Senile American Couple Goes To Same Motown Play Two Years In A Row - Remembers Nothing

Front row - that guy is the director

They are really picky about taking pictures

I was walking around in downtown London on Thursday about noon. I got an email from Lulu that she was done her class early. She asked me to get some nice tickets to a play - cheap. She sent me a list of plays that had 2:30 PM matinee shows. On the list was Motown.

I was near the Shaftesbury Theatre - so I dropped into the box office. I told the girl I was hard of hearing and liked to be up close to read faces. She said she could give me the front row for 20 pounds each. I called Lulu and she said - take them.

I sat out front with an ice cream cone - as Lulu came strutting down the street. We were pretty smug getting the front row at such short notice. We went inside and found our seats. The theatre had recently been renovated but it seemed very familiar. There was a big lighted M on the curtain.

After a while - I said to Lulu that I thought we saw this before. She said - no way. So I went to my best source of information - my coal cracker web page -

http://everhart.blogspot.com/2017/07/london-we-got-nice-seats-for-musical.html

There was the story for all to see. We saw the exact same show on July 6th - 2017!  That time we paid 39 pounds each for the 5th row center.  I even took a video of the finale.

We both laughed at our senility.

Maybe we will go out on the street and look for Rod Stewart.

This was the director's iPad

Musicians in front of us

The director also played the piano

Our tickets - front row - 20 pounds

Lulu Teaches A Course For FSU In London

Primrose Hill - London

Lulu is teaching a course at the FSU London Study Center. One week is completed with two more weeks to follow. 

This picture was taken from the 230 foot tall Primrose Hill. From the hill you have a fantastic view of the London skyline along the Thames River. Primrose Hill is famous in the movie Mary Poppins to "Let's Go and Fly a Kite."

In the 1970s - FSU bought 7 London townhouses - and connected them into a campus. It is on Great Russell Street by the British Museum. Florida State does rent out facilities to these other colleges - 

The campus is an excellent place for college kids to study abroad under the protection of being on their own college campus. 

Lulu started teaching here in the summer of 2008. We were here for the 2012 Summer Olympics. 

Since it is very hot in Tallahassee during July - it is nice to enjoy the summer over here. Normal summer temps are in the 70s. 

Florida State University also owns campuses in Florence Italy - Valencia Spain - and Panama City Panama. 

Motown Show

Today we went to the show Motown in London at 2:30. I got 2 front row tickets for 20 pounds each.

Later I went to this page - 

http://everhart.blogspot.com/2017/07/london-we-got-nice-seats-for-musical.html

You know you are senile - when we saw the same show in July of 2017 - and did not remember that. 

It is a really nice story about Barry Gordy - the owner of Motown Records in the 1960s. Diana Ross and the Supremes played a big part in the show - along with the Temptations - and the Miracles. 

Our Visit To Leeds Castle And The Battle of Britain

Spitfires filled the air during the Battle of Britain
over Leeds Castle

It was hard lining the plane and castle up. 

The sundial told the time in Virginia - they other home

I always wanted to see Leeds Castle - but thought it was by Leeds - the city - which is a couple of hours north of London. I am shamed to find out that it is NOT anywhere near Leeds. It is half way between London and Dover - the city on the English Channel. I found this out on the bus on the way. FSU offers group trips to students - and we went along on the bus. Normally the castle costs 25 pounds - but on our group - the trip was 14 pounds including the bus! Lulu went free - she was working. 

Leeds Castle started in 957 AD - named after Saxon Chief Leed. It was used off and on through history. It is on an island surrounded by a moat - just a classic castle. 

In the 1500s - King Henry the VIII kept his first wife Catherine of Aragon here. You all know he wanted to divorce her and the pope said no. So Henry broke away from the Catholic Church and formed the protestant Church of England. 

In the 1900s - Lady Baillie bought the castle for 180,000 pounds. She did a complete restoration - including modern plumbing and electricity. Thanks to her work - the castle was kept well. When she died in the 1970s - she left it to the country. 

During World War II - the Battle of Britain took place in the skies over this castle. Lady Baillie turned the castle into a country club for the pilots - and a hospital for the pilots shot down. There is much documentation about this romantic time. 

The restoration has all of the rooms in usable shape. You can even rent some of them to use today. People have weddings and parties there. 

They also have a maze - gardens - a Battle of Britain Show - boat rides - train rides - a restaurant - and collections. 

It looks us 90 minutes to get there - and also back. We had to pass through London during rush hours. FSU took two full buses. Weather was perfect - the castle was not very crowded. We had a picnic lunch on the green in front of the castle. 

