Back to London for the Theatre

Several months ago I managed to secure tickets to see Warhorse in London. It had been my intention with my wife’s agreement to go as Emma.

My good friend Sue agreed to put us up and on Easter Monday drove down to London, meeting Sue for a bite to eat and quick drink before retiring to bed.

Given the uncertainty of the weather, I faced a quandary as to what to wear and in addition as we decided that to return and get changed for the theatre early evening would take too long, what to wear that would be ok for walking around London and be ok for the theatre.

I settled on a cotton drill skirt in salmon pink with a dark pink t-shirt over which I layered a crochet sleeveless top. On my feet I wore my new Jane Norman shoes in taupe which matched my large handbag in which I carried a pair of flats.

We took the overland train into London and made our way by tube to Oxford Street where we had a coffee and some cake in House of Fraser before making our way to meet friends for lunch.

Over a pleasant lunch we put the world to rights and then made our way towards the theatre via Covent Garden, moving onto Trafalgar Square stopping off for a beer on the way at Chandos upstairs in the Opera Room.

For once, we decided that it would be better to arrive early rather than just in time and so we were able to have a quiet drink and order interval drinks in the theatre before taking our seats for the production of Warhorse

The play was very good and as I had chosen not to read the book or anything about the play beforehand, it made a huge impression on me. After leaving the theatre, we made our way to Sarastro’s in Drury Lane where we had reserved a table. The décor for those who have never had the pleasure of eating there is something to behold. The inside is laid out as a turn of the century theatre complete with individual boxes and the whole effect is one of clutter. The murals in the ladies are pretty special and quite risqué. The food was good and we enjoyed the company and ambiance before leaving for the train station and enjoying night time views from Waterloo Bridge.

It was interesting sitting in the station concourse people watching as we waited for our midnight train.

The following day, the temperature was supposed to be lower but I decided that instead of my planned white stretch jeans, to go with a shortish flared beige skirt teamed with brown t-shirt and brown tights, finished off with leopard print pumps, matching sunglasses and a brown leather handbag from River Island.

Once more we joined other commuters on the trip into London, and started the day with a spot of retail therapy. At the Benefit stand in Debenhams, I purchased a new mascara and “browsing”, which is a wax and powder complete with brushes to fill in your brows which my good friend Mandy introduced me to when out in Blackpool recently. The girl on the counter was happy to demonstrate the cosmetics on me including a matting powder and bronzer before I made my purchase. Sue also bought the “browzing” in an appropriate shade again after having the girl demonstrate on Sue.

After enjoying a coffee in the cafe on the ground floor, we continued with the retail therapy and I picked up a flexie waist cincher upstairs in John Lewis’s. My wife was looking for something for her cross stitching but was unsuccessful. I must admit to having a strange and thought provoking moment as I made my way back from the toilet to rejoin my wife whilst walking through the baby section and young childrens clothing, mixing with “new” mums and mums to be.

For lunch we returned to a favourite haunt of Sue’s, the Bistro in Soho where we had a lovely 3 course meal with wine over which we discussed the itinerary for the rest of the day.

We decided to walk towards the Abbey via Regent Street which was very busy and on into The Mall and across to St James Park, where we joined the many tourists enjoying the beautiful weather and the preparations in advance of the Wedding. We made our way across the park stopping for a few photos and then onto Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament passing the Abbey on our way to Westminster Bridge. As we needed to be elsewhere for 8 that evening we decided to walk back to Waterloo Station stopping off for a refreshing fruit cocktail at the Archduke.
Suitably refreshed we just made our train but had to run, having to hold down my skirt in the process. Back at Sue’s, it took me 20 minutes to revert back to “bob” mode and pack our cases in the car for our trip north, reflecting on another two wonderful days in London.