London: Day Two

On Friday night, our first night in London, we were so tired from flying (and the time change) that we went to bed at 8, figuring we'd probably sleep a good 12 hours and be up and ready to go at 8, right? Not quite. We woke up around 2 am and weren't able to get back to sleep, so we kind of flipped through our books, planning out the next couple of days. After going back to bed around 4, we slept... and slept... and slept... until 1 pm! Oops. We certainly didn't intend to do that! So we hurriedly got up and got ready for our anniversary date; we had plans to see a matinee showing of The Mousetrap at St. Martin's Theatre. We got to the area around 3, had a quick lunch (er, breakfast, really) and then went to the show. It was SO good! I love Agatha Christie anyway, and it was just so amazing to see such a talented cast performing such a British show. Dan really liked it, too, and he's not nearly as into theater as I am. But we were both so impressed!

Unfortunately you could not take pictures inside the theater (even when the show wasn't going on), but it was a beautiful theater. Dark wood paneling, rich brocade burgundy curtains with gold trim; it was so pretty. And it was quite small and intimate, so I don't think anyone had a bad seat. Our seats were great; we were in Row H, so not far back from the stage at all, and we were sitting right in the center section, so it was perfect. The cast was so talented, the show was completely engaging, and we were in London; it was the perfect way to spend our fifth anniversary!

After the show, we walked around the Piccadilly Circus area for awhile just admiring the atmosphere and architecture of London. We saw bits of Chinatown, too. Then for dinner we were feeling like Italian (well, I was feeling like Italian, and Dan willingly obliged; he's so flexible like that!) and we went to this cute place called The Spaghetti House. It was pretty good, although surprisingly enough, I like the place I often go to with Tracy in Madison, called Cafe La Bellaitalia, better. But it was still fun (although the sneaky waiter tried to charge us for a bottle of wine, even though I only had a glass; of course he said it was a mistake, but Dan & I felt like he was trying to take advantage of us as tourists. Oh well. Luckily I always check the bill before I pay!)

Then we went back to our hotel neighborhood and just hung out at a local pub for a bit. Dan was not impressed with the room temperature beer at all, and he thought they'd have a much larger selection. So I guess London is not the place to go if you're a beer aficionado! But we still had a fun time just talking and enjoying each other's company; all in all, it was the perfect way to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary.

 The Piccadilly Circus area we strolled around afterward

 The British are so patriotic; flags everywhere! (Although maybe some of that is because the Queen's diamond jubilee was the following weekend--it started the day we left to go back to the States).