Photos galore!

Ok, so I lied, there are no photos today, because Kate has run off with the camera, but expect a double dose next time!

Right, now where were we? Ah yes, still in NYC. Well, the last day/days consisted of yet more shopping, a trip up the Empre State Building (which Kate lost a fight with - you should see the bruise!), and guess what.....another show! Actually, it was two shows.

I'll let you read about the 'Tarzan' dramas from Kate's blog, needless to say she was not happy! In the evening we saw 'The Wedding Singer' which is pretty close to the movie as far as remakes go....the two Adam Sandler songs are included, which is what you want, and only a few minor plot changes (eg. Robbie lives in his Grandma's basement, not his brother's, and they don't quite meet Billy Idol on a plane....but I won't ruin the rest) All in all it was good - Mum spent most of the time crying with laughter, and Dad slept.....

The highlight though was not the musicals that day, but the restaurant that Kate and I had dinner in. 'Ellen's Stardust Diner' is your typical 50's themed restaurant - rock'n'roll decor, neon lights, jukebox etc - but with a twist....every waiter/waitress sings. My guess is that they're all waiting for their big break on Broadway, but in the meantime, they get to sing and serve food at the same time! It's very loud, so hard to hold a conversation, but good food, great atmosphere, and lots of nostalgia!

The next morning (after being up late packing) Kate and I headed over to Central Park Zoo. It was pretty cool, but expensive considering there are only about a dozen exhibits. We had picked the best time to go though, all the animals were out waiting to be fed. We even got to watch a Snow Monkey fall out of a pumpkin! (I'll explain later...) The downside was that there were about 10 different school groups, so we had to contend with teachers (almost forcibly) removing us from our prime viewing positions. Then we walked back through the park, stopping to buy pretzels on the way....I know, how touristy are we?

One phenomenon that I've never really seen as much of outside of New York is dog-walkers. These people are paid to take numerous dogs for a walk at the same time. I saw one guy with 7! And a variety of sizes too - ranging from a little Highland terrier to a Boxer. You could not pay me enough to get myself tangled in all those leashes!

Anyway, that was New York.

Now we're in London, and we've spent a lot less time together as a family. We all know the city pretty well, so we've been splitting up most days and meeting up in the evening for a meal and a show (we're unstoppable).

It's Tuesday now, and so far since we arrived we've seen 'We Will Rock You' (just as funny the second time), 'Evita' (finally something Mum and I know better than Kate!) and 'Wicked' (second time in as many weeks!).
They were all awesome, but there were a few cast bonuses...sorry if these mean nothing to you...
For those of you who know and love 'Les Mis': Juan Peron in 'Evita' was played by the one and only Philip Quast (Javert in Sydney, London, and the 10th Anniversary concert)
In 'Wicked' there were a few: Miriam Margoyles (the nurse from 'Romeo & Juliet') played a teacher; the role of Glinda the Good was played by Helen Dallimore (remember the chick in the Moccona ad? "Shropshire? How wonderful!"); Elpheba was of course played by Idina Menzel (the original Maureen in the stage and screen versions of 'Rent'); and Fiyero was played by Adam Garcia (Drew Barrymore's son in 'Riding in Cars with Boys', the love interest in 'Coyote Ugly')
The exciting part for me was getting a hug and photo with Adam outside the theatre (good old Aussie stopped for photos when none of the others did!)

Other than shows, we have done some shopping, not nearly to the volume of what we did in New York, although we did buy more luggage....but this time we had a reason, one of our other bags broke on the way to JFK airport. We did spend Sunday visiting people though. On Sunday evening we went to my godparents' house and caught up with them and some family friends. Some of you might of heard me talk about baby Isabella (Mum's goddaughter's daughter). For those who don't know, she was born 16 weeks early, and has been consistently in and out of hospital since. She celebrated her 2nd birthday in August, and while she's still a little small for her age, and her body's development hasn't quite caught up with her mind (to her great frustration) she is an amazing little girl. I'll post some photos of her soon, but they won't do her justice....for such an innocent little thing, she has the world's dirtiest laugh....

We have one more show tonight ('Spamalot' - the musical version of Monty Python's Holy Grail - starring Tim Curry as Arthur!) and then tomorrow we drive up to Glasgow, where we'll be until Monday I think. Not sure if I'll want to post photos from the party on Saturday, but we'll see.....I'm sure some of you would love to see what happens when you shut a large number of Glaswegians in a room with booze!