Ooh, an exciting day today as Colin was finally ‘cashing in’ his birthday present from last year with afternoon tea at the Savoy. We dressed up (me in my new jacket) and headed to the train station, only to find that all the rains both ways had been cancelled despite me checking only an hour earlier an all being well.
Plan two - walk to the bus stop for the number 33 to Richmond which took its time and obviously had not gone by recently as there were a lot of people at all the subsequent stops. However it got us to Richmond and we were able to get a fast train up town. So, from worrying hoe to waste a bit of time if we arrived early on the train, we now had no time to spare and arrived bang on time. I was a little disappointed that the doorman were otherwise engaged and did not open the doors for us (despite being perfectly capable of opening them for myself!) but after that it was a great experience. A little wait in the foyer before being shown to our table - one of the best sited with a large sofa to sit on a good viewing of all the rest of the diners.
We started with posts of first flush darjeeling tea to accompany plates of rectangular sandwiches - smoked salmon, coronation chicken, quails egg and cheese - two plates as we had been saving ourselves. Next warm fresh baked scones - plain and raisin along with jams and an amazing lemon curd. Finally (and I’ll admit to being rather full at this stage) a selection of pastries and cakes immaculately made. Colin even received a ‘guard of honour’ along with others who’s birthdays were also being celebrated and got a piece of chocolate cake with a candle.
We were very full but wasted some more time back out on the come sofa (watching some interesting ‘ladies’ - we were convinced that they were up market call girls). Eventually we opted not to take the tube but rather the number 26 bus to Victoria for our last engagement of the day. It’s always nice seeing London from a bus.
We finally arrived at ‘The Other Palace’ a theatre where we had seen an excellent production of the book toast a few years ago. This time we were here to see ‘Frank and Percy’ starring Roger Allam (of Endeavour fame) and Sir Ian McKellan. Our seats were excellent, so close to the stage and the stage itself was a really clever design, minimalist but versatile. The play was really good, great acting, pathos and a bit of naughtiness.
We left to the station, caught a train almost immediately and then made the connection with the train back to Teddington from Clapham Junction and arrived back before 11.00pm - considerably easier than going and having had a great day.
