Chris' Birthday

Birthdays are always special. Having one in a foreign country is even more so. Chris woke up today the age of 45 not in Newcastle but in London. I gave him his birthday card, purchased at the National Gallery the day before (a Monet painting of Westminster Palace from Westminster Bridge), and we headed over Vauxhall Bridge to Millbank for coffee at Cafe Soceity, run by a pocket rocket Italian learning to speak French. Two coffees each and a shared croissant and we were ready to start our day.

We had agreed back in Australia that I would buy Chris a birthday present in London. He had wanted a new cologne, so he did some on-line searching and found Blooms Perfumery in Covent Garden. This part of London is famous for its opera house of course, but also for its up-market shopping among streets and criss-cross laneways. Blooms was in one of these latter. Finding it was easy and upon entering, we were met with a world of diffferent fragrances.

Chris was in his element. He has actually read up on the science behind perfume making and knows how to speak the language. Not speaking perfume myself, I left it to him and the lovely shop assistant Sarah to make their way through the various scents and their idiosyncratic notes. Chris was successful coming away with, not only his birthday present from me, but also three little samples of ones that made the cut but were outdone by his final choice. Very neat.

Graham and Jo's present to Chris were tickets at the Harold Pinter Theatre near Piccadilly for the Checkov play The Seagull starring the mother of dragons herself Emelia Clarke. Also starring was one of Chris' favourite actors Indira Varma whom he was even more excited to see than the billed star.

What can I say? A wonderful performance by an ensemble cast with leads all taking us to Checkov's world. The Seagull is not for the faint-hearted. It is quite a depressed story of relationship dysfunction and spurned love with a bit of theatrical introspection as to the nature of art and creativity. Still, the darker side of the human condition is not to be ignored for Disney all the time. It's good to get down into the mess and process it sometimes. We joked at Intermission that I had seen each of the characters in my Practice many times. A great play by a great playwright and a tour de force performance, I know Chris will never forget it.

Dinner at at an up-market Italian restaurant, followed in Piccadilly Circus. This place is just wall to wall Massive Victorian architecture as far as the eye can see, the home of the theatre district, and a place full of people. It never stops. Such an energy and a vibrancy. Busy but friendly and welcoming. It's been lovely for the four of us to spend some more time together and for Chris to have such a very different birthday, one I dare say he will never forget.

A look at the sunset over the Thames ended our day before retiring to our apartment for the evening.
Happy Birthday my darling man - Love you xxRead more