70-70-70: Birthday Boy (2026)

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The ‘big one’ finally arrived today – 70 years old! Who’d have thought I’d make it this far! 😁

Actually, the weather was to turn out MUCH hotter. What a glorious day it turned out to be topping out at around 25°C. Lovely! 🔥🔥😎😎

We didn’t fancy bringing an extra suitcase with us during our weekend away, so the rest of my cards and gifts (you generous people!) are still sitting at home, and I’ll enjoy ploughing through those when we get back tomorrow. Seriously, thanks for remembering – I feel the love! 🥰🥰. I did bring a couple of important cards though! (brownie points for me, then!)

Ann had been busy planning a memorable day – one of culture, comedy and another cracking good meal out! Tomorrow, is the final get-together of my 70-70-70 ‘thing’. For new readers, that’s where I planned to meet up with 70 familiar faces across 70 days, prior to my 70th Birthday Weekend. How did I do? There’ll be a separate Post about that coming soon! 👍 I know, it’s difficult, but try to contain your excitement!!! 😉

But with breakfast rolled into the great deal Ann got here at Sea Containers House (our ‘home’ since yesterday/checking out tomorrow), it would be rude not to!

Breakfast at the Hotel

So many choices… So little time! 😳. Not surprisingly, the Breakfast Room was a popular destination, but they found us a table near the window looking across the Thames to the north bank.

Yes, a great experience! Very efficient service (they replaced Ann’s dropped napkin, before it hit the ground!) 👍. After breakfast we headed across Blackfriars Bridge, giving us the opportunity to see the Hotel from a distance.

We then wandered towards Hyde Park

Apsley House

Opening at 11am, we’ve always known about this place, but didn’t appreciate it was managed by English Heritage. Apsley House is the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands all alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing towards the traffic roundabout in the centre of which stands the Wellington Arch. It’s a Grade I-listed building too. So, another good use of our English Heritage cards!

It’s not open seven days a week, so worth checking their website for their latest opening hours!

The exhibition begins in the basement (hot!) with a series of information boards cataloguing the life of the 1st Duke.

The Museum was next.

The House was impressive and well worth the visit. It wasn’t the largest of interiors, but across the two floors (plus the basement), pretty much every square inch was populated with the Duke’s acquisitions and possessions – mostly the alternative currency of the day – paintings!

There’s a lot to see and the House provides a helpful audio-guide to keep you abreast of this massive collection. Most impressive of all? Probably the mini Museum where gifts sent to the Duke were on display from grateful supporters (probably most of the nation!) for the Duke’s military prowess against our old friends, the French and Spanish.

For non-members, it’s £15 each for admission.

With Apsley House ticked off, we had a couple of hours to kill before the theatre, so we headed in the general direction of Covent Garden (Yikes! On a Saturday!!! What were we thinking?)

Covent Garden

Yes, Covent Garden was buzzing! (as it always is). The crowds were being entertained by the usual mix of entertainers – a juggler on stilts, a guy doing clever things on a unicycle, plus a handcuffed woman escaping from a sack. The latter reminded us of a Saturday night in Corby! 😂

Theatre: The Comedy about Spies

Here we are at the Adelphi Theatre. From the team that brought you The Play That Goes Wrong, we’re here for the ‘Comedy about Spies’.

This wasn’t the sort of comedy that was subtle by any means – were promised unashamedly ‘laugh out loud’ funny.

Forty minutes before curtain up, and there was already a queue of around 30 people outside! Maybe it’s because it was the last day of performance? Maybe it’s because it’s so popular? Whatever the reason, queuing outside in the London heat wasn’t our idea of fun! ☹️☹️

The frustration continued once we’d got through the intense security and climbed the stairs to be told the toilets weren’t yet open (a real 70-something issue) and we couldn’t take our seats yet either. Very frustrating!

The trend of not serving soft drinks in glasses and with ice continues. First at The Doggett’s some weeks ago at one of my previous 70-70-70 get-togethers, and now here! What’s all that about? A Diet Coke is, it seems here, a self-assembly job with an optional drinking glass, and ice – but no lemon slice! Welcome to London! “That’ll be £5, please, Sir”. “Oh, you want a glass and ice too? My colleague will help you with that”.

With no lemon slices, we didn’t dare ask for oxygen as we took our seats in the Upper Circle – only the Everest team has been higher!

But enough of whingeing (must be my (new) age!) how was the Play?

Actually, exceptionally good and a real crowd-pleaser. Typical of the production team behind the ‘ …Go Wrong’ series – full of puns, tons of scripted confusion, fast-paced humour and a VERY physical comedic style. If you like your performances at lightning speed, this is it! Oh, and they made an imaginative use of the performance space – a real hallmark of this production group (I won’t reveal the details here – go see!). The result? A family show that it physically exhausting for the players, but worth every moment of the performance.

Birthday Dinner – Le Garrick

A short walk later and we arrived at Le Garrick restaurant. Yes, it’s very French! It was busy when we arrived, but downstairs (where they seated us) revealed a labyrinth of extra space, although it was a bit of a squeeze.

Just TWO courses for us tonight (it’s not a Cruise!) and it didn’t disappoint – full of flavour and presented well. Another really good celebratory meal!

We had a little time to spare before our Uber arrived, so we had a final look around Covent Garden – now less busy and quieter. Our Uber was (again!) on time and we travelled back in style in a rather luxurious Mercedes EV.

Rooftop Bar

Back at the Hotel, we headed for 12th Knot, the Hotel’s Rooftop Cocktail Bar. We haven’t had to be subject to a Bouncer for many years, but he let us through without issue and we instantly upped the average age of those already there by about 40 years! I was the only person there using reading glasses, but I was the highest I’d been for my birthday in years! (about 10 floors higher!) 👍😎

Yes, this was full of the ‘yoof of London’ having a great time, gradually getting off their faces before err, getting off their faces elsewhere. Ahh, I recall those days with some clarity, but as we queued at the Bar to order our cocktails and then sat outside enjoying fantastic views across the City (and wondering how long before our eardrums burst), we did feel old.

Great views though!! 👍

We lasted about half an hour before we couldn’t hear each other – time for a swift exit!! ☹️

It’s been a FANTASTIC day, celebrating my significant Birthday. We’ve seen a lot, done a lot and enjoyed some really good food. We’ve travelled in style too! (Thanks, Uber!). For us, you can’t go wrong with a trip to the Capital. Hats off to Ann for pulling it all together leaving me to just, well, ENJOY my special day! 🎂🥳🎈

Tomorrow

In a fitting end to my three months (70 days) of pre-celebrations, we’re meeting my brother and family at Carluccio’s in St Pancras International Station.