London Day 4

Beautiful sunshine to be enjoyed once again. Another trip over Waterloo Bridge gazing at the sights on the way to a musical, Top Hat.🎩 Utterly charming with lots of tap dancing and Irving Berlin classics. I still enjoy the fashions of 1935 and the witty repartee that entranced me as I watched old movies in my teenage years.
The visions of growing up and wearing elegant gowns, the evenings at nightclubs and the days swanning around in a satin house coat chatting on the telephone with my friends.

London Day 3

Sipping my daily frothy cappuccino in the cafe at the end of the road as I work on the updates. I feel very fortunate to have had another beautiful weather day yesterday. Snow in Ontario seems impossible however I do believe the news. I thoroughly enjoyed the West End musical, The Bodyguard, yesterday. Definitely a rather mundane story but outstanding singing and dancing with a beautiful black woman the star.
As usual, another fabulous meal with my friends. This time in a Thai restaurant overlooking the Thames at Putney Bridge. Scintillating conversation about the state of racism in the world today and our hopes for a better future.

👍Time Out Magazine re The Bodyguard:
"There is surely an excruciatingly tacky musical adaptation of the Whitney Houston-starring romantic thriller 'The Bodyguard' to be made. But this is not it. In fact Thea Sharrock's production could scarcely look pricier if Lloyd Owen's personal security guard Frank Farmer had been charged with protecting an enormous pile of real gold bullion, as opposed to Heather Headley's singing superstar Rachel Marron
The undoubted star of Sharrock's stylish production is the extraordinary set – a series of mobile panels which open and close like a giant, mobile camera shutter, blinking in and out, and panning cinematographically in every direction. It gives 'The Bodyguard' a tightly edited, filmic slickness the likes of which I've never seen in the theatre, and goes some way to making up for one of the ropiest scripts in musical history."

London Day 2

I am thoroughly enjoying the warm spring breezes and sunshine. I spent a wonderful day with a friend that I met in Toronto over 40 years ago. We had many laughs recalling travels and escapades from the early days and catching up on more recent news. Feels trite to say how precious good friends and shared experiences are, but these things do form a backdrop for all that follows. I had asked her if there was anything new to see since my last visit to London about 10 years ago and she said what about the "Shard". Never heard of it I said, so off we went. Wow. It is a very tall glass building in the heart of London that provides fantastic views over the whole city in every direction. Great views of the Tower of London and the Thames. Well worth a visit!

As Samuel Johnson once said,
When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.

Paris-London

Am now in London after Paris and am on my own after a fabulous time with my friend of 35 years. She is staying on in Paris as I reunite with friends in London and Bristol with a trip to the seaside in Penzance in Cornwall thrown in. London is in full bloom with camellias, daffodils, primroses, forsythia, fragrant verbena and grass and leaves and everything. Spring is glorious here. After a marvellous lunch of salad a la collioure at home with my dear London friends, had an afternoon walk in the newly renovated Fulham Palace Gardens near Putney Bridge. Tea in the Palace and a wander through a garden shop to pick up plants for spring planting (obviously not mine!) My love of London continues. The ripple of the Thames, the slightly overgrown gardens spilling onto the streets, a pint of Young's bitter in the Half Moon pub and lively interesting conversation into the night.