We have visited to many castles and cathedrals on our trip. They blend together. This one is a bit different - the moat - the relatively modern interior. 

A moat surrounded the Castle

Gardens and walls

The Castle had a library

This building was built late - in 1822

We had lunch on the grass

Dog collar collection

The Castle was right in the middle of WWII

A real nice multi-media war show

Students enjoyed the maze

Neat playground 

Unrestored walls

Black Swans were castle logo

Lots of grounds to walk

For 50 years Lady Baillie lived here

Neat bridge between islands

Trump Sells Out America

In my opinion - Putin has information on Don Trump. So Trump is selling out America to protect his own interests. His motto has been "America First."   Now it seems to be "Trump First - Russia Second - America Last."

I am in London. I love America and am shamed of our president.

I am tired of all his mean - selfish - rude - sexist - racist behavior. Obama worked really hard to save our country from the mess Bush left it in. Now - with his tax cuts to the rich - Trump will run up the debt even worse. Most of that debt cash will go into the pockets of the rich.

I read where if you make $150k a year - you are in the top 3%.

What disappoints me the most is that people I know and love support this terrible behavior. How many times do they have to be on the wrong side of history?

The National Portrait Gallery - London

Queen Elizabeth II

A great free museum in London is the National Portrait Gallery. It is on Trafalgar Square. I enjoyed an hour walk through the pictures - taking a few snapshots. I was surprised no one stopped me form taking pictures. I also walked in without be examined by security. 

Harry and William - 2 and 5 in line 

Princess Diana

Queen Victoria

Florence Nightingale

Original George Washington

Robert Baden-Powell
Founder of Boy Scouts

Monday Morning In London And Off To Work

This is Lulu going off to work this morning. 

It is the beginning of our second week in London. Lulu has classes on Monday - Tuesday - and Thursday. Classes go from 9 to 3. She is in front of our apartment at 12 Bedford Place.

Lulu started teaching over here in 2008. We were lucky to be here during the 2012 Olympics. It is just a wonderful gig. Temperatures are usually 70s in the day and 60s at night. We have only had one short rain shower in the 58 days we have been in Europe. We go home on August 2nd.

Side note - in the picture above you can see the round Coal Hole. In the old days before 1956 - that was where they used to deliver the coal to the coal bin. Like many other things in England - they do not cover over the history. Because of pollution - all fireplaces are sealed - and all chimneys are capped. No more "London Smog."

I have been studying abroad
in London for 10 years. 

Happy Shots Around Merry Old London

This Morris Ice Cream Truck would
make a great camper. 

We will be in London 3 more weeks and then we come home. I love the cars - buses - trucks - cabs - bikes - scooter - subways - trains.

Lulu is teaching a one month course here for Florida State at their wonderful town house campus. FSU bought 7 four story town houses and connected them inside. It is truly a great place on Great Russell Street - a few doors for their British Museum (their Smithsonian).

Lulu and I have been in the same apartment for the last 10 years - 12A Bedford Place. I pushed my desk to the west facing window - so I am facing home. It is really quiet since my grandson left for home.

There are rallies against Trump here - but they love America and Americans. They are so nice to us.

Scotland Yard -
Brit's FBI

Royal Air Force
first headquarters

The Thames River was really high -
they control is by locks.

This blues guy was really good.

Protestors were too entertaining.

Cops on horses kept protestors apart.
That is Trafalgar Square in back.

Funny balloon - about 25 feet high -
$30,000

The Last Supper - at Nancy's favorite pub -
Marlborough Arms.

Blowing out the candles. 

Dr Janet Bynon O'Brien - We Met My Former Student At The Coal Hole - London

I met my former student - Dr Janet Bynon O'Brien
at The Coal Hole in London -
Coal Cracker Friends Forever

One of the best parts of being a school teacher is meeting your former students and enjoying their successful stories. She was little Janet Bynon back in 1974 - when she was in my 7th grade Earth and Space Science Class. She was also a charter member of the one day trip to Disneyworld from Pennsylvania that I sponsored.

Janet lives near Phoenix - Arizona. She teaches at the Arizona State University. She has a PhD in Educational Psychology. She started out going to Penn State University in State College - where she met her husband - Chris O'Brien. Chris is from Pittsburgh. He was a history teacher.

We met at The Coal Hole - a pub on The Strand in London.

The O'Brien's are on a pleasure trip - visiting Oxford - Liverpool - Stonehenge - and several other British attractions. We had not met in 44 years - but old friends are the best friends.

Janet lived in Summit Hill PA while attending the Panther Valley Middle School in Lansford PA with me.

