Auick updqte

That should read "Quick update" but French keyboards are slightly different. So I've made it to France and will be home in under a week which is a little disappointing. Max has covered my 3 days in Peterborough so I'll add my 2 cents later (when I find a computer I can touch type on). So, I went to Edinburgh on Monday to see ISIHAC which was awesome and caught up with Tim after the show. He has changed his email address so did not receive my warning that I was going to be there which made for an interesting reaction :o) Rumour has it that another tour is being planned. Excellent. They will not be going to Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane this time though.
On Tuesday I went to France which ended up being much more of a hassle than I intended. The train which was to have got me back to London by 11 was cancelled and the next one was slower and delayed. The net result being that I missed the Eurostar I was aiming for and caught the next one an hour and a half later. This was delayed and had an unexplained stop in the middle of nowhere so we arrived in Paris 50 minutes late. Then the only ATM I could find at Gare du Nord was broken so it took me an hour to get some cash and navigate the Metro to Gare Montparnasse. The TGV to Le Mans was on time and Sabine met me at the station about 4 hours later than we had planned. Oh well, shit happens.
Today we did the castle (Brézé) and museum thing and nearly melted in the unseasonable heat. Still, beats being at work

Leaving London

Last day in London. I enjoyed Guys & Dolls last night. It can be difficult with a show you know to get past the expectations but the performances were really good and I had a great night. There was a good atmosphere in the theatre too with people laughing at all the jokes. Truly a classic show. Ask me in person if you want more details (about any shows)
So, I only have one ticket left now which has to wait until Monday night in Edinburgh. It's just as well I'm leaving town, the whole theatre thing is costing me a fortune.
Just about recovered from the cold now which is helping my attitude no end :o)
I'm meeting Max tonight at King's Cross and then it's goodbye to London for a while.

Still in London

Short update because there's not much to tell. I left the internet cafe yesterday with a coffee in hand (totally not drinking the stuff they have at the hotel) and made my way to the British Museum. Not bad, only took me 4 days to get somewhere that is literally around the corner from my hotel. I had a couple of hours before my next theatre experience so did a quick whip around at the major sights (the rest of the 6 million artefacts in the collection will have to wait).
So, obviously, I missed a lot of stuff but it was worthwhile taking a moment to enjoy the stuff I was particularly interested in. I would have spent longer looking at the Rosetta Stone but became annoyed at the thousands of flash photographs being taken. It was the same for all the bigger Egyptian statuary so I left the area quicker than I really wanted to. By the time I got to the Mummies I didn't care if I got in the way of the "this is me next to the ancient dead person" photos. Not that I could have dodged all of them successfully anyway. Fortunately things were a bit quieter around the Isle of Lewis chess set and the cool Celtic stuff. Before long I was historied out and it was time to head over to the Palace theatre for the latest ALW spectacular.
When I bought the ticket the box office guy told me that Dress Circle row B was a good seat for this particular show. I agree with him. I think that my usual preference for Stalls would not have worked so well with how the production was staged. I don't think this will ever become one of my favourite shows but I'm glad I went.
After a very quick stop for dinner it was on to the Palladium for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I'd heard some mixed reviews of the show so I was really only there for the flying car. But there was so much more! In fact, it was really really fun. Never thought I'd be paying good money to see Jason Donovan but there you go (and he was quite good too).
Tonight is my last night in London and my last show - Guys & Dolls. I'm looking forward to it.

