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I'm here too!
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the other great tea-towel is the one with the rules of cricket on it, along these lines:
http://www.halesowencricketclub.co.u...reign-visitor/ [lots of versions, but i liked this one best] |
Annhig: too funny - I've actually owned that same cricket tea towel for at least 25 years - probably longer. I had it heat sealed and framed and it hung in my den for years. I think its in a storage cabinet in my garage now.
Historytraveler and thursdaysd - Maybe we should organize a Fodors shipping forecast secrecy society :) |
JJ - time to exhume it, I reckon. I inherited a load of tea towels from a relative [along with a load of other stuff, i should add, - that would be a strange bequest, wouldn't it?] neither the cricket one nor the shipping forecast were amongst them, mores the pity.
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looking forward to the details!
I read a book with my kids (Mystery at the London Eye or something along those lines). The main character was obsessive about listening to the shipping forecast each night before bed. Kids and I had a long discussion and learned about the shipping forecast... funny to see it in a TR! |
All I know about the shipping forecast, I learned from Mrs. Bales on As Time Goes By.
Always love your trip reports, Janis. |
Enjoying your report...
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Great read from a great writer!
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Meant to note -- after some quick last minute planning for the first 3 days sans tube/bus travel -- the tube strike was cancelled so we ended up not having any major issues
<B>Wed. Late start, Sir John Soanes Museum, F&M, Tea at the Ritz and the amazing Angela Lansbury</B> Jet lag seems to affect me more and more as I get older. Now it hits me by not being able to sleep. Even though I was exhausted, only manage about 3 hours sleep Monday. Then Tuesday was little better - I woke up at 0200 then dozed off and on til maybe 0700. Plan on hitting Boots for some sleeping aids. B1 and B2 on the other hand didn't have ANY trouble sleeping. The first one appeared about 1015 and the other maybe 1030. So needless to say we got a late start :) After the mandatory Starbucks stop (and I don't even drink coffee - <i>unless</i> it has some brandy, or whisky, or whiskey, or some such. I think B&B must have stopped at one or another Starbucks 25+ times during our 17 days) - we arrived at Tower Hill tube station @ 11:45 . . . and B2 didn't have her Oyster card w/ her, AND her debit card didn't work in the ticket machine, AND the ticket window was shut . . . As I was digging out my cc to buy her a travel card the ticket agent opened up and all was well. Because we were so late, what we had planned for this morning was out so I floated the idea of Sir John Soane's Museum. They loved the place. Quite a bit of expansion is underway so in the next few months additional rooms will be open. Some fascinating exhibits were 3d printing creations - some were mind blowing http://www.factum-arte.com/pag/598/D...asy-and-Excess After the museum we wandered around Covent Garden for a while. The Covent Garden tube station was open when we arrived but closed when we were leaving about an hour later for our 3:30 afternoon tea at the Ritz. So we hopped in a cab and arrived at the Ritz in style. We all had Champagne - so much more civilized than <i>just</i> tea w/ the sandwiches/scones/sweets . . . . We then walked up Piccadilly to Fortnum & Mason and I scouted out some enamel boxes and other goodies. But I always take quite a bit if time there dealing w/ the export desk so I had them hold a couple of things for me and will come back tomorrow. We finished walking up Piccadilly and on to the Gielgud Theatre for Blithe Spirit. Angela Lansbury as Madame Arcati was a revelation. How does she DO that 8 times a week???? She had total command of the stage. The play was terrific - Charles Edwards (Of Downton Abbey) played Charles and the two wives were very good. I had booked the tix before the play was even in previews but even then it wasn't possible to get 4 decent seats together. So I booked 2 and 2 at opposite ends of the second row stalls. D's empt seat ended up being very expensive storage space for my handbag/jacket plus all the 'stuff' of another couple - from High Wycombe who's children were treating them to the play and a night at the Royal Horseguards - nice children!! Tube back to Tower Hill and we stopped in a Tesco Express for crisps, plain choc. digestives, some fruit, etc . . . and to bed. |
oops - left off 'Coming Attractions' : <B>Next: Thurs. Southwark, Borough Market, Up the Shard, Major retail Therapy, Jeeves/Wooster . . . and B&B pick up a 20 yo girl from Finland . . .
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Cafe Nero is suffering a boycott as the company pays no tax in the UK claiming to make no profit despite its holding company making oddles.
Keep up the boycott! |
There was a boycott of Starbucks as well - this benefited Costa Coffee with an increase in sales.
Janisj; did the absent lady pay for her theatre ticket? I sometimes organise trips for a number of people to London, and I ask them to pay the theatre tickets when I make the reservation. I too loved Blithe Spirit. If you have the chance next time, try to see Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies (don't know how long these are on for). |
For Shipping Forecast fans:
http://www.charlieconnelly.com/334/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9QumF93PpY |
I played the shipping forecast at my father's funeral.
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Fans of "As Time Goes By" will remember Mrs Bale (great name), Lionel's father's housekeeper, who opened any conversation with a report from the shipping forecast.
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When we were at Greenwich some years ago, there was a wonderful art installation in which inhabitants ( or others) of all the places mentioned in the Shipping News had been given video cameras and recorded visually there location during the broadcast. All these were shown simultaneously while the audio played behind the screen
I finally got to see Rockall, if only on video! |
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Tulips: >>Janisj; did the absent lady pay for her theatre ticket? I sometimes organise trips for a number of people to London, and I ask them to pay the theatre tickets when I make the reservation.
Oh - she prepaid for everything that needed payment. 1/4 of the flat, her theatre and train tickets, 1/4 of the rental car, and deposits on the 3 B&Bs. Now she wants refunds for (of all things) the train ticket and the rental car - uh - no. I am going to give her partial refunds of the B&B deposits. I ended up having to pay more at the B&Bs since I was single occupancy in double rooms but I also did get the benefit of her deposits. Still working out how much to give her. But the non-refundable/non-changeable train - NO. And the car, hell no(!) The reason we had to get a little larger car was because there was going to be 4 of us and their extra luggage -- and it was all pre-paid through autoeurope. What does she want me to do - go back and collect more $$ for the rest of us???? And she totally lost out on her airfare since she opted to not contact UA until after the flights. She could have at least got partial credit - but no . . . . I did try to sell her Blithe Spirit ticket out front of the theatre (and offered it free on Fodors) - but in the end the seat went empty. Oh - Patrick -- that Brian Perkins SF recording is hysterical LOL |
I'm with you, janis. Fair is fair. I would not pay back one penny that you were unable to recover for yourselves. (PS I hope her SO is doing alright.)
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