The drive south could have been a nightmare; the traffic was heavy and very slow moving all the way down to Birmingham but Brett had volunteered for the first shift of driving, so I napped through it and took over as the traffic cleared. There was plenty of fog along the way but London was fairly empty of traffic as we came through. It took us seven hours in the end.
Tuesday, we were home and all on leave. Brett and I decided to take a run over to Bluewater. I needed to change the belt I’d been given by my parents (they’d over-estimated my waist size!) and Brett wanted some cables from the Apple store and we both fancied a bit of window-shopping.
The drive wasn’t bad but I was a bit concerned when we discovered the queue on the A2 to get into Bluewater was probably a mile or so long. Unlike the lemmings though, rather than join the queue, I took the second lane and managed to avoid the congestion. The car parks were all full though – even the one right out back by House of Fraser which I always use and is always empty. Finding a parking space was like swimming with sharks; lots of cars cruising the lanes, all looking for that one elusive vacant spot. In the end we stalked a couple leaving the centre all the way back to their car and nabbed their space.
After the difficulty parking, I was expecting to find Lord of the Flies in the centre itself, but while it was busy and there were chavs galore, it wasn’t really overcrowded and everyone seemed to be in a reasonably good mood. We were both surprised by the fifty-yard queue to get into Hollisters! Clearly it’s the new teen sensation… Abercrombie & Fitch being just so older generation! We did the things we needed, had a coffee and came home again.
This evening we were over in Eltham for Patrick S’s almost-New-Year’s-Eve party. There were a selection of Chorus boys there and plenty of mulled wine. I apparently proved my butchness by being able to set up a chocolate fountain. Go figure how fey the rest of them must have been!
This morning I was more hungover than I felt I ought to be and it took a while to get moving. Brett was at work today and Rosie didn’t feel like doing much, so I trekked into town and took in the Moctezuma exhibition at the British Museum. The museum was busier than Bluewater but fortunately the exhibition wasn’t overcrowded and it was an interesting insight into the life and beliefs of the Mexica. (They believed they were God’s chosen people and, so long as they did what he told them, they were destined for greatness. I really must discuss that with Mikey!)
Once I was done, I meandered back down Shaftesbury Avenue to have a coffee in Waterstones (and ogle the Sony eReader) whilst waiting for Brett to finish work. We had tickets for Full Monty at the New Players Theatre. It was directed by the same guy who’d done the Rent at Catford Broadway earlier this year that we’d loved. Sadly this wasn’t quite as spellbinding; a passable performance from most of the main characters, but let down by the lead’s acting which just didn’t convince.
Caught the train back to Catford and had a chicken kebab wrap on the way home. No idea why I felt the urge for that. Maybe I’m pregnant. Hmm.
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