Covent Garden not Coventry, which is a dull town in the midlands. Worth catching these little errors or you will start following the wrong signs on the Tube.-)

But with an interesting cathedral...

You may want to look into BB bakery in Covent Garden. They have a vegan tea, and they even offer tea on a bus tour, if you feel so led.

Oh Bellarosa that looks great. Thank you.

Well I am so darn excited. My grand daughter gets to write her exam the day prior so I changed everything for our trip to London to the day prior. I was lucky to get into the same hotel as well.
I bought a ticket to the Queen Anne enclosure for the Saturday. Because she will be 17 it is only 15GBP for her, but we have to pick up on the day. They assure me we can do that.

And I booked the afternoon tea for 430P so I will be assured of at least having a seat for an hour anyhow while we eat. I can also arrange vegan or vegetarian in advance which is great.
My tickets to Les Mis are not refundable/exchangeable because I am in Canada apparently. Still working on that but worse case we let them go, or maybe race back to the play afterwards even though I know we will be tired. We will most likely be a bit late but hopefully don't have to wait too long to be seated.

Question: I have read reviews and posts about not being able to find a seat etc on trains to and from Ascot/ especially on the return. But when I look to book them on Southern Rail, I can choose my seats and book them. Is this not honoured? I don't understand what the problems would be.
The other option is the National Express bus, but then we will miss the play for sure.

thanks again all for your great advice on this forum.
Any advice on that. I am so excited!!! And so is she.

Reminds me of the days when I used to commute through Wembley. Always dreaded Cup Final day - never saw so many who had over imbibed. It was pretty gross!

>>My tickets to Les Mis are not refundable/exchangeable because I am in Canada apparently.<<

Did someone tell you it was because of being Canadian? IME, theatre tix in London are seldom refundable . . . for anyone.

>>I have read reviews and posts about not being able to find a seat etc on trains to and from Ascot/ especially on the return. But when I look to book them on Southern Rail, I can choose my seats and book them. Is this not honoured? I don't understand what the problems would be.<<

Sure - a seat reservation (assuming they offer that option - I didn't check) will be honoured - but if the train is jam packed there might be someone in your seats. Just depends on how 'forceful' you are ;) The entire journey is less than an hour so standing would be bearable. But you should be fine.

An Italian friend of mine is going to London this weekend and was planning to go to the "other Covent Garden", I asked him what he was talking about and he was going to "Covent Gardens" which is a small allotment area close to Portabello Road. Every letter matters. "Whatta mistaka to maka" as comedians in the '80s would have said.

When I was at the embassy in London I was able to attend Ascot and enter the Royal Enclosure. I rented a morning suit at Austin Reed (and was admonished by a beadle when I removed my hat for a moment. I noticed that Prince Charles, who was in yet another, even more exclusive enclosure adjacent to us, was allowed to go hatless.). The problem was, I was unfamiliar with the horses, the track and British betting systems, and think I lost every bet! There something a little seedy about the whole thing -- it's a racetrack, after all -- but I don't think you should miss it!

Fra Diavolo, I may place one bet just for fun, (and probably to show :) ) but not going to go for the betting part, more of a people watcher. I don't go to casinos either. I like to see a return on my investment in other ways, like the experience itself. I don't know what the heck I am doing when it comes to betting.
Odin. I have booked a couple of trains. Southern and Northern routes and it asked if I wanted to book seats on both. I don't think it even costs any more money to do so.

Yes, I completely agree with that characterisation. It's hard to explain but that sums it up pretty well. Everyone is cleanly scrubbed and dolled up with a veneer of 'classy'. But the undercurrent of seediness is pervasive. You can smell it. Then even that thin veneer cracks away when everyone is pissed out of their heads and vomiting on each other.