Checking out central London theatreland. The number of theatres reserving cheap tickets for same day early queuers has expanded. It's no longer only the National on the South Bank. However the central theatres (where regular seats are often sold out) tend to reserve fewer seats (10-14) and the queues begin anywhere from 5:30 to 7:00 a.m. for box offices that open at 10! Given the bitter weather we have no intention at all of waiting four hours on the pavement from a pre-dawn start. Sunny and not too cold by afternoon though and a nice wander through Leicester Square and China Town.The supper plan was to go to Autograf, a northeast Polish restaurant with stunningly good reviews. It's not as accessible as it might be, but a longish bus ride gets us there - almost to the door. Only to find it's closed for Easter week, opening again on Friday. It's tiny and located in a mixed Turkish and Polish neighbourhood, but the reviews are proudly displayed inthe window, and we discover a slightly shorter way of getting there via Archway tube station and a bus. Which is the route we take back to Chapel Market and our old standby the Indian Veg.
A young man, twentyish, on the platform at Edgeware Road tube station wants to be sure the train he's taking is to Victoria, and it is a bit confusing. We show him the schematic and assure him it's the right train. How many stations? Eight stops. Then he shows us his ticket. Will it still be good. We assure him it's good all day, and he explains that he can't read - hence the heavy reliance on verbal assurances about the number of stops. His English is fluent - possibly first language - and he doesn't do any explaining about broken glasses, etc. Can he really be illiterate? A scary thought where everything relies on reading at least signs.