Last year on my birthday I was in Iceland. This year I decided to make a birthday trip a new tradition when my friend of 20+ years Monica told me she was having a work conference in Glasgow over my birthday weekend. Since I don’t currently have a job and a flight from Zurich to London is a mere 1 hour 20 minutes it was an easy decision to join her Friday (my b-day) for the weekend! And since I love musical theater so much, I also chose to sneak in single evening in London to see a West End Show.
I left Zurich on Thursday afternoon and arrived at my hotel in London at about 2:30. I booked early so I got a great rate at the extremely quaint and very London Draycott Hotel in the Kensington neighborhood. My room was the J.M. Barrie room and was decorated in a Peter Pan theme.
After freshening up I set out to walk to the Savoy Theater to pick up my tickets for Gypsy starring Imelda Staunton. I also had made a reservation to eat at Rules, London’s oldest restaurant, before the show. On my walk from the hotel to the theater I passed through some of London’s most famous sites; Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abby, Big Ben and the London Eye.
Before I left I took a picture of a picture of my mom and I in London in 1981 in front of the houses of parliament. As part of a long term project, I plan on trying to revisit as many places around Europe from previous trips as I can. I want to do a photo series of before and afters. The trips I took to Europe with my mom are some of the most precious memories I have. For this short trip, this is the spot and photo I sought out.
Thursday night at rush hour along the Thames was crazy busy! The streets were thronged with tourists and business people alternately standing dumbly or rushing from place to place. But I found the spot! Unfortunately in these post 911 days of heightened security they have build a high and imposing fence around the perimeter of the buildings. You can’t really tell I’m in the same spot until you get across the street. Even if the photo didn’t turn out, it was a great opportunity to revisit and remember walking with my mom, in awe of London, both of us seeing it for the first time.
Moving on I made my way to the box office and my 5:30 dinner reservation. Rules was a very unique dining experience. Pretty stuffy and formal but with a little imagination I could picture sitting across from a drunken Oscar Wilde exchanging barbs or belling up to the bar to eavesdrop on Dickens telling funny stories to a rapt audience. The room is that old and looks as if it hasn’t changed in a century. I ordered wild pheasant since it was in season (and was warned to watch out for buckshot) and it was pretty tasty if a bit dry. I was seated next to two American women, a mother and daughter who were there to celebrate the mom’s 80th birthday and we chatted throughout most of the meal. 
After bidding adieu I headed to the historic Savoy Theater to see Gypsy!
I’ve never seen the show before, not even the movie musical starring Rosalind Russell and Natalie Woods. The music is by Jules Styne and the lyrics by Sondheim so I couldn’t go wrong. There were so many fantastic numbers I recognized and Imelda Staunton was incredible! What an amazing show.
The cherry on top of my amazing day was that I was able to meet up with my very old friend Polly. Polly and her family moved to Berkeley from London when I was nine and we became fast friends. She only stayed one year and I was heartbroken when they moved back. During that 1981 trip with my mom I got to visit and stay with her for a few days. That is the last time we had seen each other. Through the magic of Facebook we reconnected a few years ago. When she saw that I was going to be in London she asked if I’d like to get together. She met me for a drink after the show and we were able to spend an hour or so catching up on the past 30 odd years. Here’s a picture of us on Walker Street.
I’ll have to get her to send the one the waiter took of us at the bar. Polly had a Polaroid of this same photo plus a couple I hadn’t seen before with her. She also had a copy of a the children’s novels (The Story of the Treasure Seekers: Being the Adventures of the Bastable Children in Search of a Fortune) by British author E. Nesbit that I had inscribed and given to her as a gift. Her 9 year old daughter is currently reading it. Polly is working as the head of communications in the UK for Medecins Sans Frontieres. I also learned that her father, an environmental economist, shares a Nobel Peace prize!
We stayed later than the Underground ran so I hopped in a cab back to my hotel. I had an early morning train to catch to Glasgow the next morning so I went straight to bed, being sure to lock my window in case Peter Pan decided to sneak in and ask me to fly off with him. AS IF!