A mad day trip to South Pacific

The day started at 7:30 when I headed to the Train Station to catch the 8:25 train from Newcastle. The Journey ran smoothly until before York when train came to a standstill due to a tresspasser. In York the noise levels went off when a lovely big group of guides heading to the Big Gig got onto the train. In Doncaster however football fans boarded and stood in the end of our carriage smoking inside the train and shouting and swearing whe children were on board grrr, surely they could wait until they got off the train at Peterborough. Whats worse was that when they got off the train at Peterborough (Peterborough were playing at home to Doncaster) the football fans scaled the fence and climbed over it and ran just before the police caught them as they hadnt paid for their train journey.

We arrived at Kings Cross only 10 minutes later than scheduled and 15 minutes later we arrived at Barbican, went to a cafe for lunch before heading to the stage door.

I arrived at the stage door at about 12:45 and there was some other fans waiting who had brought an Albert Square sign for Sam to sign

At about 13:30 Samantha Womack arrived with her husband as he came to help clear stuff out her dressing room as it was the last day that the show was going to be in the west end before the show moves on to tour. Samantha will be touring with the show until Christmas.

When Sam arrived she said she was running late for warm up and didn't have time to sign autographs and have photos with people as she was running late and needed to warm up, however she did promise she would be back outside as soon as she had warmed up, which was lovely of her. While we were waiting for Sam to come back out i watched her husband take in Sam's gandbag (pretty) and then carry out items from her dressing room and put them in the car (cushions and a little duvet cover).

15 minutes later Sam came back out and was more than happy to give me an autograph, we asked her how her broken toe was doing and she showed us the toe and said it was a little bit swollen. She was more than happy to allow me not one but 3 pictures to be taken with her (different cameras lol) ao kind of her.

One of the other fans asked Sam if she had any plans to return to Eastenders and she said No not for the time being but maybe in a few years.

I told Sam that I had travelled all the way from Newcastle for the day and she said thankyou :) I took a couple of other photos of Sam while she was talking to some other people.

I then went to take my seat in the Barbican a lovely venue and i loved the way each of the rows had seperate entrances with doors that closed once the performance had begun to form the walls of the auditorium. The seats were lovely and comfortable too.

The first half of the show was simply fantastic. I went into the show not knowing what the story was about as I had never seen it before. Prior to going I had only heard a couple of songs (Bali High, Happy Talk, Wash that Man right out of my hair) I love all these songs.

 By the interval I was so hot so we got an ice cream and headed outside to stretch my legs. Found some lovely fountains and even for 4pm it was so boiling outside. The fountains looked tempting to jump into lol and people were sunbathing beside them.

After the interval we headed back inside to enjoy the rest of the show, which in its entirity was fantastic and Samantha Womack was amazing and played her character so well brilliant dancing and vocals.

After we left the theatre i overheard some theatre goers saying how Sam didn't have a strong voice- completely disagree with this.

After a great day at the theatre we headed for Kings Cross, i was boiling by the time i got to the station so i just had to go and get an ice cold drink which did the trick ahhhh :)

Great Journey home with no delays.

The Hills are alive with the sound of music

Hi to everybody reading, or indded anyone reading as I am not sure anyone reads my blog.

I have decided to do a little write up about my trip to the newly refurbished Theatre Royal in Newcastle yesterday to see the production of The Sound Of Music.

I first heard that there would be a touring version which would be coming to Newcastle back in February before the theatre closed for 6 months to be refurbished and since then I had a ticket.

Connie Fisher was originally in the cast for the touring version however a few weeks before the show it was announced she had to pull out due to a throat problem. I was looking forward to seeing her but when it was announced Verity Rushworth would be stepping into the role i just knew she would do well in the role.

I went into the theatre not really fully sure what the story was about and was gripped at the production and the story throughout. Came out of the theatre with the songs in my head and Verity Rushworth was a great Maria.

As for the newly refurbished theatre I like it and it has a great feel to it the seats have more legroom but are not as comfortable as the old ones.

