DAY 12: Thursday, March 20, Spring Equinox and 21° Celsius (70° F)

LONDON

First Day of Spring and Another Amazing Play

Okay, okay, Cat. We're museum-ed out.
There will be other museums,
 but today, we took a break.

After sleeping in, I wandered around the Charing Cross area. My mission was to find one of the few remaining Cabmen's Shelters in London. The Historic England Blog (heritagecalling.com) describes these small structures as follows: "A cabmen's shelter is a small building or shed found at the side or in the middle of roads, usually consisting of a small kitchen and a hatch that food and drinks can be passed through. Some have a few chairs or benches and tables in them, while others may put seating outside on sunny days. These green shelters first appeared in Victorian London, when the law prohibited horse and carriage drivers from leaving their cabs unattended in a cab rank."

Cabmen's Shelter near Charing Cross.
The vendor sells coffee, pastries, and small sandwiches 
mainly for commuters.

My next destination was a Rick Steves' recommendation, The Ship & Shovell, a "traditional" English pub. Very few English pubs remain privately owned, at least in London. A brewing company called Hall and Woodhouse owns this one and over 100 other pubs throughout the London area. 

I was the first customer. It filled up quickly.

My fish finger sandwich tasted good,
 even if it didn't exactly land well in my stomach.

***

Then on to today's main event. 

Theatre Royal Haymarket
Brian Cox played J.S. Bach.
He was excellent, of course. So was the rest of the cast.

I love these old theatres.

These people appeared overwhelmed.

I first visited London in 1978 and loved

the fact that you could buy an ice cream

without leaving your seat. 

I thought that tradition had gone away,

but apparently not in this theatre.

A musician played Bach 
during the intermission.


RANDOM SHOTS FROM TODAY:

Near the ladies' WC in the theatre