Going Back to England: Fourth Trip To England [Day 04]
We got to bed after one in the morning, well, that's when I finally was able to get into bed after packing and such! I woke up at 7:30 when Nic did and was glad to see a few private messages from Ben telling me where we could meet up. He said that we find a seat and get settled and that he'd be there to meet us after the matinée show finished. He said he could only stay for a little while as he had to run some errands before the final show! He also said not to get a programme earlier on as he would be getting me one signed by the entire cast! Which just had me so damn excited! Since I had packed the night before and also took a shower I had some time to killed so chatted to a few people on Facebook. When we got to our train track I saw this ADORABLE Border Collie and since I was already having serious dog withdrawals I asked the woman if I could pet her. Her name was Milly and she was so damn cute! I was hoping that we would be sitting in the same cabin as I wanted to keep petting her, but unfortunately we weren't. :(
When we arrived in London we went and got our tube cards, even one ride on them is so damn expensive so the tube cards were a ton cheaper! Once we got to our stop there wasn't any escalators. They were only elevators or steps and since I'm a tad claustrophobic I thought that the elevators were out of the question as they were so packed! I didn't really consider just how far underground we were in the tube stations (it's nowhere near as deep in NYC) so we took the stairs. Winding stairs as a matter of fact. And let me tell you, it's amusing for about two flights of stairs, but after what felt like at least 12 flights it was NOT fun anymore. I had to stop halfway and catch my breath. When we finally got outside Nic was looking pretty damn pale, her face was totally drained of color and she said she couldn't see. I kept trying to get her to sit down because I was afraid she was going to pass out, but thankfully she was alright after a little while! Once I was sure she was ok, we headed over to the hotel to see if we could check in early (our check in time was 2 o'clock). We weren't allowed up there yet, but they did have a coat/bag check so we could drop our stuff off! There was a Starbucks right down the road so we spent the rest of our time there! A man had come in and tried to sell us make up, I mean he seriously sat down right near us! If it was New York do you know how many times he would have been told to 'fuck off'? Haha! I kept giving off vibes that I wasn't interested and he seemed to think that it was because I wasn't much of a make-up wearer. >( What's he trying to say?! I eventually told him that I was allergic to make-up (I don't know how I managed that with a straight face, I'm no good at lying most of the time!)
We checked the time and we could finally go and check in properly! We up four flights and I was glad I was finally somewhere besides the ground floor of a hotel, haha! It was a pretty decent sized room! But when we tried to check out the bathroom the light wasn't working and we struggled for awhile to figure out why. And then I recalled that some of the newer hotels require you to put your room card into this device near the door. Sure enough that turned on the power! But it sure did take us awhile, haha! Once that was all figured out I started getting ready, struggling to get my damn hair to curl because Nic's curling iron only seems to have one setting and my hair is so damn thick! I also forgot to bring hairspray so it didn't stay as well as I would have liked, but it was certainly fine for the time being. I also curled Nic's hair and standing up I soon remembered I hadn't had anything to eat since around nine that morning and it was getting closer and closer to four in the afternoon. Add onto that that I was becoming very anxious about meeting Ben and I was feeling pretty damn dizzy!
We left the hotel a little after 4:30 and got to the coffee shop a few minutes later (somehow I managed to walk ok on cobblestone with heels!) We were due to meet him a little after five so Nic decided to treat me to a cookie and drink but I could hardly have either of them! I had a bite of the cookie and that was all I could manage, haha! I kept rambling onto Nic about god knows what and anxiously looking at the door. He walked in just after five, pointing at me with a smile on his face! And although I never doubted that it wasn't really him talking to me on twitter my first thought was: holy CRAP, I've been talking to Ben Daniels. O.O I don't even remember standing up but then I found myself hugging him and I wish I could relive that over and over again! He had told me previously not to get him anything, but of course I wasn't going to listen to him! I said: I know you didn't want me to get you anything and then handed him the gift bag filled with Milk Duds and Mike and Ikes (from Jill). He was trying not to act as eager as I'm sure he wanted to, haha! He even gushed over the little baby box of Milk Duds I put in there, it was hilarious! He also remembered that I didn't like Tangfastics and teased me about it. I said it tasted like soap and he laughed and said: that's a weird soap! Then he asked me about Simba and good god I could hug this man all day! We spoke about how hard it is to leave your animals behind when you're going on a trip. After that he handed me (from his very James Steel looking messenger bag) a head shot signed by him as well as the program signed by everyone else in the show. I really hadn't expected all of that and I'm sure it showed in my expression! He said that there was a very rude Alex Kingston fan that harassed HIM, demanding to know why she hadn't come out for her! Possibly not the best time to say that Nic was a huge fan of Alex but he suddenly felt bad that he didn't have anything for her. And being the sweetest man EVER he promised her that he would get her a signed programme and if we didn't see him after the show that he would get her address and mail it to her! We talked about Perfect Skin and he said they might not have the funds to finish it which just bums me out! :(
