Monday w/ the Hastings

Yesterday we set out after breakfast to see if we could get cheap tickets to Hairspray, the musical. We were successful and purchased tickets for £25 in the back of the dress circle. They save the front row and the back rows of the dress circle as same-day cheap tickets -- they would normally be about £65. We then proceeded to the American Express office on Haymarket so Bill could cash some traveler's checks. Traveler's checks turn out to be a very bad way to get cash in London. The exchange rate was $2.17 for a £: OUCH!

We bused out to St. Paul's and Bill got to climb to the top for a splendid view. We crossed the Millennium Bridge to the South Bank and the Globe Theatre for their tour. We had time before the tour to nip into the Tate Modern for an aerial view of Shibboleth.

We walked back across the Southwark Bridge to the Cannon Street Station where Bill was able to put together an itinerary for their travel to York and the Lake District. We took a Circle Line train home, arriving just in time for dinner.

After dinner we went back to the Shaftsbury Theatre to see Hairspray. It was great fun but a little more politically-edgy than I expected. Michael Ball of Phantom fame, plays the mother, in drag; he was excellent. The bus ride home was memorable. We waited for a 390 for quite some time and when it finally came, it was diverted down Charing Cross Road and Shaftsbury Avenue because the east end of Oxford Street was closed. So we had a lovely night tour of the West-End-Theatre District, eventually going back up Regent's Street and back on route to Oxford Street. We had lost so much time with the diversion, that the end destination of the bus suddenly was switched to Marble Arch (he was going to turn around and go back to the Archway station where he started) and we had to get off and wait for a 94. So what should have taken a few minutes, took over an hour -- but it was, at least, memorable.

The Hastings in Paternoster Square with St. Paul's in the background

Bill and JLynn on the Millennium Bridge

After their tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

At the Shaftsbury Theatre for Hairspray

Bill has gone to get train tickets and they will spend the day cleaning up their London list before they leave for York in the morning.

We will be going to the Southwest tomorrow and will report on that adventure when we return on the weekend.

OXO

D.