Tuesday & Wednesday

Woah what a couple of days!

Tuesday was the culmination of 3 months of studying for a work-related exam.  It didn't go well.  And that's all I will say about that!

Straight after the exam I left the hospital and headed down to the station to hop on a train to London.  Best remedy for my malaise.  I was meeting up with Jenny for a night at the theater as, due to her college having their annual ball, she wasn't allowed to stay in her room that night.  She wasn't actually going to the ball, but as its an all night affair, it's a college rule that none of the rooms can be occupied.  Seems a bit strict to me, and it meant she had to make alternative arrangements.

So she headed into London and met me from the train and we headed over the road to St Pancras Youth Hostel.  Accom. is hugely expenive in London at the moment, no doubt due to Jubilee and Olympic season - so we opted for something cheap.  It wasn't the Ritz but it was ok and somewhere to lay our heads for the night.

We had a lovely tea at Pizza Express, and I chose  a healthy goats cheese salad (how good was I??).  I'd only had some veg soup for lunch, and a cookie and pepsi on the train (consolation food), but wasn't particularly hungry by tea time, so the salad was really nice.

We hi-jacked a taxi to the Queens Theatre to see Les Miserables.  I went to see it last year with some friends, and Jenny was to come with us but it didn't work out, so I had promised her that I would take her sometime.  This was the ideal opportunity.  The tickets were half the price we paid last time but we were up in the gods.  When it comes to films, tv programmes and the like, I'm not usually one for watching things over and over again, but I loved Les Mis and it was great to see it again. The cast had changed a couple  of days before and the new performers brought something slightly different to the night.  

I did indulge in a little tub of ice-cream during the interval - it was so hot (that's my excuse etc ...) but not a bad day food wise all told.  We walked back from the theatre to St Pancras, and I even managed to remember the way without a map.

I woke up on Wednesday morning thinking it might have been wise to have brought my A-Z or printed off some maps before I came, then I remembered the map app on my phone.  I'd never used it before but it turned out to be an excellent little facility.  That led me on to downloading a London Underground app from the princely sum of ... 69p!!  That was brilliant also and made things soooo much easier.  We had brekkie at the hostel - so cornflakes and a yoghurt for me then set off for Oxford Street to do a bit of shopping.  Bought a few crafty bits and Jenny got a new dress then we headed down to Piccadilly to visit Europe's biggest bookstore - Waterstones.  It is immense!  

Shopping trips are never complete for either me or Jenny without visiting a bookstore.  I bought the new Danny Wallace book - Charlotte Street, and started reading it on the train on the way home - it's hilarious and I inevitably started giggling my way through the pages much to the amusement of the other travellers. I also bought The Barbed-Wire University by Midge Gillies  - about the real lives of Allied prisoner of war in the 2nd World War. I'm not much of a war book person, but this doesn't sound like your usual war book and the blurb on the back really caught my attention.

'For most allied prisoners of war, there were no heroic escapes through secret tunnels - the reality was a constant battle against boredom and brutality.  Now drawing on letters and interviews with survivors, Midge Gillies casts a new light on a remarkable group of men who held onto the hope that there was life beyond the camps.  These men applied their initiative to forming orchestras, building a golf course between their huts and daring surgery on the Thailand-Burma railway.  There were men who attended lectures, learned new languages and, at one German camp, sat exams on such a scale that it became known as the Barbed-Wire University.'

We were doing ok for time so grabbed a quick lunch at Eat; a very healthy falafel wrap and a mango and lime blast - just what was needed to cool us down as it appears summer has arrived.  We then headed down to Trafalgar Square where Terry Pratchett was doing a book promotion for The Long Earth as Jenny is a huge fan of his.  We managed to get hit on the head a few times by bouncing globes but sadly had to leave before Terry put in an appearance.  

It was a close call getting back to St Pancrasin time (via the hostel to pick up our bags) but I made it on the train with just a few minutes to spare.   I so hate being late or close to time for things and prefer to leave myself plenty of time to get somewhere - especially when my train ticket was only valid on that train.  So it was a little bit of a panicky end to the trip, but all is well that ends well. It was another flying visit but so lovely to spend some one on one time with Jenny.