Wednesday

Still in London. I'm surprised my credit card hasn't melted from the strain but we're having fun. Since the last update I've seen 2 shows (3 to go) starting with (as previously mentioned) Billy Elliot. We had dinner at the pub next door then scrambled into our seats - if we'd known they'd be 10 minutes late starting we wouldn't have rushed so much. I suspect the late start was tied in with the fact that they switched cast members halfway through the first act. Until they made the announcement at interval I don't think many people had noticed that we had two different Billy Elliots. The show was absolutely brilliant. It was an amazing experience that I can't really describe.
Tuesday. Woke up stupidly early again (damn jetlag) and nervously scanned the sky for impending clouds. Reassured by the forecast of plenty of sunshine we made our way down to the London Eye. Blue skies, sensational view, sunlight glinting off Big Ben- certainly picture postcard perfect. I must remember to get a copy of the photos Karen took.
Munching on a hot waffle we then ambled through Westminster up to St James's Park etc as I was determined that Karen experience the Changing of the Guards. I dropped her off at the fence and watched the band (Welsh Guards) run through a few numbers before the ceremony started. Then I left the crowd to enjoy the spectacle and wandered off through the parks, along the Serpentine etc and generally soaked up the sunshine. The MBTs (new fancy shoes) got a solid workout and my legs and feet were aching when I made it back to the hotel to change and find my ticket for Mary Poppins. I can see why the reviewers call it a "magical" show. I guess I should have expected a ton of illusions and stage tricks from Disney. You certainly wouldn't want to have a fear of heights playing the title role.
Wednesday. Overcast and windy thus far. Karen has gone on the Hop On Hop Off bus with a view to explore the Tower along the way. I have got myself a ticket to The Woman in White so we'll see if it lives up to the hype. Karen is off to Les Mis tonight while I'm at the Palladium with Jason Donovan and the flying car.

Monday

The holiday continues. There's always something very satisfying about being on holiday on Monday morning in particular. By the way, the sore throat has turned into a very unpleasant cold so I have had the pleasure of shopping at Boots which was not on the original itinerary.
Breakfast at the hotel was rather ordinary so we'll ignore that and move on to the shopping part. I hit Dress Circle first and put a decent dent in the credit card without too much difficulty. It would have been worse had they had the T-shirt I liked in a size other than XL (let's not kid ourselves, that would never have looked good on me). Then I found myself spending money again at Forbidden Planet (as you do) and found a perfect gift for Gav. I had to go to Harrods at some stage so got that out of the way this morning too.
Off to the theatre tonight to see Billy Elliot. Woohoo!

End of a long day

In London now. It always takes a while for it to sink in properly especially when the brain is not coping what with jetlag and being squashed into a seat for 24 hours. So anyway, here's the summary so far...
Plane trip completed successfully. Watched HHGTTG (the movie) and channel surfed. Disappointing lack of trolley visits which usually break up the journey a bit. Landed on time - we were actually ahead of schedule but had a problem with the landing gear on the first attempt which meant we lost our spot in the queue of planes waiting for 6am so they could land. Took the Heathrow Express and then the tube to our hotel at Russell Square.
Our room was ready when we arrived which was great. After taking a few moments to freshen up a bit we hit the streets. The weather was perfect for wandering about. We made our way to Leicester Square, Trafalgar etc etc and both ended up buying stuff at Covent Garden.
Dropped the new souvenirs at the hotel and changed into something suitable for The Comedy Store. Although we both were struggling with the fact that we'd been awake for far too long by this point, we thoroughly enjoyed the show. The line up was not quite as advertised but I wasn't upset to have Niall Ashdown as a substitute. All in all a good night out and a fitting end to a very long day.

Singapore

We've made it as far as Singapore. The flight was fine, closer to 7 hours than 8 which is always a good thing. It's nice to know that after all the running around there's nothing more I can do (except worry a little about what I forgot to do/pack). The bad news is that the catering people for BA are taking "unofficial industrial action" which basically means no food on the next flight. We've been given a voucher to forage at the airport but I'm not really hungry and doubt I'll be any more interested in airport food over the next 13 hours. Got a scratchy throat which I'm hoping will not develop into something nasty.....

Travel tip

Apparently it's not a good idea to do a canoe/kayak safari when visiting the Victoria Falls region. This is because a hippo might munch your boat. I think I'll choose horseback instead as the hippo statistics are nasty. Seriously.
(Who said you can't learn useful stuff at work?)