A Birthday to Remember

I wasn’t looking forward to my birthday this year. Not because it felt so ‘old’ but because my two daughters (plus partners) were flying out to Florida on the same day. I understood they had to take whatever they could find in cheap flights, so that wasn’t really a problem, but I did wonder what I would actually do on my Big-0 birthday.

 In the end, I had a fantastic two day birthday celebration. On Friday (the day before) I had a pub lunch arranged with about 10 friends. Thanks to one of those friends, 22 people turned up to help me begin my celebrations. There was a pile of cards, helium balloons, flowers, and a birthday cake.

 

In the evening, we had a family celebration – drinks at a local pub, then back to my daughter’s for more drinks, nibbles – and champagne too. Lots of presents, more balloons and flowers, and finally it was revealed what they had planned for the big day. A trip to London with my younger grandson (aged 19) and tickets for ‘Wicked’ (the musical).

And here's the 'computer' cake! The screen is an iced cake, and the keyboard is a large chocolate block with the letters piped onto it!

8.15am on Saturday saw us at the railway station to catch the train. Just over two hours later we arrived at Euston Station in London. On the way, we’d discussed what to do with the 4 hours we had spare until the matinee performance of the show.

We decided a boat trip on the Thames would suit us fine, so we caught the ‘Tube’ train to Tower Hill. My grandson was impressed by my knowledge of the London underground system! There was quite a long queue for the boats, but eventually we were aboard, and enjoying the sights of London, as well as the humorous commentary from one of the crew members.

 

We arrived at Westminster with plenty of time to grab some lunch before the show. We intended to flag down a taxi on Westminster Bridge – but no! All the roads in the area had been closed to traffic as there was a ‘Ride London’ event taking place i.e. thousands of cyclists riding around the city! We had to walk past the Houses of Parliament and down towards Westminster Abbey before we reached a road that hadn’t been closed, and then of course the taxi had to take a circuitous route to get to Victoria.

We still had plenty of time, so headed for a street near Victoria Station where I knew there were several pubs and cafes. Ah – another problem. All the old buildings along one side of the street had been demolished, and replaced by a building site! Fortunately it didn’t take us long to find another pub in an adjoining street.

 

 

 

At 2.30 we were in our theatre seats (Stalls, Row D), waiting for the show to start. And what a fantastic show. Great characters, great songs, fabulous costumes and amazing effects. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was back to Euston for the train home, after a super day out. And when I got home about 9pm, my neighbour came round with yet more flowers that had been delivered for me during the day!

It was certainly a birthday to remember!