B-day bash

Well, the Hachie Gal's b-day has come and gone but celebrations included a weekend in London, shopping, a West End show, and a daytrip to Stratford-upon-Avon. A few birthday surprises along the way, including:

(1) The who: while I knew we were headed to see the winner of the UK TV show, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria, who basically is the star of the West End revival, The Sound of Music, I was not expecting "the who" to be as entertaining as she was. In my opinion, Maria was in fact, not a problem.

(2) The what: in addition to the show and shopping (yes, I scored some Convent Garden purchases), Tex-Mex was to be had for my pre-birthday meal. Ah, yes!

(3) The why: Although the weekend essentially bridged business trips for the Budman and I, another by-product of the weekend was the visit with our niece who was there at summer school. Thanks, SaraBeth, for making the time for our visit.

(4) The when: an entire b-day weekend, although the special day was technically on Sunday, the 5th.

(5) The where: besides London proper, a day-trip to Bill's home, Stratford-upon-Avon (Will Shakespeare, that is), allowed us a leisurely train trip to Bill's birthplace and burial site as well as a lovely walk along the river Avon...amongst other things.

(6) The how: it was a weekend of planes, trains, and automobiles...all relatively hassle - free.

Now, on to the wackiest surprise of the weekend. On the upper floor of Bill's house in S-U-A, a docent dressed in medieval garb proceeded to launch into a rendition of the US cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn once he found out I was from Texas. Now that is a sight (and comedic routine) one does not expect at the Shakespeare National Trust. Too weird.