A bunch of us decided to take the bus into London on Friday: John Weinel, Chris Fiorri, Kitty Karn, John Gremillion, and myself. John W. and Chris had already bought tickets and reservations, but the other three of us thought we’d just buy the tickets directly from the driver. The bus was an hour late getting to Buxton, and when we tried to board the driver told us that the bus was full. However, keeping with the Luck of Joe White, the driver called up the dispatcher to see if there might be any cancellations, and, sure enough, there where three open spots, so we made it on. Arrived in London around 5, and walked the 2 blocks to our hotel, the Quality Hotel Westminster. Unfortunately, Quality does not mean air-conditioned. Dropped off the bags and went to meet some others who had come in the day before and were staying at the Jolly St. Ermin, which is where we would have stayed if they hadn’t have sold out of the package deal the others got. I snagged a ticket to Les Mis thanks to the good offices of Tina Hinze; I had seen it once before (in Austin), but this time I enjoyed it.
Saturday the bulk of the Houston G&S group left for home, but John G stayed and we went exploring. Went to the Half Price Ticket booth in Leicester Square and were deciding between Michael Frayn’s Democracy and a production of The Old Masters directed by Harold Pinter, but ended up getting tickets for The Goat with Jonathan Pryce. John and I then split up, and I decided to grab a ticket to the matinee performance of Democracy, then spent the time before the curtain looking in all the old bookstores at the bottom of Charing Cross Road, and dropped off my cell phone to see if I could get it unlocked. Democracy was quite well done; it’s based on the true story of the East German spy who was Willy Brandt’s personal secretary. My ticket was on the front row, so no problems wiht hearing! It was interesting to eavesdrop on the three couples behind me who were kibbutzing during the interval about what the different German parties were (“Isn’t the CDU the equivalent of the Tories?” “No, they’re a bunch of right-wing nutjobs.” “As I said….”). I got my phone back from the unlockers, then bought an Orange SIM card and registered it (but takes up to 24 hours to activate; when it is working, I’ll post my number (free incoming calls!) and you all can call me using BIg Zoo for only a couple of cents a minute.
Called to check my messages, and found out Laurel New had called that morning to say she was still in London and staying at the Hilton; unfortunately, she didn’t say which Hilton. Sorry, Laurel!
Met John back at Leicester Square and had dinner at Aberdeen Steak House…passable food, but nothing more. Walked around the corner to the Apollo and discovered that we had gotten in to see the final performance. Again, seats were incredible: third row. The performances were outstanding all around, but especially Jonathan Pryce. Albee’s premise is a bit whacked (and I wonder if one of my favorite jokes might have served as inspiration), but the dialogue is very engaging.
Today (Sunday) I went to church at St. Paul’s, Christopher Wren’s masterpiece. The Choir was the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir, who did the Missa O Quam Gloriosum of Victoria (mmm, mmm, good). After the service I do what I always do on a Sunday afternoon in London: Speaker’s Corner. I listened in on everybody, argued with a couple, but nobody this time really fired my imagination or my dander, so didn’t stay more than a half an hour or so. Wandered around Oxford Circus and Regent Street for a while, then did the obligatory tour of Hamley’s, which is always a lot of fun. Had a nice iced cappuccino then came back to the hotel, walked down to the corner and logged in using the open wireless router someone nearby is kind enough to provide. Meeting up with John G in a few minutes, when we’ll head over to the East End to get some incredible Indian food on Brick Lane.