An adventure!

Agh! More like a misadventure but as you can see we made it to see Hamnet at the Garrick Theatre in Charing Cross Road.

Last Spring when I booked it it seemed a great idea to book just before Christmas so we could combine a visit to Bath and the theatre in London by taking the train from Bath to Paddington for a matinee performance. Well Great Western Railway decided to have its strike on this very day!

After various conversations with theatre and rail company about alternatives Chris (and Alex in the pub!) decided we could drive to Reading and get the Elizabeth Line right into the city centre.

I don’t know Reading but it was rammed and the first three car parks we tried were full. Eventually managed to park on the 7 th floor of a multi story and then straight on the train at the station. It was a good job it was in as it took longer than expected stopping at every stop. Off the train at just after 2.00 pm we had to almost run to the theatre. Got there in time to join the queue for the Ladies!
I enjoyed it and am obviously glad we made it. Chris says he didn’t understand it but then he hasn’t read the book.

We headed into China town for dim sum and would have had a bit more of a wander around but it was raining quite heavily when we came out so went straight for the train. I’m always amazed how busy London is and it seems worse when everyone is carrying umbrellas. We got seats after the first two stops and it was a faster train with limited stops. Great! Alls well that ends well.
No, we got to Maidenhead and there was a power outage so that was the end of the line literally!! No buses to Reading, the company might put on a bus but they didn’t know when, so we ended up sharing a taxi with two young men - £40. Could have been worse.

Finally home and having a mulled wine with Grace who’s been out at an audition.

A quieter day tomorrow I think, it was Grace who said we should consider today as an adventure, not sure I’ll be having another for a while. Crazily she is heading into London tomorrow to see Jamie Callum at the Albert Hall! She’s not using the train.