A week of great food, Richard III and the Addams Family.

What a week it has been!

A couple of weeks ago my frustration reached dangerous heights because I can’t do what I really want to do as fast as I’d like to, mainly due to financial reasons (money doesn’t bring happiness, I know, but it definitely helps) and felt very unproductive.

So I decided to take advantage of the free courses through the uni on Lynda.com (I’m on the second series of singing training with the great late Jeannie Deva), got back into learning Italian with DuoLingo and started the free Google Digital Garage suite of digital marketing lessons (you get a certificate in the end, which makes a difference).

And for mental and physical wellbeing I’m doing Adriene Mishler’s 31 Day Yoga Revolution (awesome!) and keep reading. I’ve recently finished When breath becomes air by Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon who was diagnosed and died of cancer at the age of 37. Incredible man, surgeon and writer. It’s worth a read.

But more on the book and the rest of my activities on my next post later  this week, with more details and links if you are interested.

This post is all about the Richard III play I saw at the Salisbury cathedral and the Addams Family at the Mayflower.

A couple of months ago the big boss Dave, Donna, Suzanne and I, after our Opera taster (first time I’ve ever been, and it was incredible) were looking for our next culture excursion. Donna has previously seen productions by Antic Disposition (http://www.anticdisposition.co.uk)/) a London-based theatre company that runs classic plays in an innovative way, in unique locations.

So we booked tickets to see Richard III in Salisbury Cathedral last Thursday.

We left Salisbury at 4:30pm as we were first having dinner at 6pm at a little Italian place I found great reviews for on Tripadvisor, (https://leonardoslapiazza.co.uk/) especially for their chocolate cake, which I looked forward to trying. I didn’t stop talking about it for days!

It took us 2 HOURS to get to Salisbury, there was horrific traffic, so we arrived at Salisbury at 6:30pm, thinking of what to have for dinner in the little time we had left before the play, maybe a Burger King or any fast food. But we  thought to go to the restaurant first and asked them how fast they could prepare dinner for us. Might as well give it a go.

The service was incredible. A big thank you to the manager and the staff for preparing our food as fast as they could. We ordered at 6:40pm, the mains arrived in 15 minutes and I finished mine in 10 minutes, the fastest I’ve ever eaten, in a desperate effort to make enough time to try their chocolate cake.

And I was not disappointed. It was delicious! The unexpected Nutella layer was the icing on the cake (hah I just read this sentence again). I finished my pudding in the record time of 2 minutes and we had 10 minutes to run to the Cathedral.

I got a bit distracted by the cake display and I asked the manager about their cakes. He told me all about how all their food, including their cakes is homemade and they make different ones every day. They had tiramisu, chocolate truffle, mango cheesecake and panna cotta on that day! I’m going again when I get the chance to try more of their puddings.

We finally made it at the Cathedral on time (after the restaurant manager let us out from the back door to save us more time!).

I’ve passed by the Salisbury cathedral before but I’ve never been inside. I was in awe. What a gorgeous building. There is something special, mystical about old buildings that I love.

The play took place in the middle of the Cathedral, with seats set on the left and the right of the ‘stage’ area. We booked seats in the front row and I’m glad we did. I got the chance to watch carefully every actor, their expressions, their movements, everything.

What an amazing production! The atmosphere was breathtaking, the natural light coming in from the large stained glass windows. All the actors were incredible, never broke out of character although we were literally in their faces.

Richard III winked at me when he deliriously gloated about his scheming and plotting (always in character, he wasn’t hitting on me!) and I was given a little flag to wave when Edward V arrived to London to be crowned king, which I kept to remember this night.

I didn’t really know much about Richard III and sometimes Shakespeare is not easy to follow but this play was incredible. I can’t wait to go see their next one. I’d definitely recommend it to everyone!

All in all, it was a wonderful evening I’ll never forget.

A couple of days ago a colleague told us about an offer a friend at Mayflower emailed him about(thank you Michael!), £10 tickets for any seats to see the Addams Family, starring Les Dennis, Carrie Hope Fletcher and Samantha Womack, amongst others.

So I booked great seats and last night, two friends and I went to see the Addams Family. I loved the movie when I was a kid and unashamedly I occasionally still watch it on a lazy Sunday afternoon but didn’t know whether I’d enjoy the musical adaptation.

I was extremely tired, as I woke up super early the day before to do my yoga class and didn’t come home from Salisbury until 11pm, I thought’ I’d probably fall asleep in the theatre, the seats at the Mayflower are very comfy.

But I was pleasantly surprised by the whole production (and I didn’t fall asleep).

Great costumes and sets, a lots of laughter, brilliant singing and the cast was amazing.

The biggest surprise for me was Les Dennis who played Uncle Fester. I’ve only known him as the presenter of Family Fortunes, I didn’t know he could sing that well and he was hilarious!

It’s been a productive, fun and entertaining week. I’m still tired but all worth it.

I now have the weekend to recuperate, get organised and make plans for the next couple of months, including my Christmas ticket home!

Not owning a credit card and saving money is painful but necessary if I’ll ever change career, move on and travel more. But this week reminded me that I can still have fun and enjoy my life as it is in the meantime.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Eleni