The Coal Hole is a favorite pub of mine -
it is in the Savoy Hotel on The Strand

Harry - Nancy - Chris - Janet
At the Coal Hole

Hamilton - The Play - London Victoria Palace - Last Night

Our receipt - 179 pounds for 2

Lulu - happy to finally see the play

Lulu has wanted to see Hamilton ever since it first came out. The play won 14 Tony Awards in New York City. It even won a Pulitzer Prize. Still I was not convinced. Horror stories of tickets costing thousands of dollars scared me away. Even with ticket prices of 200 pounds in London - the play was sold out for the next 6 days. I am not a fan of hip hop or rap music. So - there was not much interest for this 70 year old guy. 

I enjoy going to plays in London. I also like to bargain for tickets - find deals - etc. Lulu played to my vanity. She told me that I would find a deal.

We were lucky. England was going to be playing in a World Cup Soccer game. They had not advanced this far in 60 years. I am guessing some men - refused to miss the match. While I was at the box office - some tickets were being turned back in. I was able to get two tickets for 90 pounds each - in a good location. Nothing but the best for my girl.

Before the show - Keith prepared Pimms for us. Pimms is local cocktail and Lulu's favorite. Then we took the Tube to the theatre - about 20 minutes away. We found a pub - the Bag O Nails - and had supper. Folks were just coming in for the soccer match. At 7:10 - we were leaving and England scored! The place went wild. It looked like a wonderful night all around. 

Funny part - they gave me a receipt - they hold the ticket until curtain time. They did not want me reselling them. When we got to the theatre - my credit card and ID had to match the receipt. 

We got to the theatre - they looked at my cards - and gave me the tickets.

The Victoria Palace where we used to watch Billy Elliot - has been renovated from the ground up. It it is beautiful with the latest sound and lighting equipment. The seats were excellent - the place was packed - the crowd enthusiastic. 

Quick story - Alexander Hamilton - was born an orphaned  bastard on a Caribbean Island. He came to New York  City and went to Columbia University. He became an assistant to George Washington. After Washington was president it appeared Hamilton might be president. Jefferson's vice president was Aaron Burr. Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury. Burr and Hamilton had a love/hate relationship. Hamilton wrote stuff about Burr - Burr challenged him to a duel. The Vice President shot and killed the former Treasury Secretary. The devil is in the details. 

I am not a play critic. I am a 70 year old retired school teacher. I am just happy to march around with Lulu on my arm. People think it is a father and daughter date. She wanted to see the show - so I wanted to see the show. After 53 days in Europe thanks to her - no complaints here. My biggest fear was high ticket prices - that was over with now. 

I am near-sighted and hard of hearing. I like to sit in the front row for everything. When I was in school - I always sat up front - maybe to entertain - but I was up there. So I had trouble reading the faces. Some of the characters - like Aaron Burr - was very clear to me. Others were not as good. I love the guy that played George III. He did gay it up a bit - but it was especially funny seeing all the Brits laughing at their former king. The whole idea of the Brits even wanting to see all this was strange to me. Still - they are selling the place out at 200 pounds a seat. 

Lulu loved seeing it. After the play - we caught the same Tube - and went home.

On the way home - we heard the bad news that England lost the soccer match. It has been 60 years since they were in the final 4. Two guys got in a tussle on the subway right in front of us. It got tense when a white guy in a red shirt said to an eastern European guy - Where the hell is Croatia anyway?

People jumped in and stopped the action. No one was hurt. Lulu was stepping over feet :-)

Hamilton is a very nice play. I amazed that this story has not been highlighted more in the past. It took a bunch of hip hop singers and dancers in wonderful costumes to bring it all back to life. My niece wrote to tell me how much her step-daughter loves this. She knows every line of every song. I would probably enjoy it if I knew the music before hand. 

You all know how much we like the play Billy Elliot. But that is a story of a kid trying to escape the Coal Regions by learning ballet. It is set in Northern England in a town like my hometown of Tamaqua PA. There are lots of parallels between the play and our family. 

If I had to rank Hamilton - I would give it 4 out of 5 stars - but who am I to question a Pulitzer Prize. I just wonder how long they can sustain the 200 pound ticket price. 

For years - we have been sitting in the front row of Billy Elliot for 20 pounds. Someday - we may do the same for Hamilton. 

They were really touchy about pictures.
I sneaked the curtain call.

This was the subway - right before the soccer fight.

Keith made us Pimms before the show.
Our friend Jean and Bill like to stay
in the hotel out back.
They take drink pictures too.

Upstairs in the Bag O Nails. 

Early soccer crowd. 

No scenery changes

Renovated Victoria Palace

View from our seats.

Lots of new lights and speakers