A merry flag in the artic wilderness of my life.

Sorry for the break in transmission - I have been without access to the google for a few days.

Last Friday, Paul and I joined Catriona and Chris at Covent garden for dinner and 'Il Trovatore'. Dinner was fine (not outstanding, but satisfactory - I think it's a sign of how good food now is (or people's expectations of it) in the UK. 10 years ago I would have said it was very good). And the opera was excellent - we splurged a little thanks to Catriona having access to good seats. The sightlines weren't fantastic, but the music was so much better than up in the gods where we have sat before. And it's always nice to go home without a bleeding nose.

As you know, I don't know much about opera,(except they're all tragic of course) but Marcelo Alvarez was in it - he was the tenor I saw in Carmen (and isn't he chunky closer up?). Stephanie Blythe was excellent as the gypsy Azucena, and Catherine Naglestad was very good as Leonora. well.