Saturday, July 6, 2024
We slept great last night, which might be a first for the first night after jet lag. Yay. We slept in as a matter of fact. Yay.
We saw my choice for a show first, at 2:30, at the Criterion Theater. The Criterion is underground. Huh. You go in on street level and go down and down and down. It is celebrating its sesquicentennial, and I could not find any information on why it was built underground 150 years ago. It doesn’t seem easier. I have no idea, but it was very interesting. Keith commented on it as often as he could. We saw Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) and it was stellar. It is a two person show and the stars were spectacular. We were both swept off our feet. I said I couldn’t remember the last time I enjoyed a show that much, then in 5 seconds I said, Oh, Come From Away…but anyway, it was terrific. The staging was really cool, with stacks of suitcases making all the scenery (they opened and added prop and sets) (and they lit up, with lots of different colors). The characters are British and American and I wondered, as we laughed through the first act, if we were laughing at the same things the British people were laughing at. Impossible to know.
The Criterion is right in Picadilly Circus, so we saw some buskers and lots of people as we wandered away. We went stalking candy, but only found Whiskey and Coke in a can. What?
We had pasta for dinner. Our waiter took our order, then we never saw him again. Someone brought the food, brought us more water when we asked, and after we asked a random person for our bill, she got it and checked us out. No tipping there, but there was a 12.5% service charge. People in Europe don’t seem to drink a lot, because everything is served in little glasses or bottles. Our water glass was 5 ounces – I would have liked to see our waiter more often. Or I could have brought my own Jack and Coke.
After dinner we stepped into the nearby National Portrait Museum. My favorite thing I saw was a make your own queen kit. I could make my own queen. I also read a very good book about King Charles called Little People, Big Dreams King Charles. It was pretty short, but I liked it a lot.
Our evening show was Keith’s choice, Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder. The first act didn’t have a lot happen – they sang a lot about not having lives and doing a podcast – but the second act was really good. There was a new murder to solve and a Murder Con to go to. The Criterion had a really nice restroom with twelve stalls – the Ambassador had two stalls (one working) in the smallest space possible. I was lucky to be sitting near the exit door and was third in line. I was able to get back into the theater before Keith was even checked out with his tiny ice cream from the intermission vendor. Keith loves British theaters – they let him eat ice cream.
It was a beautiful evening – about 63 degrees and no clouds! We zigged and zagged our way home, looking at all the people coming out of theaters and restaurants. We came upon a crowd and quickly figured out it was of people waiting for Tom Holland to come out. I didn’t expect we would see Tom, because there were quite a lot of people there, but I loved listening to the cheers when anybody came out the door (followed by quiet “not him”). We waited until there was a quick cheer and then sad sounds. He must have come out very quickly and driven away. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
