London

This is a photo of one of the two terminals at the new Madrid airport. The design is stunning, using the colors of the Spanish flag - red and gold.

Arrived in London on time and got to the hotel just as Jill and Alison were arriving by train from Liverpool. They came and left their suitcases at the hotel and then we went to the theatre where Ingrid met us. The panto was excellent, "Cinderella" with Britt Eklund as the fairy godmother. The "dames", i.e. the drag roles, were the ugly stepsisters and they were a hoot. The music, singing, dancing, jokes etc. were all good, but I think the highlight was the "cabaret" number at the prince's ball - an ABBA medley with the stepsisters in those ABBA wide-legged pants. Well, you should have seen the four of us singing and waving our arms. We had such a good time.

After the panto, we took a cab over to Covent Garden where we wandered around the halls and stalls, watched the buskers and generally delighted in the ambiance. We had dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant, after which it was time for Ingrid to catch her train back to Maidstone. Jill, Alison and I walked back to the hotel, very conveniently located not far from Covent Garden and the West End Theatres. They stayed the night with me. The hotel is beautiful - a neoclassical building which was once an insurance company. The building has only 4 floors, but it is quite large with a central courtyard. Beautifully decorated for Christmas, too. It was great fun to walk through historic streets such as Bow Street, Drury Lane etc. Thanks, LaReese, for recommending it.