Monday 4 January 2010

A Fabulous Day Out.....

One of the best Christmas presents I have EVER received was given to me last week by my eldest son who has just turned 17.
He planned, arranged and booked it by himself, and it was 2 tickets (one for me, one for him) to go and see Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre in London.
How Fantastic is That?!!!!!!

Amazing!!!!

We are both BIG fans of musicals so it was such a treat. Not only that, but we had the whole day in London first and I was able to do a bit of shopping too!!

I was very lucky because I had already read in blogland about both Lucy here and Hen here having similar days out, so I had two 'guides' as to the best places to go if you only have a short time.

We got the train into London earlyish on Saturday morning, and arrived at Covent Garden where we were treated to some beautiful music by some very classy buskers.
Then we walked towards Liberty's where I have always wanted to go, and never have, and what a treat that was.
A beautiful old building, where you half-expected Shakespeare to come round the corner at any moment. It was just as lovely inside.
And of course, we headed straight for the haberdashery section where there was some gorgeous yarn, lots and lots of wonderful floral fabrics and beautiful ribbons. I really loved these bird houses made of fabric.
Even the back of Liberty's was spectacular - it looked like it had been wallpapered with lilac floral fabric - how brilliant is that!!
From Liberty's we walked along Carnaby Street, where they had the best Christmas decorations! I would have loved one of those LOVE signs!!
We did a bit of 'trendy young man' shopping in Topman, then made our way to Marylebone High Street, quite a trek but some lovely shops on the way.

We popped into Emma Bridgewater, (I just love her mugs but since I have quite a selection already, couldn't justify another!) I was saving myself for Cath Kidston!!

We had a perfect lunch here,
it simply couldn't have been better. (Spinach quiche and couscous salad for him and Goat's cheese & mediterranean veg pie and mash for me, for those of you who like those kind of details!) Highly recommended!
Somewhat revived we headed for Cath K and I wasn't disappointed. For me, I was remarkably restrained though and actually left some things I wanted in the shop!!

By this time it was getting dark and we were beginning to flag. I wanted to see VV Rouleaux's and after a bit of a struggle, we found it and although it was shut, we could still see everything as the lights were on. (Excuse the poor photo, taken on my phone and in the dark!)
Absolutely beautiful, packed full of all kinds of trimmings - will have to come back!
Very tired by now, we hopped into a taxi and went to Harrods. My eldest had never been and was suitably impressed and amazed. We found a gorgeous crystal chandelier which would have looked lovely in our hall, for a mere £37,500!!!!!!! I am always impressed by the number of people in Harrods and how well organised it is.

As a treat, we had afternoon tea in the restaurant, complete with pianist playing twinkly music.
Most refreshed, we decided it was time to go back to Shaftesbury Avenue and to the theatre!
And what can I say - I have seen Les Miserables once before a long time ago, in a much bigger theatre, but this time it was like a different show. It had been good then, but this time, in the lovely fairly intimate surroundings of the Queen's Theatre, it was fantastic! Wonderful, moving, and chills-down-your-spine-good.

We got the train back to my hubby's parents who had kindly put us all up for the weekend, and travelled home the next day.
Sunday dawned with bright blue skies and the journey back home had such fabulous scenery, I could resist taking some pics to show you.



And so ended one quite possibly one of the best weekends EVER!!!! Thank you so much, Son number 1!!!!!

Apologies for the enormous length of this post!!!!! I hadn't realised I'd put in quite as many photos, but I always like photo-heavy posts myself, so I'm just hoping you do too!!
I have taken some of the things I bought, but I'll save that for another day!!! xx

8 comments:

  1. SQUEEEEE for the best son EVER! What an amazing adventure! And I am insanely jealous as Les Mis is my absolute favourite musical ever. I have been fortunate enough to see it performed twice, but not within the past decade.
    And all the shops.. and food and LONDON! (well, I'm already jealous your in the UK and I'm stuck in ruddy America).

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  2. Oh my goodness, what a brilliant and exciting post!! You are lucky to have such a gorgeous son and it sounds/looks like the best day out. I enjoyed the little tour of London, your thoughts and the beautiful photo's from the drive home. This little trip will surely stay in your mind for a long time to come, thanks for taking me along on the ride xo

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  3. I loved that Tanya, lucky,lucky you! I hope when my boys grow up they do something so lovely for me, epecially spending the day with you like that. It all looked so nice. I bet you were that lovely kind of exhausted.
    Funny how your London shots looked a little mad without snow, we are heading to our third?!?! week with it now.....
    X

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  4. What a wonderful day out. It sounds perfect. Even without the musical I'm sure spending real quality time with your son would have been amazing.

    I too am a big fan of Les Mis and I am very jealous of your grand day out.

    Oh and I love the long post with lots of photos!

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  5. Lovely to see pics of London, feel like I haven't been there in ages and I'm only 20 mins from waterloo!! Just can't bear the thought of a pram and the tube!! Les Mis was one of the first shows I ever saw when younger (at Manchester Palace) and loved it so much so that it made me want to go and work in the theatre, which I did, never on Les Mis though....I did Phantom ( and now I can't hear the music without jumping into 'quick change' mode!! he he!)
    Lucky you what a treat! I'm sure you know, but vv rouleaux have an online shop. x

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  6. What a lovely present! And how cool that your son enjoys spending time with you and knows what will treats you will enjoy. I bet there are a lot of mums out there who would like to know the secret of your great relationship! Loving all the photos!

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  7. looks fantastic, No 1 son knows you deserve every minute of that fabulous pressie!!...can you put my birthday in no 1 sons diary please thanks!xxxx

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  8. It will be great to watch Les Miserables, i have bought tickets from
    http://ticketfront.com/event/Les_Miserables-tickets looking forward to it.

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