I can't stop singing Do Re Mi lol

Next week I am going to London to see South Pacific so I will blog about it on my return.

My First Visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on Saturday 27th August 2011

Arrived at Newcastle Central Station to find out that there was a delay to our train due to singnalling problems. We left 20 minutes later than scheduled but this wasn't too bad, we actualy managed to make time up on the journey so in the end we were only 10 minutes late getting into Edinburgh so can't really complain.

When we arrived into Edinburgh we went for a spot of lunch at Garfunkels on the Royal Mile and very lovely it was.




We then headed out to the Royal Mile and came across a great street perfomer. As well as being a funny bloke he could juggle knives and climb up a ladder which was unsupported.As well as this he juggled knives whilst being on the unsupported ladder and move around on the unsupported ladder without falling. He was so good. He also removed his kilt and moved round whilst on the ladder.

We then went to check into hotel and planned what we were going to see before Sarah Millican (more about her later)

At 5pm we went to go and see an improvised comedy controlled by the viewer. In essence we the audience were given the remote and we could set the scene and subjects to be used as part of the comedy scene. The show was good, it had by face acheing but it wasn't the best comedy i have ever seen and was a bit cheesy in parts.

And so to join the queue for Sarah Millican as seats were unreserved i wanted to be as close to the front as possible. 10 minutes before doors opened the rain came down but never mind it was worth it and we managed to get seated close to the microphone in second row in front of stage. Alas no pictures of Sarah as photography wasn't allowed during the show.

Sarah Millican's comedy talent throughout the show was amazing, the venue also felt intimate. Sarah looked right down on me at a couple of points during the show and in the show posted a question to the audience asking if anybody had tried spacedust before, most of the audience answered yes. I answered no as i hadn't. The comedy continued and i was laughing so much my chest was starting to ache. It was a really great show she is such a funny talent. i would give the show a massive 10/10 and this show was a preview to her upcoming tour Thoroughly Modern Millican which i am going to see in March 2012. So as the end of the show approached Sarah went back to the subject of Spacedust which she had discussed earlier on in the show and she looked at me and then INVITED ME ON STAGE as she wanted me to try some spacedust with her as I had never tried it before. Previous to the tour she hadn't tried it and is now hooked on it lol. Anyway still in shock from being picked I went up on stage and handed Sarah a cake which i brought for her as i know she likes cake and previous tour audiences have given her some, she was very impressed. I also told her my name and where i was from (a fellow Geordie) We then had the spacedust together before i went off the stage. About 5 minutes later the show finished and what a great show it was, Roll on March 2012. I left the venue feeling happy and lucky.

We then headed to the Barry and Stuart magic show, where before going in there was a guy who does magic for a hobby who was going to be in audience for the show gave me a Harry Potter style wand and someone else had a broken piece of rope i was then asked to press a button on the wand 3 times and then the rope wasn't broken anymore would love to know how this trick worked.

During the show I was given a potato to look after during one of the tricks which i caught with one hand. I was then asked up to the stage to chuck the potato at a bed of spikes to proove they were in fact real sharp spikes. I was given the potato to keep as a prize lol. However later in the show i was invited back on stage to take part in a trick where i could trade the potato in for a prize. I shook a dice in a cup which determined what the prize was i got the prize i got was a hug from the magicians all the other prizes said kill :D After the magic show we went to the reveal show which the magicians revealed the secrets behind the tricks they performed in the show.. At the end of this show we were shown a piece of footage and were asked to take  a picture of the screen during the footage. I took the picture at the right time to get this image below spooky.. we were left with this mystery. I was a great show.

Got Back to hotel and went to bed before getting up this morning, having a lovely breakfast and a good trip home via a lovely Sunday Lunch.


Until next time Bye for now.

I have decided to start blogging again

So long time no blog.. I know back in January i said i would post a blog soon but that never happened. So I have now decided to restart my blog and post in it more regularly not everyday or every week though as that would be boring and pointless and updates would consist of

Went to work
Came home
Relaxed
Listened to music
Watched TV etc etc.....

