Chicago!

I received tickets from some colleagues in Calgary to attend the musical, Chicago, in the West End. My first London show!!

I went with Carole, the woman that pre-viewed my flat for me. I took her to thank her for doing that, as it was quite a bit out of her way. Anyway, we had a fantastic time! We met at the theatre (it was raining!) and walked down the street to the Scotch Steak House. It's not particularly fancy, but it was good. Being from Calgary, I was skeptical as to the quality of the steak, but I was pleasantly surprised. The flavour was nice and it was cooked properly and fairly tender. They serve the New York Strip with egg and bacon on top. I didn't grasp that concept, but I'm sure Dr. Atkins would have approved!! And the only accompaniment with it was some shredded cabbage and lettuce (we had to ask for salad dressing) and chips (fries). If you wanted your potato a different way, you had to pay for a separate potato, and if you wanted veggies instead of salad, you had to order them separately as well! It was all good, though, and we had a nice pinot noir with it.

Chicago was brilliant! The singing and dancing was superb and I loved it! The seats were nosebleed, but they had little binoculars you could rent at the seats! You put in a 50p coin and they were yours for the evening. Actually, you probably could have taken them home, but they really weren't worth it! Anyway, the stage musical was better than the movie, and there was more to it - they cut some of the best bits out of the movie. I really don't think Chicago the movie should have gotten as many Oscars as it did. It was ok, but not fantastic. Carole has a daughter who is a actress/singer/dancer. She's currently doing the travelling version of Les Miserables. Carole likes going to shows and whatnot, so we're going to try to go at least once every couple of months. She is also planning a girls weekend in Edinburgh to see her daughter perform there and invited me along, so I'll probably be doing that in April.

On my way to the theatre, I stumbled across the Canadian High Commission building - it's right on Trafalgar Square. So, I think I'll pop in there one of these days and register. It's always a good idea to let your embassy know you're living in the country.

Tomorrow I'm off to the spa. Gentry gave me a half-day spa package at a local spa here in Chiswick called Jurlique. I'm really looking forward to it. It a massage, facial, hydrotherapy and some other stuff. Nice and relaxing.

It's midnight, and I'm trying to stay up to watch the lacrosse game at 2:30 am. Calgary plays Arizona at 7:30 pm MST, which is, of course, 2:30 my time. The game is webcast, so I'm hoping to watch it. I meant to watch the one last night against Edmonton, but when my alarm rang at 2:15 am, I talked myself out of it!! lol

Anyway, I'm off to have a cuppa and watch some TV.

Cheers!