The Tri-City Tour November 2021: Travel Day 2 - Preston to London

[Gill H]

<<Preston Days 1-4

Friday 12 November

It felt very strange to be catching a train to London again. After 27 years of living there, this would be our first time back in the big smoke since moving to Wales two years ago.

We got to the station with just enough time to grab a couple of coffees and pastries in Upper Crust, before we headed to our platform to catch the 10am train.
Considering it was a weekday morning we were surprised to find the train extremely full, and were glad we’d booked seats. The journey was uneventful, apart from a group of very loud lads who appeared to have brought the contents of an entire off-licence on the train with them, and kept up a stream of noisy and often distasteful banter for the whole journey. Fortunately we had our headphones and were able to listen to more enjoyable things!

Two and a half hours later we pulled into Euston station, which was also very crowded – although perhaps we’d just got out of the habit of negotiating busy stations. We headed down to the Underground and got the Victoria Line to Oxford Circus (extremely crowded but very quick), then changed onto the Central Line where there was plenty of room and we got seats all the way to Ealing Broadway.

Work on Ealing Broadway station had been under way for several years by the time we left London in early 2020, and we didn’t really expect there to have been many changes. So it was a delightful surprise to find that the station now has lifts! A very welcome addition with two suitcases and my arthritic knees! Soon we were strolling along towards our hotel, but as we knew it was too early to check in we stopped off at Pho (very good Vietnamese chain restaurant) to have some lunch. As usual, the pho (a big bowl of soup with lots of fresh ingredients to add to your taste) was excellent and the staff were lovely. No photos though, sorry!

After lunch we walked over to the Premier Inn and checked in at about 2.30 to find our room was ready. Like all the other PIs we’ve been to, the staff were friendly and helpful, and our room was fine. We relaxed for a while in the room, and at 4pm we headed back into town for our first theatre visit of the trip.

We got the Central Line again, to Holborn this time, where we walked through to the Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly the New London Theatre which for many years was the home of Cats). We hadn’t decided yet where to eat, and on a whim we went into a Belgian pub restaurant called The Lowlander Grand Café. It was buzzing but we managed to find a table and the friendly staff soon took our order.

As we both enjoy fruit beers we got ourselves a Kriek (cherry) and Fruli (strawberry).

To start we shared a dish of cheese croquettes with a tomato dip. I think there were 5 croquettes but we only just remembered to take a picture after eating one each!

Peter followed this with a chicken schnitzel with chips.

I chose the goat's cheese and fig salad. Honestly this was so good!

[Gill H]

We didn’t fancy any of the desserts, so as there was still time before the show, we moved on to Redemption Roasters for a coffee. Peter chose a pain au chocolat to accompany his, and I couldn’t decide on anything so just had a coffee. We paid at the till, found a table and enjoyed an excellent coffee while Peter ate his pain au choc.

Then after about 15 minutes or so I changed my mind about the pastry, flagged down a server and asked if I could have a cinnamon bun. As they were getting close to closing time and didn’t want to reopen the till, they said I could have it for free! They did ask if we would please give them a good write up on social media, but in all honesty, we would have done that without the free bun (which was yummy - sorry though, no picture again!) So, if you are in the area, Redemption Roasters is a great place for a cuppa.

At last it was time to go over to the theatre for tonight’s show, which was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical ‘Cinderella’. We knew we would need to show proof of our covid vaccinations before going into the theatre, so had it ready on our phones, as well as our tickets. There was a long queue to get in, but staff were walking up and down checking the covid status, so it moved quickly. In fact by the time we got to the door and showed our tickets, we hadn’t even had our covid status checked! The staff were very surprised but we were quickly checked and soon inside the theatre.

In all our years living in London, we had gone to see many, many shows. We’d often meet up after work and grab some cheap tickets on a whim. But since moving to Wales, theatre had taken a back seat, and not just because of covid. Even before that, we struggled with Peter working every other weekend, and public transport back to our home finishing much too early for theatre visits. So with one thing and another, it was almost 2 years since we had been to see a show. Which perhaps explains why we misread our tickets and initially started off sitting in row B instead of row D! Fortunately we realised before the show started and quickly took our proper seats.

So, what did we think of the show? Well, to be honest we weren’t blown away, at least up to the interval. There were some great performances, especially from Carrie Hope Fletcher as the Cinderella character. However, we found it rather muddled and not particularly involving. The best known song ‘Bad Cinderella’ was fine, but the overall tone of the show flip-flopped between fairytale, comedy, melodrama and realism, and never quite settled. There were a couple of technical issues, and at one point the show stopped completely for a few minutes.

However, Act 2 won us over, not least because of the hauntingly beautiful ‘Far Too Late’. This was much more the classic Lloyd Webber ballad, sounding as if it could have come straight from Phantom. Indeed, since Andrew is something of an eco-warrior when it comes to recycling music, perhaps it was originally written for something else entirely!

As for the rest of the show, we had already guessed the ‘twist ending’ (no spoilers!) but it was well done. One particular character should have had a much bigger song, particularly with such an amazing voice – but to say more would give it away. All in all, an enjoyable evening, and just so wonderful to be in a theatre again. Even my achey knees didn’t spoil it (and in fact the leg room was pretty good for cheap seats).

By the time we were walking back from Ealing Broadway station to the Premier Inn, though, my knees were really complaining. It was only a 15 minute walk, but at this point it felt like forever. Eventually, though, we were back in our room and by 11.30 we were out like a light.

Join me tomorrow for tales of meeting friends (including some unexpected ones), eating out, and of course more theatre.

>>London Days 1-2

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[P&S]

Great first day back in London for you Well done on the free bun