Soon after that I asked if I could get a picture with him and he said: Yes, of course! And as I leaned in to take a photo with him he did this deep throaty chuckle and I just turned to a freaking puddle of goo! Here's that photo:
I thought that after we took the photos that he'd be heading off so I gave him a hug and said that it was nice to meet him. But then he said he didn't have to leave just yet! Hee hee! We talked about being vegetarians but he said, in a sheepish tone, that he was eating fish again. He's so cute! I asked if he had been watching Law and Order: UK recently and he said he hadn't. But when I told him in the latest episode of the show that Alesha wore the wig he seemed to be genuinely surprised and happy! My Alesha/James heart may have skipped a beat. :D He also wholeheartedly agreed that Alesha and James should have gotten together! And that he wished he could have re-wrote the ending. I also told him how I love Freema and he just absolutely gushed about her! He said that he had asked her to come out and see him in this play and how she said she couldn't because she was going on vacation. And he even mimicked her voice and it was just hilarious and adorable! He asked to look at our tickets to see where we were sitting and said that we had good seats to see his face as that was around the area where most of his scenes happened! After that I gave him another hug (I feel like he's a pretty darn huggable person as well!) and we went on our way. Nic said that as he walked outside that someone did a double take which was hilarious! Especially since no one in the coffee shop seemed to bat an eyelash at him being there. She also asked me how I had handled the fact that he kept running his fingers through his hair. My response was a pretty loud: GUH! LMAO!
After all that craziness I was finally feeling really hungry! But we went back to the hotel first so I could drop off my autographs. We thought about going to Pizza Express but when we walked by we saw that it was pretty crowded and we only had just over an hour before we had to be at the theater. We found this place right down the street from The Donmar called Kitchen Italia. Where the greeter totally eyed up Nic, it was hilarious! The food was really good but I couldn't finish it in time and didn't get it to go because I didn't really want to carry that around and I doubt I could have brought it into the theater. I knew that it was going to be a small theater but WOW was it teeny tiny. I'm kind of glad we were up higher than at stage level, especially with how much yelling Ben did, I would have probably been spit on! Haha! They had 'standing tickets' which was kind of irritating because there were two women stood RIGHT behind our seats and I heard one of them bitching a bit. Hey, at least she got in, so she should have quit her bitchin'!
The show itself was AMAZING, very tense, but very amazing. Now I might have been hallucinating, but I swear at the end when they all came out to take a bow, I swear Ben was looking at ME. Maybe it was just my mind fantasizing, but I'm going to go ahead and pretend he had been. :) Soon after we headed outside but I had completely forgotten about one of the steps down and as I was wearing heels (not a super high heel, but big enough especially walking on cobble streets), it was pretty fucking PAINFUL when I missed the step. I'm sure with the cursing that followed people figured out I was a New Yorker, LMAO. I didn't think the actors would be coming out all that soon since it had been the final show, but we wanted to stick around in the hopes to get to see Ben again and for me to meet Alex Kingston! As we waited some of the theater workers came out to take down the posters promoting the show! O.O Talk about moving fast!
A few of the actors started coming out a little while later so I had much higher hopes that Ben would be coming out! And he sure did, with Alex in tow. My brain really couldn't comprehend all of this. Nic told me to use my New Yorker voice to catch Ben's attention. So I kind of meekly said: Ben to try and get his attention. But he didn't seem to hear me so then I yelled: BEN!! LMAO I think I startled the poor guy for a moment but then he realized it was us again and gave me a smile and headed over. <3 We hugged, yet again and he asked me if I enjoyed the show. I told him yes, but his character definitely scared me! His response was to do this creepy face and go: Yeah, he's freaking creepy! He gave Nic this carrier bag but was looking at me as he did so and went: I got the goods. He also signed a head shot of himself for Nic as well as got the entire cast to a sign a programme! :D Did I mention that I love this man? He also said that he had kept the Milk Duds hidden so no one else took any of them! Haha :D He went off to speak to some other fans so we headed over closer to Alex. I asked if I could have a picture with her and she was kind enough to say yes! :D Nic was taking the photo for me and Alex seemed to recognize her (Nic met her twice before). Nic just shrugged and went: Well, we live in the same country!
