July Andrews

The theatre theme continued during July as we went to London to see Paddington Bear. It was a very well presented show, following the storyline of the first film. The Savoy theatre was packed and we managed to get a table in Joe Allen's before the performance, so I am visiting many of my favourite haunts.

Joe Allen moved from its traditional site in Exeter Street about 8 years ago due to redevelopment and they now rent space from the Strand Palace hotel. Unfortunately that means it has to close by midnight. In the traditional spec it could remain open until 03:00am and would attract the post theatre crowd of both audience and performers, so not so much celebrity spotting these days.

We stayed at Lensbury once again and their refurbishment continues a pace. The first evidence of change however is the installation of transport style e-gates into the hotel so stopping non-resident access. Thats a pity as we have often met friends there by just walking in. while we know it will never be what it was in its former life, it is sad to see small changes make such a difference to the previously relaxed atmosphere. we were so lucky to enjoy it for so many years as the old Shell sports and conference complex.

 SWMBO and daughter no 2 and gran-daughter no 2 went off to Greece for a week to 'swim with pigs'. That never happened but they had a great time anyway and returned tanned ready for the English heatwave, corr! what a scorcher......

The aborted holiday to Alaska has been addressed elsewhere, so here's to some good news during August. 

High Line

Might have used that tag before but sums up the few hectic days in New York. Once we were diverted and knew this was our final run ashore we decided to make the most of it as we had been booked into a Time Square hotel for two nights....or so we thought. 

Off toone of my favorite restaurants in the \Big Apple, PJ Clarkes. Just a burger and ribs place but a livly joint and a New York institution. Good time had by both and if you ever visit be sure to check out the mens toilets which are preserved in the early 20th Century style.

Things got a bit tricky on the Saturday. We stumbled upon the 8th Avenue flea market and did a bit of people watching in Central Park and cruised back via St Patricks Cathedral,  the Rockafellar Centre and Radio City but on returning to the hotel we found we had been locked out of the room as the hotel had cancelled all the second night bookings. So two hours of stress failed to resolve the matter so a credit card had to be offered before we could get back into the room. We could then dress to impress as we went out to have our 25th Wedding anniversary a day early. It all went well, and was interrupted by a BA customer service operative who rang to see how we were doing. Luckily he then paid the hotel bill so no excess expense there. It was 01:00 in UK when he ran, so obviously got down to the W's!!

We high-jacked a professional photographer who was working the restaurant for another party so some memories there. 

Home the next day only in Premier Economy and although we had 4 seats to ourselves, the arm rests were static so no stretching out for a sleep.

Now the compo claims start, hopefully they will be resolved in our favour, but goodness knows how long it will take.