We arrived home feeling tired last night to a broken lift and nine flights of stairs, 10 if you count going up to the upper level of our apartment. We are staying home for the morning and hope that by the time we go out this afternoon the lift will have been repaired.
Stephen’s research found that there are plays at the National Theatre for fifteen pounds a seat, relatively cheap. We went to see a play called ‘Translations’ yesterday afternoon. It was interesting to wander around the South Bank on a fine, partly cloudy day. We found the play well acted and the story line at times obscure – fortunately I had paid four pounds for the comprehensive program. The play was set in Ireland slightly before the potato famine when an attempt was being made to update Irish placenames. There were a couple of actors we have seen on TV or in films which was also interesting for us, although all of the cast were good.
We had a hot drink afterwards, then took a bus to Covent Garden.
We were in time for an opera singer busking near one of the restaurants.
We accidentally caught a slow train home. It seemed to wander quite far away before eventually getting to East Croydon. We are used to getting an express with East Croydon as the first stop. Stephen read the paper and I read my book to pass the time.
When we arrived at the station we split up, with me going directly home by tram to put our dinner on and Stephen heading to the local Sainsbury for bread and wine. After enjoying a tiny bottle of Mateuse Rose the other evening we have been looking forward to another glass with our meal. He wasn’t able to get the Mateuse and we settled for a fruit rose – a bit sweeter and a bit less alcoholic. We only have about a half a small glass each.
It was when we arrived home that we discovered that the lift wasn’t working and we had to climb the stairs. We had 7 flights when we were in China, so this is further to climb.