Day 19

We are watching the weather today. Tonight is our outdoor theatre and hopefully a picnic before the show. John walked down to the Thames, which is very close to our hotel. 

I stayed back to prep for tonight. Tawny and I talked and we have a plan in place. George picked us up at 2p and took us to their lovely apartment and we had a champagne toast to the fun of being together again and other drinks! They do have a lovely place and though they keep telling me it is small, it seems very spacious with so much light coming in, the modern white decor, and the thoughtful design. I failed to take any photos of the views, maybe we will go there again. I did get this nice shot of George pouring some wine. They live in such a convenient place, close to transportation (though they have their own vehicles), a convenience store just downstairs, ATM, and the concierge who are very helpful. Tawny and I went downstairs and picked out delightful little snacks for our picnic. I am happy to report my ATM card worked just fine after getting the text that I have been locked out of my account. We are all set. Back upstairs, packed the picnic bag, visited some more and headed out to the Regent Park Open Air Theater at 5p.

George

It was quite a long drive for them to take us and we are so appreciative. It is great having locals to tell you the ins-and-outs of certain things like getting a nice picnic table at the Regent Park Theater! John and Tawny were dropped off at the entrance where they quickly found the queue and held a place for us. George parked the car and we went in to easily find them. I felt sorry for George, our picnic bag was tremendously heavy! I carried just a light plastic bag with crisps and a jacket! There Tawny and John were at a optimum place in the queue. You can see they are very near the front and by the time the gate opened the line was far around the corner. Well done!!! Regent Park is lovely. There are a couple of venues for food purchase and you can set up a picnic basket ahead of time if you choose. The prices are high for this service and I can tell you our £25-26 picnic and the wine G&T supplied far surpassed our needs! However, I will say it would be a nice option for the traveler who was unsure, and you would be guaranteed a table as I see it. Thankfully, the weather held. 

The Queue (can you find G&T?)

Our Picnic

The Crowds

Evita is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics and book by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and eventual death. It was a more modern version with some differences in the music. I had never seen the play but have only enjoyed the sound track. It was fantastic. It was a little windy during the evening but we were protected where we were seated, one could hear the wind in the trees above us, which added to the overall ambiance of the experience. About our seats, George did a fantastic job in getting the tickets! Even back when he secured these, there were few options but our seats were perfect. The Theater was packed. We stayed put during intermission but we didn't have any further wine or snacks as we were stuffed. What a fantastic evening. 

Pre-Show

Finale

Blessed with Friends

We were parked near the exit so leaving was a snap, though again it was a long drive back in traffic for our friends. We are told few people actually drive to these events but take public transportation, but we are quite west of Center City now so driving was the best option. 

Oh, I forgot to add, at one point before the performance Tawny and I went to visit the facilities. We were going to go to a "secret" sort of restroom she knew about but it didn't seem to be there and we were abruptly stopped at the entrance and nicely told there were no facilities. As we departed we realized we had tried to "crash" Lord Mayor's private function! HaHa - we saw him enter the theater later! Tawny has a good photo, I will post later.