The Crimbo Present

[Gardian]

Elder son & DIL thoughtfully decided to get us tickets for a West End show as our present - not been for years & something else that we wouldn't have to lug back on the train.

We thought that we'd park at Reading station and take the train up to London.

Car park (16.00 - 00.00) was £16.50 (!!!), 2 x off peak fares were £39 (it was Reading not Bristol!), and then add on dinner at £45 and a programme at a fiver and you're over £100.  The face value of the tickets was £60 each by the way.

It went down well when son & heir told me that the friend of a friend of a friend who had got the tickets was in the cast and he hadn't had to pay for them. Lucky old him.[blink]

So they gave us a bottle of cognac and some other weighty things to lug back and told me to take it steady with the suitcases.[:'(]

[Cendrillon]

Oh Gardian that is a sorry tale and wasn't the cognac gift a bit like "sending coals to Newcastle"?

Have son and DIL been written out of the will yet?

[Russethouse]

Next time let me know and you can park in my drive, I could give you a lift to the station and you could get a taxi back, £6.50! Also within a short walk from the station there are two cheaper car parks (but open air) not multi story.

Has the cheap day return increased - it used to be £15 each, I guess booking early on line could help ( We saved lots when  going to Bath doing this)

I like the theatre, but I agree, its a dear night out if you include a meal. especially as for a start, for me part of the treat is to have a taxi from and back to Paddington....

What did you see ?

I think I fancy, Les Mis, Jersey Boys or Pricilla Queen of the Desert next.......and I'd like to see Warhorse too

Its worth looking at local theatres, Oxford and Windsor are easy, (and Windsor is a very pretty theatre) and of course there is the Hexagon, depends whats on.

[Gardian]

[quote user="Cendrillon"]Oh Gardian that is a sorry tale and wasn't the cognac gift a bit like "sending coals to Newcastle? [/quote]

Too true - a well-travelled bottle

[quote user="Cendrillon"]Have son and DIL been written out of the will yet?
[/quote]

There won't be anything left if there are many more episodes like that!

[Cendrillon]

"There won't be anything left if there are many more episodes like that!"

LOL![:D]

[Gardian]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

Next time let me know and you can park in my drive, I could give you a lift to the station and you could get a taxi back, £6.50! Also within a short walk from the station there are two cheaper car parks (but open air) not multi story.

Has the cheap day return increased - it used to be £15 each, I guess booking early on line could help ( We saved lots when  going to Bath doing this)

I like the theatre, but I agree, its a dear night out if you include a meal. especially as for a start, for me part of the treat is to have a taxi from and back to Paddington....

What did you see ?

I think I fancy, Les Mis, Jersey Boys or Pricilla Queen of the Desert next.......and I'd like to see Warhorse too

Its worth looking at local theatres, Oxford and Windsor are easy, (and Windsor is a very pretty theatre) and of course there is the Hexagon, depends whats on.

[/quote]

The off peak tkt was £19.50, but that covered the tube as well. The final insult was that the train back to Reading was horrible - scruffy and full of pre-Christmas drunks. Just like I used to be once upon a time.[B]

We saw 'We Will Rock You', which was great.  A skimpy story, but basically a vehicle for the music, well performed.

I think that most of the local theatres had panto on at that time, because we had sort-of guessed what 'keep Thurs evening free' was for, so had scoured the press for likely venues.  It was a nice time really. 

 

[Gardengirl]

Glad you had such a good time, Gardian. Pity about the cost of rail; we find the senior railcard is good value for when we use trains, though not much use to you.

I used to import brandy to France regularly at one time. I'm not a good sailor, and when we used to use ferries to get to France I didn't like paying their prices for cognac, which I found worked much better than the various tablets etc. I also didn't like to wait until the bar opened, so I took my own. I must have looked like a right old soak!  [:)] Later I discovered ginger capsules and changed over to them - worked well, and much cheaper! Not as good a flavour, though!

I notice that there's very little cognac available in our local French supermarkets, so I think the current bottle we have there was bought in UK and exported by car last year. There's always a huge range of whisky and whiskey though, many with very strange names! I know many French people enjoy whisky as an apero, but we're not often offered any we've ever heard of, apart from friends we've given single malts to.

[Russethouse]

We saw 'We Will Rock You', which was great.  A skimpy story, but basically a vehicle for the music, well performed.

I think that most of the local theatres had panto on at that time, because we had sort-of guessed what 'keep Thurs evening free' was for, so had scoured the press for likely venues.  It was a nice time really.

I think Oxford had the Sound of Music with Connie Fisher, you probably did beter by going to the West End [:D]

Is We will Rock You the Queen musical ?

My sister went to see that on what would have been Freddie Mercurys birthday and Brian May came on and played at the end.

[Gardian]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

Is We will Rock You the Queen musical ?

My sister went to see that on what would have been Freddie Mercurys birthday and Brian May came on and played at the end.

[/quote]

Yes it is.  Right up our street, but not everbody's cup of tea maybe.

Sorry I missed the Sound of Music! [:'(]