G&T at the Movies

Dave and I made our first trip to a UK cinema yesterday. We saw "Horrible Bosses," which was filthy but also surprisingly funny. (We chose it partly because we love Jason Bateman in "Arrested Development" and Charlie Day in "Always Sunny in Philadelphia.") I was surprised to find that you can get cocktails in movie theaters here -- I had a gin & tonic from a can! Not the best G&T I've ever had, but worth the experience.

Dave had a Pimm's, which we'd heard a lot about since our arrival in London. It seems to be a local specialty, but we decided we're not fans. Dave describes it as a "fizzy chick drink."

Movie theater prices are even worse here than in New York. At the Odeon in Kensington, which seemed a relatively run-of-the-mill cinema, we paid £22.50 for our two tickets, which translates to about $36! (And that doesn't include the gin & tonic, the Pimm's or our popcorn, which tasted like packing material.) Guess we won't be seeing many movies in the UK! I hope Charlie and Jason appreciate our expenditure.

While movie prices may be more extreme, I'm surprised to find some strange similarities between the UK and Florida, believe it or not. Today I was out walking and found a house with a blooming Southern magnolia in its front yard. I've seen palm trees here and there -- the kind that tolerate more temperate weather -- and while we were staying at the house owned by the American School I was stunned to find blackberries growing more or less wild in the back garden. I picked some for breakfast one morning -- they were small, dark and sweetly sour little devils, just like the wild blackberries of my childhood!

(Photo: Arundel Gardens, a street a few blocks away.)