The Fawlty Towers Dining Experience

No, no we didn't go to a restaurant with exceptionally bad service, it was actually an interactive show based on Fawlty Towers. We are ushered into the bar where Basil, Sybil and Manuel are serving in their own inimitable style before being called in for our meal. Our table draws attention first with Basil attempting to open a wine bottle with some help from Manuel:

Very Appetising

Which culminates in Basil falling in to the lap of himself. Wine poured and soup served two guests discover that 'chef' has dropped his false teeth into their bowls. And after much consternation Sybil wonders why she hired Manuel. Manuel insists that he is not 'hire' and once again decides to use himself to demonstrate.

"See - he higher!"

 Sybil at this point loses the rag and yells "Sit Down" at which point himself is without a chair.

My new husband

Soup finished, bowls taken away and order briefly restored before the main course. Until Manuel finding Sybil and Basil have left the room decides to do a bit of showing off and once again picks on our table.  As he uses an unfortunate lady as a ladder he climbs on our table to pretend to be a matador

I should add he did later attempt to fix the lady's hair with a fork!

Basil: "Manuel, what in hell do you think you're doing?!!"

We have a brief and complicated explanation of what we should do in the event of a fire, and because we can't leave through the same exit our table is resigned to digging a tunnel, while the table beside us must jump through the window. Since some tables were unsure of what they were meant to be doing Basil turns to himself and asks him what his profession is:
"Ah a programmer, a logistical mind of reason. Alright everybody in the event of a fire: follow him!"

This culminates in Basil raising the alarm for the drill at which point himself has to leg it out of the room while the rest of us are unsure whether to follow or not. I don't have any photos of him as I was too busy laughing. And so ends the first half of the performance.

The second half is a run through of old favourites from the series with audience interaction. Among the final scenes Manuel looking for his 'Siberian hamster' emerges from under a table with a ladies knickers. In the heel of the hunt Basil winds up wearing the knickers on his head and the grand finale is the infamous goose-step across the room

The show was fantastic, the actors have all the mannerisms and intonations down to a T, and if you ever get the opportunity then go see it - but not with a very tall man who attracts attention.

A tribute to Nana

Apologies again for the lax blogging. My Nana's sudden illness sent the whole family and I into a bit of turmoil.
I'm still finding it hard to believe that she's gone. Less than a year ago she was at my wedding and two days later was dancing around the floor at her 80th Birthday Party. She was a woman that was so full of life and so vibrant that it was difficult to see her suffer and in a way her death was a relief as had she lived she would have been ill and bedridden. That's something she most certainly would not have wanted.
Nana was unlike most other grandmothers. She refused to go grey and continued dying her hair until the very last. She wouldn't be seen outside the front door without her hair curled, her nails painted red, her make up on, dressed to the nines and wearing a "bit of bling". She could be told anything and not judge. Nothing fazed her - she took us and our problems are we were and helped as best she could.
She had a tough life, she endured domestic abuse, had seven children, survived a daughter's death, survived cancer, survived her husbands alzheimers and death and yet remained an eternal optimist.
She loved getting out of the house, going shopping or going to markets and she would do anything for a bargain. She loved to laugh and go on nights out, and it was often difficult to get her to go home after. She loved weekends away. She loved music, primarily country although she was partial to a bit of Dire Straits! She harangued DJ's on local radios to play songs she liked and was known on a first name basis everywhere she went. She was great fun - slagging was often fast and furious and she was never out done in a battle of wits. She was generous - if you so much as complimented a necklace it was yours there and then. And arguments over who would pay a bill almost resulted in Mrs. Doyle like fights. She collected nick-nacks particularly ones that made noise, her house was a menagerie of singing, dancing animals.
Nothing came above family. Children, grandchildren and great grandchildren - she loved them all among her last words were that she loved everyone equally. She was willing to do anything for family. Her walls were testament to that love. Every free wall space was adorned with family photos, and a mirror of Rod Stewart that she bought but no one wanted, she felt bad for him and so he took his place on the wall too :)
She was the grand matriarch of a huge family and she is and will be sorely missed.