I had a funny sort of a birthday really. When we woke first thing to make our way to Southampton for my scan it was a dark stormy day and gushing with rain outside. We had decided to go by bus to Cowes and take the Red Jet to Southampton as there is nowhere to safely leave a car overnight. Walking to the bus stop was a challenge since the car drivers were racing past and one of them targeted my leg with a particularly spectacular splash. So I started the day pretty wet and became progressively wetter. The weather didn’t improve much and we gave up waiting for a bus in the downpour from town to the hospital and took a taxi. Once there I had to drink a jugful of disgusting Ribena flavoured contrast fluid. I have had nicer drinks to celebrate a birthday. Several people in the waiting room in Oncology were playing on their recently acquired Nintendo DS consoles and discussing their relevant scores for brain training. It looks fun and I am sorely tempted to get one, though so far without success since they seem to have sold out before Christmas and not re-stocked. I was finally released at 12.30pm, and we caught a bus back into town. We had lunch at a 'Slug and Lettuce', which was nicer than the name would suggest! We then found our hotel, the Novotel, which provided a comfy room with good facilities. We had a rest for an hour before walking around the West Quay shopping centre which was a good break from the rain. We made our way to the Mayflower and picked up our tickets at the box office.
Daniel had sent me a text so I rang him and managed to have a chat before the show began. It was an excellent production with some amazing special effects. The tornado was done with the use of background film, thunderous sound effects and lighting flashes, making the whole thing feel very real. I think I am a big softie at heart as I am a sucker for happy endings and the idea that good will always triumph over evil. I wish that all our world’s ‘wicked witches of the west’ would get their come-uppance in similar fashion. The audience was responsive and the atmosphere was great throughout.
We had been tempted to hijack a couple of kids so we wouldn’t look out of place at the Wizard of Oz but in fact there were way more adults without children there than families so we needn’t have worried. The last children’s show I really enjoyed was when the children were small and Paul and I took them to a David Wood adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk where it was ‘Jack and the Baked Bean Tin Tree’. That was a brilliant production and David Wood is soon going to be doing an adaptation of a Roald Dahl story: ‘Danny’ at the Mayflower. If circumstances allow I would love to go and see that!
We had a comfortable night in the hotel. We hadn’t bothered with a meal after the show so enjoyed a lovely breakfast before walking back into town for more ‘shopping therapy’. Around midday we picked up the suitcase and wended our way back to the ferry terminal. It was a simple enough journey home. The water was much calmer than the outward trip and the boat skimmed smoothly back to Cowes. Arriving home I found a pile of birthday cards on the mat… I also had email messages and phone messages. Thanks so much!
I have some good memories to take away from the experience and the Novotel have generous amounts of my skin. A fair exchange.
Two more pastels for you to enjoy...which one is Aslan?
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