The first drama of the day came when I had to print off the tickets - they require you to, here - and the blasted office printer refused to cooperate again! Had to contact IT, who came and reinstalled my printer driver, managing to print on the third attempt. Bless them - I was literally on the point of emailing the pdf to Ryman's, to print for collection; had I had to print it myself at home, I'd have had to buy printer cartridges as well, so not so handy.
I took off a bit early - had a variety of choices of bus, especially since I'd have to change, and even at that, I managed to extend the choice a bit more, and used a bit of logic to pick a different bus entirely from what was suggested! because it came first. A bus in the hand.. Happily, my second bus arrived at the changeover spot just as I did. And just as we approached the traffic jam at Hyde Park Corner - almost within sight of Winter Wonderland - it occurred to me that I had neither printed off the map of Winter Wonderland, nor downloaded the app (available on the website).
I proceeded to do the latter - with my just-about-adequate internet connection, it delayed me another 10 minutes (what with also having to sign in and such). Anyway, the map on that showed me where the fast-track (purple) entrance was, for those who already had tickets. And something of a schlep it was! Gloriously uncrowded (certainly by that time of night - it was now after 7) - but what a location, furthest entrance away from the main roads. Oh, and the "FIND ME" button on the app only worked the first time, and the map had constant problems loading - really, I think you're better off with a printed version.
The helpful guy checking my bag asked me what I was seeing, and pointed me in the direction of both. I was very near the circus tent, but still had some time to kill..
Hungry, I thought the chicken roasting on a spit nearby looked tasty, so had some. Unfortunately, it was tough and tasteless, and I binned most of it, contenting myself with the chips. Should have had a burger. Anyway, it was already about time to head to the circus - 20 minutes early, but a large queue still ahead of me. It was nice to be in the tent, out of the cold. And they let us in 10 minutes ahead of time, which gave me ample time to get a seat.
The acrobats that started the show were all very accomplished - special kudos to an idea I haven't seen before, of making the descent from the aerial acts as spectacular as what's gone before! I was also quite impressed with the marksman's decision to take one shot over his shoulder, looking the other way.. but of course, people were mainly there for the bike acts, which were as spectacular as ever. Always a joy to watch - but especially enjoyable when the guy behind you obviously hasn't seen it before, and is oohing and aahing at everything.. Always recommended. After all, I've seen this show a few times now!
A short walk to the Ice Kingdom afterwards, where there was no queue, and they let me in early. Interestingly, they scanned the ticket here - now, if they could've done that at the circus, I needn't have gone to the trouble of getting it printed at all. Inside, it was as cold as ever - the kind of cold that makes you wish it was similarly cold outside, so you could be dressed for it! And oh, it's gorgeous.. representing scenes from A Christmas Carol, all beautifully done.
I spent about 10 minutes - you could stay longer, if you can stand the cold! There's an ice slide, there are photo ops - and at the end, a couple of ice thrones you can choose to sit on (with rubber cushions so you don't freeze to the seat). I did pity the poor attendants, forced to stay there, in freezing conditions, even with no customers! The condensation from people's breath had frozen on the roof, and icicles were forming.. Again, very highly recommended. And if you go late in the evening, as I did - no queues.. apart from attendants, I had the whole place to myself.
Happy to report that they have the same arrangement as last year, with the Ice Palace exiting to the shop, then to the bar where you can have a shot in your hot chocolate. On my way out, I passed through the Bavarian village, which had a live band playing Christmassy songs.
Oh, and kudos to the decorators of the House of Horrors:
Most atmospheric. So, Winter Wonderland runs till the 5th of January - as usual, I can recommend it. Try to avoid busy periods, use the fast-track entrance if you have event tickets. Funnily enough though, this is the first year I didn't buy any presents - guess I'm getting tired of looking at the same old stuff! Anyway, I was waiting for my bus - but not as long as I thought I'd be; it beat the TFL estimate by nearly 10 minutes! And on the way back, I did catch some glimpses of Christmas lights:
Tomorrow, the first night in ages with North London Friends (NLF)! We're at A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, at Trafalgar Studios. Last Meetup of the month, for me.
On Thursday, our ex-company's social group's Christmas meeting. We had a tiff about the venue - the organiser decided on Thai Square, which I think is overpriced and underwhelming. So he started to grumble about the difficulty of getting somewhere before Christmas - which will take a group, and doesn't cost the earth. Still though, he came up with an alternative - we've decided on the Warwick Castle pub in Little Venice. Lovely area, the pub sounds nice - with a Christmassy open fire, and a room we can book - and hey, it's a pub, which won't throw us out as quickly! They have a wine deal.. 10% off if you order at least £150 worth. And gee, he's had us choosing what we want off the menu. I also asked for the wine list - asked for suggestions from the group, but as no-one could be bothered getting back to me, sod it, I couldn't be bothered ordering so much wine for people that don't want to decide whether they want wine at all. A "whine about wine", as someone described it.
On Friday, potentially having Christmas drinks with an old friend who's very hard to pin down! We'll figure it out. Hopefully.
On Saturday, I'm headed to the Tutankhamun exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. They have half hourly time slots for entry throughout the day, and have been sending repeated emails warning not to arrive before the scheduled time on the ticket, because of overcrowding! I booked a nice late one, at 6pm.
On Sunday, I arranged to have lunch with Helen - she's squeezing in a trip to London before the infamous strikes start, next day! We arranged to eat at Bistro1, and booked a table. Now, when I went to book, they advertised a Groupon voucher for a meal for two - great, except when I phoned, I was told it wasn't valid in December! Never said anything about that on the voucher. So I've got a refund on the voucher, and they said they'd inform the restaurant that it was no longer valid. Meantime, poor Ivan is out of town this week for work and missing all the fun - and so, this morning, on the train back from a stay with the family, he floated the idea of an all-day social, some weekend. Starting Sunday. I explained to him that I was seeing Helen on Sunday - "Bring her!" sez he. Helen was ok with them joining us, so now he and another are joining us for lunch on Sunday. The start of a fun day, methinks.
On Monday, ironically, I'm on another Groupon deal - this one seems to be valid, though. I'm headed to & Juliet, a very non-Shakespearian take on the classic heroine, including a pop soundtrack, with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS). Running at Shaftesbury Theatre.
Next Tuesday, back with NLF for Fairview, at the Young Vic.
On the 4th, back with the Crick Crack Club for a night I'm really looking forward to - Ben Haggarty and Jan Blake again, combined with my favourite, Clare Murphy, and Jordan Campbell, will treat us to a night on the theme Sovereign, at Rich Mix. It's the last in their series called the "alternative tarot", where four storytellers take turns to expand on variations on an archetypal theme, and hold a Q+A after. And I do hope Ivan can make this, because he's a great fan of Jan's, and I do think this is right up his alley.
On the 5th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Three Sisters, at the National. Also signed up with Love London Arts, Theatre, Music & Stuff for this - the last time I tried to integrate the two, it didn't really work! It'll be interesting to see how it goes this time. I'll try to gravitate more towards them this time, as I missed them completely the last time. And then it's back to Ireland for the weekend, again.
No comments:
Post a Comment