"The Mousetrap "

Tuesday, May 22

It was another beautiful sunny and  warm day. Ray and I set off to investigate the Basingstoke Canal which was about 5 minutes from the rental house. We had a  beautiful walk along the canal path. We passed tons of house boats, some quaint, and others looking looking as if they had originated with the canal in 1794. There was a pair of proud, white, swans with two tiny cygnets, some ducks, and  a moorhen. Birdsong filled our ears and the aroma of the bright red, yellow, white , and blue flowers soothed our ears. It was peaceful and fed all our senses, and we wished we had known about it the day before when we did the walk with Peter and Masooma.  

After the walk we packed up our stuff ready to leave for Dubrovnik tomorrow. 

Around 4.00 p.m. we caught a train into Waterloo in London and took a trip down memory lane as we wandered through the little lanes and alley ways around the Covent Garden area. Although now packed with tourists and boutique shops, we could remember the days when the fruit and vegetable market flourished and we imagined the barrows full of colourful fresh vegetables and juicy fruits, and the broad Cockney accents of the market folk calling out their goods. We crossed the Thames on The Waterloo Bridge with views of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and walked up past Somerset House, all the familiar theatres and the magnificent  Royal Opera House to Masala Zone in Floral Street. We had a few moments to spare and watched one of the very clever buskers reducing the crowd to giggles outside St Paul's Church. 

The restaurant was decorated with costume Indian dolls and it was like trip back into India where your ears buzz and nerves jangle and the air is full of energy. So much fun!

After dinner we made our way over to St Martin's Theatre, built just after the first world war, to see the iconic play "The Mousetrap" written by Agatha Christie. It premiered in 1952 and has been running continuously for 65 years with over 27,000 performances!  The 27,347th performance according to the sign!! Dame Agatha Christie was a great mystery writer in her day and the play was full of suspense and British humour.

We walked back over the Thames on The Golden Jubilee Footbridge with Peter and Masooma, had a quick coffee in Waterloo Station while waiting for the train, and made our flash-by rail journey through the darkened British neighbourhoods nurturing the ghosts of years gone by.