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A Trip & A Tag

Sunday 20 March 2011

Ooh what a lovely weekend it's been.

Despite having to get up at an ungodly time for a Saturday, I was in London by 10am and, feeling very girl about town (am very much enjoying feeling more confident navigating my way around London), headed off to meet Margaret of Penny Dreadful Vintage fame. We had a little charity shop mooch, wandered around in the sunshine and then had coffee in a tremendous little cafe. And I'm pleased to report that she's even funnier and lovelier than I expected. Enviably dressed too! Isn't blogging fab? I am always a proper wuss about meeting new people but find when I meet fellow bloggers that I'm much less shy. I suppose there's already that sense of friendship there from all the chatting and commenting.


The original point of the jaunt to London was for Lee and I to see In A Forest Dark And Deep starring Matthew Fox and Olivia Williams. We very much like to get tickets for plays that feature our favourite actors and they're both high up on his list. The play was, well, hmmm... not very good. The acting was great - no complaints whatsoever in that department - and we had 3rd row seats which meant we could appreciate them up close (close enough for Lee to get hit in the foot with a prop can of Bud that fell off the stage). I just thought the dialogue and characterisation, particularly in the female character, were really poor in parts. The plot was a bit all over the place as well with lots of little things suggested and then never followed up on, and I saw the big dramatic moment coming a MILE off. The lady sitting next to me did not and let out quite the overly dramatic gasp when it happened.


We'd planned to meet one of Lee's pals in the evening for drinks but she couldn't come and working on the assumption that we'd easily spend £20 each in the pub, we bought tickets to see Flare Path starring Sienna Miller, James Purefoy and Sheridan Smith instead. I am SO glad we did. Despite the fact that we were sitting right up in the heavens and obviously didn't get to see any of the subtleties, I absolutely loved it. Mind you, it would have had to have been pretty bad for me not to. I love fiction and drama set in WW2 and have a real soft spot for RAF centred things, especially those about Bomber Command. But this really was great. Very funny in parts, very sad in parts, full of jolly 40's slang, really enthralling and with fab costumes and set design. Sienna (who admittedly I don't like very much) was much better than any films I've seen her in but Sheridan Smith was the winner for me. Such a sweet, emotional subplot.

Oh and we stayed in an EasyHotel. The hilarity. The orangeness. The lack of anything except a bed (seriously, wouldn't have killed them to put up a shelf or something). The bathroom was quite nice though.

Self with the perfect late night accompaniments - wine straight from the bottle, fake Pringles, a vegan Mars Bar and some roasted broad beans. What a classy bird I am.

I was terribly cultured today though. Lee's coach left about 3 hours before mine so I took myself off to the V&A for a look round. Oh my. I could have spent days in the place. I restricted myself to one little section and didn't even have enough time to do that properly. I was in my element in the British Galleries 1500-1760, with a very short dash through the 1760-1900 section as I realised I was running very late and had to scamper to the exit. Bliss, especially all the 17th century clothing and the Elizabethan room. The Hilliard miniatures are just exquisite - I stood gawping at them for ages. I didn't go to the Yohji Yamamoto exhibition but there were pieces dotted all around the rest of the exhibition rooms which I thought was a very nice touch.


Then just to round the trip off nicely, by strategically selfish bag placement I had a double seat to myself on the coach on the way home. Hurrah.

And finally...the tag. It's The Handwriting Challenge which the ever-lovely Char posted about the other day. I adore looking at other people's handwriting so do have a go at this yourself if you want to. The rules are simple, write down the following:

1. Name and blog name
2. URL
3. Write 'a quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog'
4. Favourite quote
5. Favourite song
6. Favourite band(s), artist(s)
7. Anything else you wish to say..

So, using a scrap of paper from my brilliant Edward Monkton notebook:



Didn't realise that I made the word "crap" look so much like "oap"!

33 comments:

  1. My you've done a lot. I'm glad one of the plays you saw was good, ashame the first wasn't especailly considering you had such good seats but that's the way of the world isn't it? The Yohji exhibitions but the satellite displays are really good because then everyone gets to see a few things. Think I'm doing a post on the exhibition this week.


    Bow Dream Nation xx

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  2. Shame about the first play but the weekend sounds lovely after all. Remind me never to stay in an EasyHotel haha, I like a bit of atmosphere on my travels!

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  3. Wine straight from the bottle, lol. You packed a serious lot in to your weekend. I feel like I've been lazy now! Love your handwriting, its really consistant and neat.
    http://cgdn.blogspot.com/

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  4. Sounds like a fabulous weekend to me. Supremely jealous as mine has been utterly snooze-worthy.

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  5. Wow this sounds like such a great adventure! :) I love it. I haven't done a meet up with any other bloggers, but I'd love to meet some in the future.
    Great choice on seeing a play instead of boozing it up at a bar. I figure, I can get drunk anywhere, but seeing that play must have been a once in a lifetime experience!

    By the way, I LOVE BEN FOLDS!!! I've seen him in concert. It was fantastic.

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  6. What an action packed weekend, Alex! I'm afraid I'd be far too distracted over Matthew Fox to think about the standard of the play.
    I'm salivating over the sound of those roasted broad beans washed down with wine from the bottle, that sounds like my kind of picnic. xxx

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  7. I've always wanted to see inside one of those EasyHotels! How bizarre, not even a shelf!

