Chyral and Tracey in London

On their way to a week-long Norwegian cruise departing out of Dover, my mom and sister Tracey stayed with us several days in our cozy little Finborough flat.  Here they are with Delys outside the Tower of London with the Tower Bridge in the background.

Even though my mom's approaching her 84th birthday, she's still game and rode the buses and the tube with aplomb.  She even perfected a graceful little jump over the gap whenever she alighted from the tube.  Besides the Tower, they went to the British Library and British Museum and National Art Gallery (the latter all on their own, by the way).

They departed this morning for Dover in a hired car. By now they're working their way through the buffet anticipating tomorrow's visit to some fjord.  I hope my mom doesn't ask the captain to steer a little closer to some calving glacier.

It's spring in London, but so little chance of experiencing actual hay fever, that we decided to take in a Noel Coward play by the same name.  It continues to be cold and windy and rainy.  We must be paying now for the pristine spring weather we had last year. The play, thanks to some outstanding special effects, even concluded with thunder and rain dripping down the outside of the set's windows. We had an excellent dinner in China Town, braving  huge umbrella-wielding crowds and the Chinese-only speaking staff at our restaurant.

Our play list so far:  Traveling Light (National Theatre), Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (National Theatre), Hay Fever (Noel Coward Theatre), and Matilda the Musical (Cambridge Theatre).  Favorite thus far?  Moon on a Rainbow Shawl.  Set in Trinidad with a wonderful cast in the intimate Cottlesloe Theatre.  Least favorite thus far?  Matilda.  Long on spectacle and talent but short on coherent script and direction (despite excellent novel and film to work from).

Truth in advertising notice: the striking floppy red hat on the poster did not appear in the show, so hat fanciers be warned!  The understudy, a straw hat, was solid but much less sexy in the lead millinery role.