The big event yesterday was going to a production of The Mikado. Ko Ko is the main character, of course, rather than the hero and heroine. He was played sympathetically by a singer who reminded Stephen of Eric Idle in the role. The production as a whole was slickly done, with extra stuff happening which was good to catch. Of course, it is the music that carries the silly storyline to a large extent, as with most opera.
When we were talking with Matt this morning I realised that he would have enjoyed this particular production because although a lot of the humour was/is verbal there were also visual gags, and he would, of course, like the music. We had a bit of a short session because his iPad ran out of charge. We had a bit of warning, then it went. We said we will catch up next Sunday.
Jane (Stephen’s ‘friend’ from his London days – I’m not allowed to say more) organised the tickets for us and we met at the St Martin in the Fields cafe (where we chatted and drank tap water), before going along to the theatre.
The theatre apparently dates from around the beginning of the 20th century, and has has extensive renovations over the years, including quite recently. What is particularly nice is that the stalls section is quite small, so even though we were towards the back we were still quite close to the stage. It is an interesting building from the outside and quite beautiful inside.
The photos are a bit basic because although I had my camera with me it was snugly packed into my backpack – it was much easier to just use the iPhone.
Afterwards it was dark and wet, so we abandoned a plan to go to the Chinese restaurant near the British Museum and found a nice little Greek restaurant nearby. We enjoyed a mix of dishes at 10 pounds a head (I must find the pound sign on my keyboard), plus a restina to complete the immersion experience. We talked until about 9.45 p.m. about theatre, travel and our personal lives.
Jane decided to travel back to her hotel by taxi and we went along to have the experience of travelling in a London taxi. We have been in the same sort of taxi cab in Perth when travelling with Uber, but it was our first time in England. We said goodnight outside and then caught the bus back to Victoria – getting to see Christmas lights again, and then a train to East Croydon. We had almost no waiting for either bus or train.
It has proved a little difficult to meet up with Stephen’s family here in England for various reasons, especially because of not having a car. However, Jane was prepared to travel to London to meet up, and Angela (Stephen’s cousin from his mother’s side of the family) will meet us in London on Thursday to do some family history exploration.
We, of course, are in Greater London, and can buy slightly discounted all day tickets for travelling to and from London, and then getting around the city. We are tending to choose where to go based on reasonably priced transport options: train, bus or coach.
I’ve just updated my Flickr page with a few more photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/suzii2/