After it got less crowded we went over to speak to Ben again! :D As we were talking someone came over to see if he was heading down to this pub down the street and he told them he'd be there in a bit (which proves that he didn't think I was a nut job and wanted to keep talking! :D ) I asked if we could have another picture and he said: of course!
I gave him a million more hugs and said that I hoped to see him again when I was back in London. He said: Yeah, I hope so! And fingers crossed they'll let me do a Broadway Production again. And that was the end of one of the best days ever. :D
When we arrived in London we went and got our tube cards, even one ride on them is so damn expensive so the tube cards were a ton cheaper! Once we got to our stop there wasn't any escalators. They were only elevators or steps and since I'm a tad claustrophobic I thought that the elevators were out of the question as they were so packed! I didn't really consider just how far underground we were in the tube stations (it's nowhere near as deep in NYC) so we took the stairs. Winding stairs as a matter of fact. And let me tell you, it's amusing for about two flights of stairs, but after what felt like at least 12 flights it was NOT fun anymore. I had to stop halfway and catch my breath. When we finally got outside Nic was looking pretty damn pale, her face was totally drained of color and she said she couldn't see. I kept trying to get her to sit down because I was afraid she was going to pass out, but thankfully she was alright after a little while! Once I was sure she was ok, we headed over to the hotel to see if we could check in early (our check in time was 2 o'clock). We weren't allowed up there yet, but they did have a coat/bag check so we could drop our stuff off! There was a Starbucks right down the road so we spent the rest of our time there! A man had come in and tried to sell us make up, I mean he seriously sat down right near us! If it was New York do you know how many times he would have been told to 'fuck off'? Haha! I kept giving off vibes that I wasn't interested and he seemed to think that it was because I wasn't much of a make-up wearer. >( What's he trying to say?! I eventually told him that I was allergic to make-up (I don't know how I managed that with a straight face, I'm no good at lying most of the time!)
We checked the time and we could finally go and check in properly! We up four flights and I was glad I was finally somewhere besides the ground floor of a hotel, haha! It was a pretty decent sized room! But when we tried to check out the bathroom the light wasn't working and we struggled for awhile to figure out why. And then I recalled that some of the newer hotels require you to put your room card into this device near the door. Sure enough that turned on the power! But it sure did take us awhile, haha! Once that was all figured out I started getting ready, struggling to get my damn hair to curl because Nic's curling iron only seems to have one setting and my hair is so damn thick! I also forgot to bring hairspray so it didn't stay as well as I would have liked, but it was certainly fine for the time being. I also curled Nic's hair and standing up I soon remembered I hadn't had anything to eat since around nine that morning and it was getting closer and closer to four in the afternoon. Add onto that that I was becoming very anxious about meeting Ben and I was feeling pretty damn dizzy!
We left the hotel a little after 4:30 and got to the coffee shop a few minutes later (somehow I managed to walk ok on cobblestone with heels!) We were due to meet him a little after five so Nic decided to treat me to a cookie and drink but I could hardly have either of them! I had a bite of the cookie and that was all I could manage, haha! I kept rambling onto Nic about god knows what and anxiously looking at the door. He walked in just after five, pointing at me with a smile on his face! And although I never doubted that it wasn't really him talking to me on twitter my first thought was: holy CRAP, I've been talking to Ben Daniels. O.O I don't even remember standing up but then I found myself hugging him and I wish I could relive that over and over again! He had told me previously not to get him anything, but of course I wasn't going to listen to him! I said: I know you didn't want me to get you anything and then handed him the gift bag filled with Milk Duds and Mike and Ikes (from Jill). He was trying not to act as eager as I'm sure he wanted to, haha! He even gushed over the little baby box of Milk Duds I put in there, it was hilarious! He also remembered that I didn't like Tangfastics and teased me about it. I said it tasted like soap and he laughed and said: that's a weird soap! Then he asked me about Simba and good god I could hug this man all day! We spoke about how hard it is to leave your animals behind when you're going on a trip. After that he handed me (from his very James Steel looking messenger bag) a head shot signed by him as well as the program signed by everyone else in the show. I really hadn't expected all of that and I'm sure it showed in my expression! He said that there was a very rude Alex Kingston fan that harassed HIM, demanding to know why she hadn't come out for her! Possibly not the best time to say that Nic was a huge fan of Alex but he suddenly felt bad that he didn't have anything for her. And being the sweetest man EVER he promised her that he would get her a signed programme and if we didn't see him after the show that he would get her address and mail it to her! We talked about Perfect Skin and he said they might not have the funds to finish it which just bums me out! :(
