Hello, 2010!

Jan 03, 2010 08:54 AM Filed in: Day To Day
labohemeHello, hello! It’s a New Year again! Funny how that just keeps on happening year after year, huh? Well, this year is off to a particularly good start for me. I spent part of my holiday season in London with my friend V, and we had a really good time. It was great!
Best Holiday Ever. Happy
This is I think the 3rd time now I’ve spent part of the holidays in London. I’m not sure what it is about Blighty, but I really do enjoy it there. I’ve been a number of times now over the years for various reasons and at various times of the year, but I have to say that being there around Christmas is definitely my favorite. Hard to beat London at Christmas! This year V and I just planned to hang out together for the week between Christmas and New Years and enjoy the season and each others’ company. It was really nice.
We did have one Big Day planned, seeing La Bohéme at The Royal Opera House. That was Wonderful! Act III with the beautiful snowfall blanketing the stage and caressing the air around the performers was simply magical. We were in our seats for three hours, and it flew by like nothing. Incredible. That was my first time in The Royal Opera House, and I can’t imagine having a better memory of it now to cherish than that one.
TheLionKing
And then, on our way out of the opera house we stopped at the box office to ask about The Lion King. We had seen postings for it round and about Covent Garden on our way in, and that’s a show that both V and I have wanted to see for years. Turns out it was playing just three blocks or so down the street, but the fella working in the box office said that it was pretty much always sold out so not to get our hopes up. Well, we walked down to the theater anyway and saw that there were 4 performances scheduled during the remainder of our holiday, so the next morning when the box office opened I was there and wouldn’t you know it, we got a pair of seats on the main floor, center, about 17 rows back for the next day’s matinee. Holy cows! Talk about a Benevolent Universe. So we saw La Bohéme AND The Lion King over our holidays. And The Lion King was a LOT of fun. I think the theater was at least a third if not more filled with kids, so it was definitely a high energy audience, and V and I settled into our seats and just soaked it all up. We felt like
kids ourselves! And sitting to the right of V was a serious little girl who we think was there with her Grandmother, and V said that the little girl knew simply Everything about The Lion King, so Grandma was never at a loss during the wild and enthusiastic performance, LOL! It was a lot of fun. On our way out of the theater we were surrounded by a small sea of happily dazed looking children clutching their Lion King booty and wobbling behind Moms & Dads & Grandmas. It was a Good Day.

So V and I had a pretty special week in Blighty. When we weren’t running around the city we were snuggled up in our room watching movies (lots of The Lord Of The Rings...the whole trilogy in fact, extended editions...The Pirates of Tortuga, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Princess Bride) and drinking large quantities of Cadbury’s hot chocolate. That is really good stuff!

So you can see why my New Year is off to a great start, and for those of my close friends who are wondering, yes, V and I will be doing this again sometime somewhere. We haven’t figured out the details yet, but I’m sure once I’ve recovered somewhat from the traveling craziness, we’ll start plotting our next holiday. I’ll keep you all posted.

So a Happy New Year to all of you. I hope your 2010 is full of Joy and Wonder, and Health and Happiness! I’ll be talking to you soon, I’m sure.

Cheers,
JB