Sunday Surprises

Today, was the day that OH had planned a surprise for me and was taking us all out for the day as a pre-Christmas family treat.  He had been very secretive and I had no idea what he had organised and Little Bird wasn't giving anything away, except to say that I'd love it.

After my last aerobics class until the New Year, I came home, jumped in the shower, got myself ready and we headed out.  When OH mentioned that we'd be catching the District line I had my first clue and immediately knew that we weren't heading into central London, but were going to Kensington instead.  I still didn't know where exactly.  I thought perhaps Harrods or somewhere similar.

Once we got out of the tube and got in a cab to the restaurant I got another clue when I heard the cabbie mention something about the 'new gallery', but it wasn't until we entered Hyde Park that it struck that we were having lunch in the restaurant of the newly opened Serpentine Magazine gallery, converted at great expense from an old gunpowder store.  This amused me, as I knew it was a place that OH himself was keen to visit, but I didn't mind this as it was a great space and we had a lovely lunch there.  I had some sushi, which I rarely get to eat as no-one else in our household likes it, followed by a baby beetroot and goat's cheese salad dish both of which were superb.  Here's a picture of the restaurant.  Apologies in advance for the incredibly bad photography as my camera batteries had virtually run out I realised later.

Afterwards, we wandered around the new gallery which had a Jake and Dino Chapman exhibition on.  If you're not familiar with these guys, they are not for the faint-hearted and some of their artwork some people might find disturbing.  I've got to admit that we came out chuckling to ourselves, particularly after watching part of a film playing in the gallery, but nevertheless having thoroughly enjoyed it.  It probably wasn't that suitable viewing for Little Bird though, but she didn't seem too traumatised.

Anyway, that was only part of the day.  The next and main surprise was still to come, only it was no longer a surprise as the cat had been let out of the bag over lunch.  We were going to the Royal Albert Hall to see this show. 

Knowing how much I liked Strictly and despite hating it himself with a passion, he'd booked tickets.  A completely selfless action.

We walked through Hyde Park, past the striking Prince Albert memorial and headed into the venue.

 

 

The show itself was very Christmassy, lots of Christmas carol singing, guest singers, some lovely dancing and of course some joking around by Anton.  We were informed at the beginning of the show that the gorgeous Erin Boag is currently five and a half months pregnant, which of course could partly explain why she hasn't been on the show this year and caused the audience to give her a huge cheer.  She danced beautifully throughout, with her usual elegance and style, perhaps doing a few less lifts than she might normally have done. but looked as glamorous as ever in some superbly sparkly dresses.

We came home after our lovely day out to a wonderful welcome home from our doggie, who had obviously missed us and was really pleased to see us.  This is not a common occurrence with her might I add, as she is a stubbornly independent minded dog, but it was just the icing on the cake of our super day.