The First Day of Summer, 2007

But oh, so much cooler here than home! Sorry to rub it in, y'all down in the torpid swampland.
Well, loyal halpinslondonblog readers, here we are again. Our trip was easier this time around. No delayed flights, no lost luggage arriving after four days all wet. I even made a friend on the flight to Atlanta, a friend of a friend whose name I won't mention because she was kind enough to give me two of her seditives, one for going and one for returning overseas. In exchange, at her request, I sent a postcard to her summer home in Massachusettes.
Now about the new flat.....This is not the flat I knew and loved in Chelsea. We are living in the shadows of the King's Cross/St.Pancras Station. (Yes, the same St. Pancras about whom we gave so much thought last summer). It is a less posh area along the Regents Canal. The owner is Tara Smith and she is the hairdresser to the stars, most recently working on Quentin Tarantino's latest film. It appears that this area is kinda up-and-coming chic, where old canalside warehouses are being converted into condos. I admit, at first I felt lonely for the quiet, stately atmosphere of Chelsea. This condo is small, modern, high tech, metallic somehow. It didn't feel right!
But now I am adapting to it just fine. It is quite nice to have the canal to walk beside for miles and miles. I walked well past Regent's Park yesterday, jogging part way, no automobiles to worry about or street crossings where not only do you have to know your left from your right (which is hard for some of us) but you have to remember which way to look because the Brits drive on the wrong side of the road, you'll recall.
We attended a great play called The Drowsy Chaperone. As the promoters put it, some plays you know will be great just by the name. This isn't one of them. This play was recommended to us by a lawyer and his partner who sat next to me at the ACLU awards banquet after they learned I love musical theater. I wish I could find them to say thanks, because I loved this play. Just loved it. Yes, really, really loved it to the bottom of my toes. Stanley, honest to God, slept through it!!! Well, okay, he woke up once in a while, after I elbowed him severely out of my finely honed sensitivity to the performers' feelings. Maybe I can take photos of the program for this blog. I know you halpinslondonblog readers would be thrilled to see it. After all, if you're still with me this long, you'll enjoy anything!