As a child, I was taken to The Nutcracker ballet at Christmas every year. I began ballet lessons at the tender age of three and carried on until I was 15. Of course, as I watched Tchaikovsky's magical ballet, I wanted, like many other little girls, to be a ballerina ... but I was also a keen reader and loved books. I read so much from a young age, my mother would scold me for reading too much. Hard to imagine, I know, when parents these days are worried about their kids' screen time on computers and iPads and would probably love them to read a book instead. But, as it turned out, I may not have become a ballerina but it certainly wasn't second best to become a book editor. I've always loved my work.
My love of The Nutcracker has remained. I took my own children when they were little and I've been waiting for the time when I could take one of my grandsons. The two elder ones, Freddie and Ben, have become familiar with much of the ballet's music, which is played a lot on the radio at this time of year, and I've shown them YouTube clips. This year, I decided it was time to take Freddie - the oldest grandson and nearly nine - to the real thing. Thus I booked tickets for us at the London Coliseum, where English National Ballet's production is showing, and we went yesterday.
The boys went into London in the morning with their mother to visit a few London sights - including the famous toy shop, Hamley's. I was meeting them at the Coliseum at 1.45pm so Freddie could come to the matinee of the ballet with me. Rather spontaneously, as the sun was shining and I was in a kind of holiday mood, having decided not to start a new job waiting on my computer until the next day, I decided to head into London early myself and go to the David Hockney: Drawing from Life exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. I was Member at the gallery for years but it's only fairly recently re-opened after a major renovation. So major, the main entrance was round the corner from the old and I found myself entering an entirely unfamiliar place, whereas once I'd spent a lot of time there and knew my way around well. Their cafe has always been so good, I've often gone in for a coffee or snack when in the area, without seeing an exhibition. Its location near Trafalgar Square and London's Theatreland makes it an ideal place to meet people or pop in for a drink.
I renewed my membership online before leaving home and picked up a temporary members' card at the ticket desk - a proper one with welcome pack will arrive within the next month.
It was busy inside. I guess in this Christmas/New Year holiday period, there are many visitors to London and most children are still on school holidays. However, it wasn't too busy to go round the Hockney exhibition and get a good view and enjoy it. The Guardian hailed this exhibition as 'the most dazzling display of his art I have ever seen' and gave it 5 stars. Here are sketches of old friends, many like Celia Birtwell, who have appeared in Hockney's paintings from almost his 'beginning', in Birtwell's case going back to the time the textile designer was married to iconic fashion designer Ossie Clark. I've always liked his painting of them – 'Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy'. Percy being their cat. It's a great exhibition and wonderful to see the artist still painting so enthusiastically and prolifically at the age of 86.
I decided to get a snack lunch in one of the gallery's cafes. Again, I had to re-orientate myself and as I followed signs for the cafe, found myself in a familiar part of the gallery, albeit the former shop had turned into one of the cafes. The food was still excellent and I had a very good brioche bun with smoked salmon, cream cheese, spinach and some gherkin. And I couldn't resist one of their little carrot cakes to go with my coffee!
Be the time I emerged from the gallery, I had a bit of time before meeting up with the family, so wandered up to Covent Garden before making my way to the Coliseum. I knew it would be crowded and allowed plenty of time to get in, buy a programme, find the toilets and get to our seats. It was Freddie's first time to a theatre like this and he asked, in the days leading up to the trip, how big it is. I found out that the Coliseum seats 2,359. The theatre is gorgeous inside and a lovely Christmasy curtain filled the stage as we waited for the ballet to begin.
We really enjoyed it and Freddie liked the Mouse King best. When we came out, we slowly made our way through Covent Garden and the Piazza to Balthazar where I'd booked a table for 6pm. I wouldn't have thought of this as a venue to take Freddie, but discovered recently while in the area with my daughter that they have a Kids' Menu - and if they have a kids' menu, then they must welcome kids. Which they did.
Styled as a Parisian grand cafe, it's sumptuous inside. It's huge but broken up into smaller areas so you don't feel overwhelmed. I'd been once before, soon after it opened, but hadn't been back, despite liking it a lot.
The staff were really welcoming and friendly. The Kids' Menu isn't a set menu like many other places, but a choice of dishes at a lower price than on the main menu. The size was pretty adult though! Freddie's Grilled Chicken with Pommes Purée and Gravy (£9.95) was huge with three large pieces of chicken and a good mound of delicious looking potato purée. The gravy came in a little pot and he was able to pour over the amount he wanted, where he wanted, which was a nice touch.
I'd chosen to have the early evening fixed price menu - Prix Fixe - which is £27.50 for 2 courses; £29.50 for 3. I chose to have a main and dessert - as Freddie would. My main was Roasted Salmon Fillet with crushed potatoes, spring onions, capers and beurre noisette. It was delicious! Really good.
Freddie had a generous portion of ice cream for dessert, which came with a home-made stick of shortbread. I chose Creme Brûlée from the fixed menu. It was excellent - one of the best I've had. Freddie had apple juice to drink and I had a glass of Picpoul.
We came out into heavy rain but it didn't dampen our spirits as we made our way across Waterloo Bridge to Waterloo Station and took a train home. It had been a lovely day in London and sometimes it feels just great to make the most of living in (or on the outskirts of) such a wonderful city. And, of course, it had been great to enjoy such a special outing with my grandson.
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