Love in the Times of Covid, by Caprilicious (apologies to GGM)

Hello my friends, it's lovely to catch up with you today. Having locked hubby away indoors for the better part of two years, we decided to risk it all and go down to London for a weekend to celebrate my lovely man's birthday. I plan a trip to India shortly to visit my mother and family, and had begun to feel quite guilty about leaving him alone at home in the UK. I thought I'd pre-treat him and as Covid seemed to be waning in August 2021, booked a load of treats for him. However, Omicron had other ideas and ramped up the rates of infection until it was touch and go - would they let us go? And if they did let us go, should we go? Would that be taking an unnecessary risk? Eventually I told Mike of my plans and left it to him to decide. 

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We took the train in to London and spent a couple of nights at The Savoy, one of our favourite places in London. They gave Mike a little surprise in the room with balloons and a birthday cake which was ever so nice of them.

We went to The Playhouse theatre that has been converted into The KitKat Club, with all the decadence of 1920s Berlin and was absolutely amazing. One of our favourite movies Cabaret, was converted into a musical play in a fabulous production.
There were visual stimuli and delights all around us. They had near naked dancers, writhing and dancing all over the stage, between members of the audience and beckoning us from balconies. We were told, "The secrets of the Kit Kat Club should stay in the Kit Kat Club." A sticker was placed over our camera lenses, but not before I managed to sneak a picture of the stage. I reccommend this show - if you can get tickets - they are as rare as hen's teeth. The show ends in November 2022, so there's plenty of time.

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The next day, Harrods was spookily empty and we wandered around looking at ways to squander our money - perhaps a diamond bracelet? Perhaps something from the food hall? No? A spot of lunch, then? We had lunch at Juliettes Bistro and later on a glass of champagne at the Baccarat Bar in Harrods, and escaped quickly before we could actually find something that tempted us.

It rained all day but Mike was keen to smoke his annual ceremonial Cuban cigar. I people watched and caught sight of these Chinese children looking at the process of lighting up, totally bemused. I took permission from their mother and clicked these photographs.

And then to dinner at Ken Lo's Memories of China and onto The Nightjar, a jazz bar in Shoreditch. 

We tried Yorkshire Punch which was a bit gimmicky - it was served in a pretty teacup out of a hollow owl jug with dry ice smoking out of its beak - cute, and actually very tasty. The band was pretty good too, so the whole experience was quite enjoyable. I just hoped that they had sprinklers in the place, because if there were any problems, there was just one steep staicase to get us out of the club.

And then I had to take a couple of days off to recover. If it hadn't been a special birthday, I wouldn't have made such a major effort to create an exciting weekend. I'm glad to report that hubby enjoyed himself., and we came back safe and sound.
I would have enjoyed it too, had I not been constantly on edge about the Omicron situation. Everyone had to take lateral flow tests to the shows we went to, but we took a train and there were quite a few folk not wearing masks in the carriages which thankfully were mercifully only half  full.

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None of my beads came out to play this week, sadly.  I've heard them call out to me, but have steadfastly averted my gaze. I shall have time this weekend and will pick up my pliers again at that point. 
That's me for this week folks. Have a wonderful week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
​xx