Who wants to read a blog like that? Nobody,  I only have 2 followers anyway would love a few more.Instead I have decided to update after i have been to a show for example or if theres a subject/tv show/music album i particularly want to talk about.

The next blog which i will post will talk about my first ever visit to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The year is going good so far

4 days into the new year and i thought that I would update you all.

On Saturday after waking up from bringing in the new year I lazed around the house while parents went out to a football match.I spent time on the forum i go on as normal talking to my lovely friends who could ask for anything more, nothing in town was open buses weren't running so i had the excuse of staying in.
On Saturday evening received a call from Auntie to make arrangements for coming over to see me with my second cousin on sunday (2nd) relaxed in the evening an played monopoly with the family.

Sunday 2nd January 2011

My Auntie and her new bf arrived at 11am prompt with my second cousin who is now just over 3 1/2 years old, i have hardly seen him so it was good to see him and he has grown so much and is so cute and loved playing with the toy that we got him for christmas, i really hope we can see him more in future. My Aunties new bf is nice and it was nice of him to come as i haven't met him before.

Monday 3rd January 2011

Lazy morning in bed before going over to my friends house for a catch up whilst she is home from uni for the holidays it was good to catch up. Came home and talked to online friends and had a good time

Talked to another friend on msn who is home for the christmas holidays and we hinted at each other to go on a trip to the metrocentre tomorrow (Tuesday 4th) so we made the plans.

Tuesday 4th January 2011

Early start watched the tv to see if the north east was going to get a view of the Partial Solar eclipse, sadly not thought to myself whilst walking to the bus stop why is it whenever we get astronomical events the sky is never clear!! oh well lets hope the skies are clear for the next partial eclipse in 20:15.

Went to Metrocentre with friend dissapointed the main calender club shop has closed for the year so had to make do with a calender from the calendar club stall instead still pleased with the Newcastle Calendar i got even though we would have preferred a Northumberland one for the kitchen.

Went to waterstones where friend wanted to get some books from before heading over to Nandos for Lunch Nandos was chosen as frind hadn't experienced eating there before. The food was lovely hadn't realised before today that they add VAT onto the bill (at 20%) but despite this lunch was cheaper than i thought it would be so still impressed!

Had a bit of time to kill before going to cinema, so both went to have a dairy milk mcflurry from McDonalds it was lovely as i haven't had one in what feels like yonks.

We then went to the Odeon Cinema within the Metrocentre to see Love and Other Drugs
Plot Summary
Official Trailer

I found it to be a good film I won't spoil the ending as i know people may still be waiting to see it but it was a good ending i feel worth seeing. It was informative and funny throughout and lets just say a little saucy but this didn't spoil the film for me in my opinion.

Friend enjoyed the day with me and hoping to catch up with her again soon before she travels back to Uni.

Not sure when next blog will be but i think i will try to a soap blog to see how that goes in a few days time.

I still have a dilemma whether to get a new phone or not as i am topping up so much on PAYG so it might be better to go monthly. If I do get a new handset I am torn between blackberry bold and Blackberry Torch.

Thanks for reading, though not sure if anybody is finding me lol or what people think. Take care and i will blog later.

New Year and a New Start

Well hello there so a new year is upon us and i sort of thought to myself should i start blogging, not sure if anybody will find me but how will i know unless i try.

My name is Claire and I am 20 and live in the North East of England. I am currently awaiting to start a new post elsewhere after redundancy as the service that i worked for was not allowed to continue due to the none guarantee that the funding could be provided.I am fortunate enough to be in the position of waiting to start a new job will mean longer days and more travel, but hey its a job just hope i enjoy it.

2011 got off too a good start and i enjoyed marking it with fireworks, watching Chinese lanterns float across the sky went to bed at 2am after listening to next doors loud music from my house :D

I am not sure where this blog is going to go but who knows...