An Afternoon At The Movies

We had lunch at a cafe near Leicester Square with Scott choosing fish and chips and Laura trying falafel. It was quite British, much to the dismay of the girls who were unsuccessful in begging their parents to make a McDonald's run. Despite that, they enjoyed their pasta and their fresh-squeezed apple-juice. We then headed to our afternoon destination, a nearby cinema where we all watched Hotel For Dogs. The cinema experience was a little different than what we've encountered before. Leicester Square is in the heart of London's theatre district, and interestingly, the cinema is run as if it were a cinema. First, the seats are assigned. Second, the number of chairs is relatively small for each screen. (Our auditorum probably held 75 max.) Third, there is an usher in each auditorium to show you to your seat and preserve order, at least at the start of the film. Finally, the auditorium itself has a heavy emphasis on decor. We didn't fully understand going in that we weren't going into a standard movie theater which caused us to make one mistake: when the cashier offered us front-row seats, we declined them, not wanting the experience of being overwhelmed by the screen and emerging with a neckache. In retrospect, given the layout of the theater, what we had been offered were the best seats in the house. Oh well. Live and learn.