Soon after that I asked if I could get a picture with him and he said: Yes, of course! And as I leaned in to take a photo with him he did this deep throaty chuckle and I just turned to a freaking puddle of goo! Here's that photo:
I thought that after we took the photos that he'd be heading off so I gave him a hug and said that it was nice to meet him. But then he said he didn't have to leave just yet! Hee hee! We talked about being vegetarians but he said, in a sheepish tone, that he was eating fish again. He's so cute! I asked if he had been watching Law and Order: UK recently and he said he hadn't. But when I told him in the latest episode of the show that Alesha wore the wig he seemed to be genuinely surprised and happy! My Alesha/James heart may have skipped a beat. :D He also wholeheartedly agreed that Alesha and James should have gotten together! And that he wished he could have re-wrote the ending. I also told him how I love Freema and he just absolutely gushed about her! He said that he had asked her to come out and see him in this play and how she said she couldn't because she was going on vacation. And he even mimicked her voice and it was just hilarious and adorable! He asked to look at our tickets to see where we were sitting and said that we had good seats to see his face as that was around the area where most of his scenes happened! After that I gave him another hug (I feel like he's a pretty darn huggable person as well!) and we went on our way. Nic said that as he walked outside that someone did a double take which was hilarious! Especially since no one in the coffee shop seemed to bat an eyelash at him being there. She also asked me how I had handled the fact that he kept running his fingers through his hair. My response was a pretty loud: GUH! LMAO!
After all that craziness I was finally feeling really hungry! But we went back to the hotel first so I could drop off my autographs. We thought about going to Pizza Express but when we walked by we saw that it was pretty crowded and we only had just over an hour before we had to be at the theater. We found this place right down the street from The Donmar called Kitchen Italia. Where the greeter totally eyed up Nic, it was hilarious! The food was really good but I couldn't finish it in time and didn't get it to go because I didn't really want to carry that around and I doubt I could have brought it into the theater. I knew that it was going to be a small theater but WOW was it teeny tiny. I'm kind of glad we were up higher than at stage level, especially with how much yelling Ben did, I would have probably been spit on! Haha! They had 'standing tickets' which was kind of irritating because there were two women stood RIGHT behind our seats and I heard one of them bitching a bit. Hey, at least she got in, so she should have quit her bitchin'!
The show itself was AMAZING, very tense, but very amazing. Now I might have been hallucinating, but I swear at the end when they all came out to take a bow, I swear Ben was looking at ME. Maybe it was just my mind fantasizing, but I'm going to go ahead and pretend he had been. :) Soon after we headed outside but I had completely forgotten about one of the steps down and as I was wearing heels (not a super high heel, but big enough especially walking on cobble streets), it was pretty fucking PAINFUL when I missed the step. I'm sure with the cursing that followed people figured out I was a New Yorker, LMAO. I didn't think the actors would be coming out all that soon since it had been the final show, but we wanted to stick around in the hopes to get to see Ben again and for me to meet Alex Kingston! As we waited some of the theater workers came out to take down the posters promoting the show! O.O Talk about moving fast!
A few of the actors started coming out a little while later so I had much higher hopes that Ben would be coming out! And he sure did, with Alex in tow. My brain really couldn't comprehend all of this. Nic told me to use my New Yorker voice to catch Ben's attention. So I kind of meekly said: Ben to try and get his attention. But he didn't seem to hear me so then I yelled: BEN!! LMAO I think I startled the poor guy for a moment but then he realized it was us again and gave me a smile and headed over. <3 We hugged, yet again and he asked me if I enjoyed the show. I told him yes, but his character definitely scared me! His response was to do this creepy face and go: Yeah, he's freaking creepy! He gave Nic this carrier bag but was looking at me as he did so and went: I got the goods. He also signed a head shot of himself for Nic as well as got the entire cast to a sign a programme! :D Did I mention that I love this man? He also said that he had kept the Milk Duds hidden so no one else took any of them! Haha :D He went off to speak to some other fans so we headed over closer to Alex. I asked if I could have a picture with her and she was kind enough to say yes! :D Nic was taking the photo for me and Alex seemed to recognize her (Nic met her twice before). Nic just shrugged and went: Well, we live in the same country!
After it got less crowded we went over to speak to Ben again! :D As we were talking someone came over to see if he was heading down to this pub down the street and he told them he'd be there in a bit (which proves that he didn't think I was a nut job and wanted to keep talking! :D ) I asked if we could have another picture and he said: of course!
I gave him a million more hugs and said that I hoped to see him again when I was back in London. He said: Yeah, I hope so! And fingers crossed they'll let me do a Broadway Production again. And that was the end of one of the best days ever. :D