#7 A lovely Saturdate

We try to make the best use of our time off whenever we have any, and the lazy part of me dies a little every time we have to make that effort to do stuff and just in general, get out of bed on a non-working day. However, I’m always glad we do in the end though, because we always have a good time doing things.

We had afternoon tea in the fancy Waldorf Hotel, and as it advertises:

“Afternoon tea at The Waldorf Hilton is always special. Put simply, you can’t pay us a visit without sampling our take on one of Britain’s favourite pastimes. Whether you are celebrating an occasion or seeking an indulgent treat, enjoy our selection of freshly cut sandwiches and savouries before tucking into warm scones with clotted cream and jam. Finish with sweet treats and your choosing from our fabulous range of speciality teas. Creating a real sense of occasion, our popular afternoon tea is skilfully prepared, served with precision and accompanied by our elegant resident pianist and harpist. For those looking for bubbles, free-flowing Champagne can be added.”

I mean, clearly I am easily swayed by such pretty and elegant descriptions but would’t you be too?! (This is why I never have enough money, as I am so easily persuaded to buy things on a lurch.) But yes, afternoon tea was nothing less than wondrous – (to be honest, the sandwiches were pretty meh but it was really the classy atmosphere that you pay for). I was so impressed with the harpist that the next time that you hear from me, I might have signed up for some harp lessons. Or you know, be half way into doing Grade 1 to become a professional harpist. One should have dreams you know, it’s good for you.

 

We then walked around Covent Garden to shop and also visited the Pop Up Café near Leicester Square by Easy Jet celebrating all things Dutch – well actually, celebrating mostly – sprinkles. Yes, sprinkles. In fact the social media tag was #sprinklescafe. This was actually so fun, and we’re so glad we went to check it out! We ended up trying to be all artistic and tried to make sprinkle art on toast because apparently Dutch people ACTUALLY have it as food. (We confirmed this with staff who were actually Dutch and told us which were the better sprinkles to eat and the not-so-nice ones.) They had such awesome snazzy sprinkles and tulip art everywhere, and even clouds that went into a flashing musical display! I even got my lips done — WITH SPRINKLES! Never had so many stares in one day, and I heard someone whisper “crazy” but – #YOLO.

 

For dinner, we had a reservation at Café Pacifico – this was a prize win from ages ago as part of the Comida Festival. Cuban/Mexican-inspired cocktails, mandatory nachos, chimichanga, burritoes and tacos! YUM YUM YUM. Service was absolutely excellent, there were so many customers and yet food managed to be served in record time, super tasty, piping hot and very nicely presented! I can’t wait to be back – the atmosphere was so fun and the food was so authentic and tasty.

 

 

#4 Truly, it was Phantastic

I’m not sure how you feel after watching a brilliant play, musical or musical performance. I am always left utterly mesmerised and singing or humming the entire repertoire for days on end.

Last weekend, we decided to watch (as you might have gathered from the title), the Phantom of the Opera!! It is my third time watching it but I don’t think it really counts until you experience a musical close enough to properly appreciate it. Previous two times I was far enough that I had to do a stupid amount of squinting and borrowing of binoculars to view the performance properly, and this time though, I was in the FOURTH ROW. The FOURTH ROW! We paid full price for the tickets and it was freaking worth every penny.

I know this entire post is dedicated to talking about how amazing the Phantom of the Opera is, but really, it definitely really is the best musical out there and I love it so much. I’d give it a 11 out of 10 if I could. I’m so pleased Kevin feels the same way about it. There is a reason why it is has been running for 31 glorious years – it is the longest running musical there is. I love absolutely everything about it, the brilliant singing and operatic highlights, the humour, the raw emotion of all the characters, the wonderful stage set up, the special effects, the rich details of the costumes and entire setting. It is an incredible show, and it absolutely cannot be faulted. The entire cast was brilliant, and Ben Lewis played such a brilliant Phantom. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who makes it such a brilliant show, and to carry this wonderful musical legacy onwards! :’)

Have you watched the Phantom of the Opera before, and if so, who is your favourite cast member? Who is your favourite Phantom or Christine? And if you HAD to pick one (an impossible task for me), which is your favourite song?

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Funny faces
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Here’s the stage front at the beginning of the show and the view from E11/E12.
Struggling with a good photo especially with the standing ovation!