Wha'? I'm going somewhere?

Welcome one and all.

As you may have heard (though certainly it wouldn't have been from me!) I am going to London next week. I plan on uploading pictures and video to this blog, so those of you so inclined can play along at home.

So, what prompted this madness? And what am I going to do when I get there?

Well, the answer to question #1 is multifaceted. Who would turn down a trip to London? Not I. But why now, exactly?

That answer is found in my January 10 ticket to see the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet.



Getting the ticket was a saga in and of itself, considering the West End run of the production sold out in three hours (and the Stratford-upon-Avon run was sold out long before I even conceived of going). This is the biggest stage production going on in London right now, starring Patrick Stewart as Claudius and David Tennant as Hamlet.

And then two days before the West End press night, David Tennant had to pull out of the show and have emergency surgery on his back. The production was only scheduled for 33 performances (there had already been over 60 in Stratford) and it seemed quite likely that he would not be able to return to the stage and I'd be travelling all that way to see his understudy.

As of this evening, however, Tennant is back on stage as Hamlet. We'll see if he can keep that up through the final week of the run--my 10 January ticket is for closing night.

So, aside from that, what else am I doing?

Well, given that I am going sans my husband, that's really up to me! There are so many options I don't know where to begin. So, pending on my personal whims and how my finances hold up and availability of tickets, so far the list of possibilities includes:

• Snagging a cheapo day-of seat for Derek Jacobi in Twelth Night at the Donmar Warehouse


• Visiting the Royal Observatory at Greenwich


• Taking a day trip (!!!) to Gay Paris via Eurostar's current fare sale (59GBP round trip--can't beat that with a stick!)


• Taking a day trip to Cambridge (this is less a "possibility" than a requirement)


• Eating a tremendous amount of curry and drinking a lot of hard cider

And of course luxuriating in the homeland of Doctor Who where people actually will know what I'm talking about, and purchasing very silly Doctor Who merchandise (Dalek bubble bath, anyone?).

So, stay tuned. I'll be fully equipped with laptop, video camera and digital camera while there. I hope to have a few goodies to post every day. :) Enjoy!