My Neighbour Totoro

James and I were up early to catch the 8.50 p.m. plane to London City. All went smoothly although not for the man behind me in the queue for boarding who was told that he was in the wrong queue because his ticket was for Heathrow! We left our luggage at the Premier Inn, Westferry, and set off along the Thames walkway towards Tower Bridge. The weather was fine and soon we had to take our jackets off because it was so warm. We jumped onto the underground from Tower Hill to Temple and had a really good wee lunch at Delauney’s. We were only a short walk from the Gillian Lynne Theatre where we saw the matinée of My Neighbour Totoro. This musical theatre production, based on a popular Japanese Animé, was recommended to us by both Ally and Gordon, so we were intrigued. And we were so glad we went because it was unusual, joyful, and downright surreal! A good example is the twelve legged orange cat-bus! The puppetry was so skilful, the music was alluring, and the actors were very energetic. When Totoro himself appeared for the first time there were gasps from the audience at his sheer immensity and presence. There were quite a lot of Japanese families there; apparently Totoro is a very popular figure in Japan. There were also quite a few school groups, who were lively but well-behaved. The man to James’ left was told off for getting his phone camera out, and from then on the usher watched him like a hawk. I took a surreptitious photo myself at the end when the usher wasn’t looking, just out of a feeling of rebellion. 
After the show we walked some more (12 km in total during the day) and later had a decent if not outstanding meal in Gordon Ramsay’s Limehouse restaurant, which we have passed many times as we have walked to and from Ally and Cat’s flat over the last few years. It has been a long but satisfying day.