat just before the lights went down, the curtain went up and the scene was set. A private members clubs somewhere in London. I won't tell you the story and spoil the plot but the synopsis is 10 public school boys and members of the Riot Club, a prestigious private members club of Students of the filthy rich variety. The main tale is set around a dining table in a gastro pub and looks at the life of public school boys. The surprising element was when they sprung into song three time acapella style. It was nice to see a Theater so full on a Wednesday night as hardly as seat was empty, and who says that live theatre costs the earth. For the three of us it was under £50! Quite marvellous and a hoot to boot! I say, what what!

Royal Jubilee Weekend

If there is one thing that the British do well its all the Pomp and Ceremony that come with over a thousand years of experience. So when they announced over a year ago that we would be given an extra days holiday for the Jubilee, you immediately knew that it would be something special. Its not every day that we celebrate a Monarch being on the thrown for 60 years. Infact, its only the second time in our nations history that it's ever happened. Queen Victoria being the last. I dare to ask all of the Republicans out there did you not feel a little bit proud on the Jubilee weekend to be British? As the weeks and days counted down the bunting around the city increased and Regent Street, the Royal Street of Shops in the heart of the shopping district, displayed Union Jack Flags across the entire street. There were talks of Street Parties and we all had the Boat Pagent to look forward to. What to do? Where to go? It was one of those moments that you felt would be like when people used to ask, where were you when you heard JFK was shot, or that Princess Diana had died. The day of the Pagent I went to Alex's and Mikeys and watched it on TV in good company..(Thank you guys). Their flat is on Shad Thames and had a small view of Thames. It was a nice way to watch the floatilla, although I had originally wanted to go to the Thames and watch it in the flesh. Sadly the weather was against us and it poured down most of the day, so a nice cosy flat was a far better choice. Come the Monday, I stayed in and watched the Jubilee Concert live on BBC1. What a gig. I so wish I had applied for tickets in the free Ballot. Shirley Bassey, Robbie Williams, Tom Jones, Grace Jones, Kylie, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John were among the headliners but most of all, Her Majesty was there and seemingly enjoying it, despite her husband, Prince Philip, being ill in hospital. (You can't help but think that being stuck out on a wet barge 3 hours did him any good!). It was a fabulous weekend and I just want to take a moment to thank Her Majesty for her loyalty to the role, for being endlessly correct and proper in her mannerisms and always and ever a role model we can all look up to. Thank you Ma'am. Happy Jubilee.

Blood Brothers

It's not only the Queen who get's to celebrate this year as both my dear friend Emily and I approach a landmark age, we decided that we would celebrate like never before and from January 2012 have vowed to do something, no matter how small, together to celebrate the beginning of our "coughs and splutters" year! So we have thus far had dinner at La Caprice, been to 3 concerts and seen two West End Shows. So considering we only promised one event per month, we are one ahead at present! How will we top Steps and Ghost the Musical? I'm sure we will find a way. It was during an outing to see the London Gay Men's Chorus performance at Saint Giles in the Field, and as we were passing the theater on Charring Cross Road, I mentioned, I had never seen Blood Brothers and didn't Emily say that it was one of her faveourite musicals? That was all it took and the next week, thanks to Lastminute.com we had booked it for a late May. My friend Katrina joined me while Emily's friend Bridgette joined her and after a light meal and a quick drink in a local pub we made our way to the theatre. What a pity, the Upper Circle was closed, as was the Royal Circle, meaning we had been upgraded to the 6th row of the Stalls (Lucky Bitches)! We were dead centre and had a perfect view of the stage and cast, taking our seats moments before the lights went down. Not knowing the story or music I was pleasantly surprised at a fun musical score that you found yourself strangely singing along to and characters that you couldn't help feel an affection towards. I was warned that the second act could be somewhat tear worthy and was, as such, loaded with some Kleenex just in-case. While I may have spotted a few tears in the audience, it was actually a joyful evening and spent in the best of company. 5 Months down on our celebrations Emily, only 19 months more to go! It's almost like an advent Calendar!

The Tower of London

Its the time of year when I usually meet up with my dear friend John and go on a tour of somewhere historical or different, somewhere around the country. Our previous trips have included Buckingham Palace, The Secret Nuclear Bunker, Victoria & Albert Museum, Kensignton Palace and Bletchley House where they cracked the Enigma Code. When John came for dinner a month back we listed a few places I would like to see and one of these was the Tower of London. Tickets were bought for today and as always on these dates, I meet John at an agreed place and time, where he will be waiting (His always punctual) and I will be treated to a personal historic tour of the venue with him as my own personal tour guide. Over the years his interest of history has left him with a wealth of knowledge and me the lucky benefactor of that knowledge on the many private tours his given me over the years. We met at Tower Hill and as always started outside with some local history about the surrounding buildings then made our way down to the Tower's Moat and learned about how it was once filled with both Thames water and Tower Sewage...eww. The Menagerie was next. The thought that they had wild Tigers, Bears and all sorts of exotic animals roaming at the Palace, many of them for visitors to see, seems strange to say the least. Did you know that eventually the order was given to close the Menagerie and many of the animals moved to London Zoo which opened to the public in 1847! Once inside we heard the history of the White Tower, The Bloody Tower, Traitors Gate and the like. It was such an early start that many of the queues had yet to form and so before lunch we made our way to the Crown Jewels and I was amazed at John's knowledge of not only which piece was which but the history therein within each piece and how in the days of old we used to rent the gems for certain crowns. It's so amazing standing at the side of a great building that dates back to the Times of King Henry VIII and construction commenced in 1066. We saw the Ravens and the Beefeaters and went inside Saint John's Chappell which you can only do if you are on one of the Beefeaters tours (Gather around when they are nearing the chappel and go on in for the history of the Chappel. Learning of the Towers many prisoners including of course, Elizabeth I. Hearing of the Torture that once took place and the Princes in the Tower. Were the Twins murdered? I didn't know beforehand that the Tower was also used to store the Governments Gun Powder stock, something that seems preposterous considering it was also the home to the Crown Jewels, but then they didn't have Health & Safety and Due Diligence back then. We wrapped up the afternoon with a lovely spot of lunch and looking forward to my next installment with John which should be Windsor Castle! Keep posted for pictures, I will upload them as soon as I find the cord between the Cannon Camera and Laptop!