    Love the handwriting challenge idea. I might well have a go, I often think it would save me time to scan in posts written on trains etc' rather than typing them up anyway. :)

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  8. Sounds like a great weekend (apart from the first play).
    Lovely handwriting, but glad you pointed out the crap, I was wondering what oap was.
    I've never heard of roast broad beans, I shall seek them out. I had a go at roasting chickpeas a while ago but left them in the oven too long and they were like bullets!

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  9. I think the easy hotel room would annoy me, I have to unpack everything i've brought, even if just for one night! But glad you managed to pack heaps into your weekend, i am inspired and looking for weekends away..

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  10. What a gorgeous weekend you've had.
    Love the look of the Easyhotel. Classy. ;)

    I love the handwriting tag, might give that a go.
    xx

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  11. What a wonderful weekend. I'm envious. You've got very neat handwriting btw!

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  12. It sounds like you had a great weekend in London :)
    I missed out on seeing Sheridan in Legally Blonde and was so gutted, but glad to hear she was brilliant in this role too. She really is great.

    When I was in London last we went to the V&A and it was stunning, I couldn’t believe all of the detail it would have easily taken several days to see/explore it all. I headed straight to a Beatrix Potter exhibition and then somehow ended up enthralled by Kylie’s replica dressing room xx

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  13. oo love the sound of your hendonistic weekend and the handwriting challenge makes us to participate soon!

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  14. Busy girl! You make me feel better about my own life.
    <3

    http://glamkittenslitterbox.blogspot.com/
    Twitter: @GlamKitten88

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  15. I've heard good things about Flare Path, although also that Sheridan Smith is miles better than Sienna which I can quite believe! I do love the V and A, but yes there's never time to see everything! Sounds like you had great fun anyway :) xx

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  16. I was surprised to hear Sheridan Smith was winning awards etc for Legally Blonde as I've always HATED Two Pints... but she must be good! Glad the Easy Hotel was everything I'd imagine it to be. And the V&A - was that your first time? Ah I love it - my friends and I love the cafe especially - it's amazing (I know I sound such a philistine but it's true!) xx

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  17. Sounds like an absolutely fantastic weekend, I'm so envious! I did want to see In a Forest Dark and Deep but I'm not so sure now - predictable, messy plots annoy me :-)

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  18. Sounds like a brilliant weekend. Used to love mooching around the V&A on a Sunday when I lived in London. The EasyHotel looks v funny (didn't even know they did hotels). Would quite like to give it a go just for the experience! xx

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  19. Haha no it must've been my double, I didn't go very far from home at all on Saturday! Bwackums is not quite back to normal but the vet says the next step is an ultrasound (costing around £300!) so we're not too sure what to do! x

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  20. vegan mars bar and roasted broad beans make me want to both marry you and steal your food.

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  21. Haha the easyhotel looks VERY orange! Was it cheap? I never really thought of staying in an easyhotel.

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  22. Sounds like a great day, altho I'm now intrigued by the Easy Hotel, haha! :)

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  23. Wow you crammed a lot in! Hope we manage to do that much this weekend. Never made it to the V & A so if I can drag hubby's I shall.

    Glad you had a fab time.

    X x

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  24. It was so nice to meet you too Alex, it seemed to go so fast! No mention of the thigh-riding mini I see, thank you for preserving my decency ;) xx

    ps I must go and see Flare Path now, sounds great

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  25. The second play you went to see looks really interesting. I haven't seen a lot of theatre so I need to step up my game! And yes the James Corden sketch was good, much better than I thought it would be, and no I don't like him either. I love the handwriting tag, and Charlotte tagged me so I'll get on it tomorrow. xxx

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  26. Sounds like a fantastic weekend, even if the first play was a little disappointing. How lovely to meet another blogger!
    Don't worry about the chocolate, hubby always has some in the house so temptation is already there.
    I like the sound of emotastic oap even if thats not what it says!!!! x

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  27. I've seen this on some other blogs, will definitely have to give it a try and a post! Aww you've had a jam packed time in London; I've stayed in easyhotel before and I love it! Once you get over the orange, and if you have a room with a window (tried without once... and never again) it's magnificent on a budget and tbh if you only sleep there you've got more money to spend on frolicking around London :) jazzy ♥

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  28. My dream is to have a blogger meetup! No one lives near Idaho, I'm afraid. Clearly, I just need to go to Europe and visit with you, am I right? Hehe:)

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  29. Dearest Alex, I would see that play just for Matthew. We're going to see Flare - Sheridan's great isn't she - I've seen her in a lot of theatre.

    The V&A is my favourite museum, I love it in there.

    I'd love to meet me next time you come up! Please say yes xx

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  30. Wow what great fun you've had! i loved the photos and that hotel looks amazingly hilarious/fun!

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  31. It seems it was a great weekend. The easyhotel looks interesting, lol. =)

    xo
    Sophie

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  32. Ooh I'm super jealous of your weekend, sounds ace! And err vegan mars bar? I NEED to know about this.

    I love going into the V&A - especially the clothing exhibitions they have on, it's on of the best places to be around history.

    I feel the same about sienna miller but actually really fancy this now. :)

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  33. Sounds like a great jaunt to London! I haven't been to see many plays really, the last sort of play/musical I saw was the John Lennon one that was on in Liverpool a while back. I've never stayed in an easyhotel either...might just have to give it a try! And definitely doing the handwriting challenge too :)

    P.S Thanks for your comment on my knitting post :) I think I'll definitely carry on knitting all year round & either give things away as pressies or set up a little blog shop or something! John Lewis have a fab selection of wools but are a little more expensive than elsewhere, still, worth a visit :)

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