Coldplay at the Emirates Stadium

This is Mr F's Christmas present, well one of them. I forgot to mention that on the 26th May we went to see England V West Indies at Trent Bridge 2nd test match, also a Christmas present.

The Emirates stadium is not the best to get to so I decide to drive, I have detailed instructions of how to get there & where to park. Didn't stop us fighting on the way! We need to get there early as we have unreserved seats and need to get good ones. Prepared to queue for a couple of hours we arrive about 3pm. After a couple of hour of reading, people watching and staring pointedly at people trying to push in the queue we are let in.

We manage to get really good seats and settle down. Ian goes off to get a beer, the price of which are shocking £4.30 for a small bottle of cider (I only had the one as driving good job!) The food is even worse and considering there must be 70 thousand people in the place they have not pre-prepared anything.  We queued for 2 hours along with several thousand others so were ready for something to eat, the choice on offer was shocking along with the price of it. Shameful!

We were warmed up by Rita Ora (OK ish) and Robyn - total rubbish really shocking. People were laughing at her it was so bad. Don't know what Mr Martin was thinking of.



At last Coldplay arrive on stage amidst flashing lighted wristbands, fireworks and a great deal of noise. The stage show was excellent, really well done and very entertaining. There were giant balloons, tic tac tape fired into the air at regular intervals, amazing fireworks but best of all (apart from the music goes without saying) were the wrist bands.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H7qdvg9xWM

I love this somewhat abstract effect - just shaking really.

At certain times they lit up and flashed on & off. The stadium was filled with masses of tiny multi colured flashing lights my photo's do not do them justice at all. We had a really good time and got home about 11.45 but not to bed until 1 am AGAIN!

So thats where Jeremy is.

Oh dear school tomorrow.

A day in Jubilee London

June 1st. It just so happened that our friend Chris Coigne was arriving from Philadelphia this morning, he is visiting London to see the Jubilee celebrations. As we were already in London it was the perfect opportunity to see the sights & meet up with a good friend.

First we had a rubbish breakfast on Kensington High street, before making our way back across town to the Strand Palace Hotel. We were a bit early so made use of the time to get some theatre tickets for the future and rest our weary feet, Mr F was carrying our overnight luggage, we never manage to travel light no matter how much we try.

Chris soon arrived and first things first, a pint of English beer - good man. After a good catch up, we decide to go down to Buckingham Palace and the Mall to get a feel of the proceedings to come. The Royal Marines were practising on Horse guards parade so we were treated to an impromptu performance. We walked through St James Park, it was overcast but warm. The gardens are looking lovely. The Mall and quite honestly the most of London is bedecked with union flags. Chris gives us a guided tour of our own country complete with commentary! He has been quite a few times to London and appears to remember everything and loves history. We walk along Whitehall to Trafalgar square and head along to Covent Garden where we do a bit more catching up and beer! We dine in an Italian restaurant, all are pretty hungry after all that walking.

It is really time we get our train home, but we are persuaded to have one for the road and end up in the Savoy Beaufort Bar it's  "Art Deco interior of jet-black and burnished gold décor, the bar is all about champagne, cocktails and cabaret". So we did the champagne thing, It was a real treat, somewhat decadent, but truly fabulous.
http://www.fairmont.com/savoy/GuestServices/Restaurants/BeaufortBar.htm


We finally managed to drag ourselves away and get a train home, straight to bed, but pumpkins again I fear!

Chris get interviewed for BBC Wales radio

A 30 year celebration

Thursday the 31st May saw us heading into London to celebrate (a bit late) Mr F's 30 years working for ARAMARK. We were staying in the Copthorne Tara, on the wrong side of town, as the venue was moved from it's original place. We had taken the afternoon and the next day off work to make a good long weekend of it. As it is a double bank holiday, it will be a very long weekend.

Picture taken from taxi, County Hall floodlight for the Jubilee.

We meet up with Carol and her husband, Carol also works for ARAMARK & is celebrating her 30 years as well. I am feeling somewhat nervous about the whole thing so we have a quick G&T before we set off. The journey across town takes an hour as the traffic is dreadful. The venue is The Pont de la Tour. A perfect setting right by Tower Bridge. We had a really good evening, good food, good conversation and all in all a good celebration. A bit of a late night as another long journey across town and a natter and a night cap before bed at 1am.