Blog 15 – Friends and Family month, Part 2
The Friday after Eric was here, I had a great lunch date and book discussion with Wendy Schiff. Wendy is a member of my Baltimore-based book club who had come to London for a long weekend, joining in on a business trip of her daughters. After meeting at the memorial to Ememeline Pankhurst, https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/pankhurst_emmeline.shtml, we made our way across the Westminster Bridge and past the London Eye to Southbank and a noodle lunch at Wagamama’s. It was great seeing a familiar face and discussing the book, Becoming, in person. (Needed better editing, could have been two books, Michelle is a rock star)
A few days later, Aj and Aaron arrived from Dallas. We started our time together in Wimbledon at the New Wimbledon Theater’s showing of Amelie, the musical. The production was first rate and the theater beautiful. https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-wimbledon-theatre/history/ Good start. Next day, off to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour. https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/ Also known as the Harry Potter movie tour. These are the actual sets, costumes, props, and notes used in the making of all eight movies. There are no rides; just the real stuff used. If you love Harry, and we do, then this is a must-see. This long day ended in true British fashion, Thai food in the local pub. Yum.
It was in Greenwich the next day that we were able to meet up with A2’s friend, Richard, who had come for a weekend in London. Took the Clipper again, this time we walked past the Cutty Sark and went straight for the Chapel and Painted Hall. (Same parts as with Eric, worth a second look) We had hoped to tour ‘the Queens House’ but it was closed for a private event. We stopped by the Maritime Museum on this trip to take in an exhibit of space photography. https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/astronomy-photographer-year/exhibition Then, back to the Royal Observatory. This time I went straight for the top of the building to the telescope room. The telescope part was not open for use or demonstration, but still something to see and the views outside to London city center are fabulous. I was also able to see the Camera Obscura this trip and take in more of the grounds. Picking back up on our Harry Potter theme, we concluded this day with a trip to The Cauldron. https://thecauldron.io/london This is an adults only castle/dungeon experience where you make your own cocktails using the directions, supplies, and magic provided.
The next day started with a short ride on the Underground to Ealing, and a short tour of the newly re-furbished Pitzhanger Manor. https://www.pitzhanger.org.uk/ This is one of the advantages of traveling with Aj, the architect knows all the buildings and what exhibits are in them. The exhibit was Anish Kapoor, who you may know as the artist behind the Cloud Gate (shiny bean) in Chicago. From Ealing, it was onto Kew Gardens.
We have been to Kew Gardens before. In winter, it is the location of Christmas at Kew, a large, multi-media presentation of lights and music for the holidays. This was our first trip during the day. https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens The gardens, houses, and conservatories are something to see in themselves; but this trip also added a temporary installation by Dale Chihuly. https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/chihuly-at-kew-reflections-on-nature We had last seen his work at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx when we were there last spring. https://www.nybg.org/ There were some thoughts that this would be essentially the same; but it wasn’t. Kew is a larger garden and some of the glasswork appeared to have been made specifically for this location. We tried to do it all; all the Chihuly’s, the Pagoda climb, the Hive, and Kew Palace. https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-in-the-gardens/kew-palace-and-queen-charlottes-cottage Exhausting, and there is still much to see and do.
Bank Holiday on Monday. Aj and Aaron had previously signed up for the Vitality London, 10k. We were happy to cheer them on and then find them at the end of the race among twenty-three thousand other runners at St. James Park. https://www.vitalitylondon10000.co.uk/ A quick trip home for showers and sandwiches and we were back in the city at the Barbican. https://www.barbican.org.uk/ We thought we were going to see a multi-media presentation of Wallace and Grommit, which we did; but we also covered a lot of territory in this, the largest performing arts center in Europe adjacent to the estate apartments which house over 4,000 people. Aj covered even more territory as the three of us located one of the many cafes and had prosecco and beer while Aj walked the whole complex to take pictures. The history of this development is compelling and worth your clicking the link to learn more. As the day was ending, we found few places open for dinner on the bank holiday, but as we looked behind St. Pauls Cathedral, a restaurant with a story was open: The Paternoster Chop House. https://www.paternosterchophouse.co.uk/ Not only did we find a nice dinner, we also learned that this is the restaurant location for the First Dates program on BBC, Channel 4. We had never heard of the program but have since watched for a few minutes just to say to each other: “That’s where we ate that night.”
Another favorite spot was on schedule for the following day; the Victoria and Albert Museum. A design museum with something for everyone in our group. In particular, two fashion exhibits were the top of all our lists: Christian Dior, Designer of Dreams and Mary Quant. https://www.vam.ac.uk/whatson The Dior was beautiful and beautifully presented. It may also be the most popular exhibit ever produced. Even with timed tickets, it was wall-to-wall people. A stunning display of actual dresses and accessories from the New Look of 1947 to the 2018 samples. Mary Quant was not quite as crowded, so we could spread out to read and look as we wanted. We pretty much agreed, the Dior was beautiful, but the Mary Quant offered much more in the way of context and the impacts and interplay of design with women’s lives and economics. Another good visit – time to go on to the next thing.
We shopped and ate our way through the city to the West End. Another musical for us to see, this time it was Come from Away. The story of the small town of Gander, Newfoundland and how the folks in it opened their hearts and homes to stranded passengers from September 11th. A difficult topic, which right off does not sound much like a musical, but it is almost perfect. Beautiful music, great staging, and a story which takes turns making you laugh and then cry. https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/the-true-stories-of-come-from-away/
We followed a day at my favorite museum (The Victoria and Albert) with my least favorite, the Tate Modern. Sometimes you have to take one for the team. At least they have a 9th floor observation deck with coffee. 😊And, as it turns out, an interesting exhibit by Yinka Shonibare, CBE, who created a library of 6,000 books. They are covered in Dutch wax print, a fabric with an interesting and complicated history. 2,700 of the books have the name of a first- or second-generation contributor imprinted on them; urging us to think of the impact of immigration on culture and history. The blank books are to call out that the story of immigration is still being written. https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/display/artist-and-society/yinka-shonibare-cbe As the Tate is on the river Thames, we ended our day out by walking along the river, crossing Tower Bridge, and finding Indian food for Aaron’s specially requested birthday dinner meal choice.
Our last day together was spent in true tourist mode; a trip to The Tower of London. https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/#gs.hykm5x It’s got history, art, armor, and the crown jewels of England. A great way to end Aj’s second visit to our new home in London and Aaron’s first.
On Friday, the 31st, Aj and Aaron returned to Dallas, I returned to Baltimore and Andy met his friend from college (UCLA) Andrea Bjornlie, for dinner in Kensington.
The end of the Friends and Family Month of May leads right into June, a month of recognition, friends, and more new experiences of being in, and traveling from, our base in London.