Second Home

Some holiday pictures to share-- shopping with Aimee and Marsha on Bond Street, Christmas Lights on Carnaby, party in St. John's Wood off Abbey Road, lights of the carnival in Leiscter Square-- Odion Theatre to see Casino Royale. This holiday definately easier than last year!

07-NOVEMBER VOTE

AMERICAN CITIZENS- PLEASE BE SURE YOU VOTE
THIS PRIVLEDGE HAS TWICE BEEN COMPROMISED.
VOTING IS WHAT YOU DO TO PROTECT THE REPUBLIC.

The Little Prince

"Absence diminishes small loves and increases great
ones, as the wind blows out the candle and blows up the bonfire."
Francois de La Rouchefoucauld

And so the Little Prince returned to his rose...

Long Walk

I figured something out. There are lots of beautiful places in the world. Some green, some gold, some stone, some glass. What is compelling about Britian is more than that. It offers that fourth dimension, time. Approaching Windsor Castle from the back lane, with the world famous long walk in front, with a profusion of deer peaceably meandering, warm sun and blessed quiet - one of the moments that makes life worthwhile.

Kensington - Old Baily

This is outside the Glouster Tube station in S. Kennsington. I stayed at the Baily Millenium...an old hotel with creaky floors and ghosts....and feathers. Wonderfully located- was simple to get around from there. I was aware of a few homeless people, something I hadn't seen much of in London but the neighborhood had more texture - and I felt more at home there than in other neighborhoods where I've stayed. Watched football in the Polo Lounge down the street.
What's to say? I suspect that when darker days come I'll think about brilliant days like this one and examine it like a jewel - too beautiful to be believed.

Isle of Wight

And this is from the dock
Could there be a lovelier village? Maybe the people are harsh and grasping. Maybe the weather is brutal. Maybe there are "dark shadows".
Maybe- but hard to believe people would not take comfort in being part of this.
The train station...tea in styrofoam cups and tourist brochures inside.
A street on the way back from the ruins.. the first autumn walk on crunching leaves. Desolate, but in a peaceful way.

Roman History in the Rubble

These are actual ROMAN mosaics that have been uncovered on a dig located on the Isle of Wight. Sorry that I was not able to join the team for the regatta- I was - still thrilled at the antiquities, the display cases of other finds, at the beauty of the day.

This is a view of the harbor from the ferry boat that made the crossing from Southhampton to the Isle.
And this is a glimpse of my Sunday afternoon at St. Paul's Cathedral. It is so large- and in such an urban environ it is difficult to get perspective. Would be interesting to have a history of the cathedral-- or an understanding of what it meant to Londoners to see it perfectly in tact after weeks, months of blitzkrieg. Is it possible that it was intentionally spared? 

Wicked

This is the inside of the Victoria where we went to see Wicked
The sign is not electric-- it is all spangles. Right across from Victoria Station and down the block from an easy little Portugese restaurant I came back to a second time because the wine and the roasted nuts were so good! I think the second time I may have enjoyed it even more than the first!
And all over the city--- Elphaba and G-linda conspire with girlish whispers Wicked is simply the backstory to tale we all know- and a case in point that when you know the rest of the story, sometimes the villian isn't the villain, the hero isn't the hero and life is less predictable than we think. 

Antiquity on the Isle of Wight

This is the view from the Roman ruins on the Isle of Wight. Not a planned sojourn. The day was a lovely impromptu excursion that I wouldn't have had if it wasn't for engineering on the National Rail lines. I couldn't make it to the team function that was planned for the day. (Yacht race :>( but anyway....
Consider what it is like to experience this along with William Walton's Henry the V score. (find a snippet on iTunes or Amazon-- gorgeous!)

On the Estate

The home of the Astors: British power
One small tourist
Green Portal to the Thames
Cyclists in the distance 

Runnymeade

Runnymede flowers and chess on the lawn
The river Thames in the early morning
A day at Cliveden
Formal gardens-- British legacey of entitlement 

Not a name you see too often.
Wonderful window- harkening to the time of the Empire!.
Great design, no? Would be easy to find desk space for this.
Architectural detail everywhere.. this on the entrance to a hair salon. Don't recognize the figure but would be interested in knowing so please post if you can id it. 

It is probably cliche- but perhaps the fundemental difference here is the English cherish their past- while American cherish their future. This explains why they rebuild and we discard. Why they mine history and we put blinders on and blunder ahead. Here you see acknowledgement of Vicreoys and Botonists that lived within these stone row houses And below-- if you glimpse in -- you see a marble bust of some fellow- unabashedly displayed. Probably a relative.... anyway-- my apologies to the home owner for peeping but -- I am so American!


Also in the area- wonderful shops- this was first open coffee shop-- terrific Lebanesse pastry shop- inventive marzipan - definately too cute to eat. 

The fine art of cheese at Waitrose. Meticulous cut the wheel in half and then carve from one piece of the block. Gordan Ramsey attests that England now produces more varieties and finer cheeses than France. Haven't wars been fought over less bold claims? (Leftover cheese and wine for breakfast this morning. Call it brunch and it is justifiable, no?)
Not sure if this was a riding club-- but very natty for an early clatter through the streets of Kensington... before the coffee shops were even open.

Years ago, there was a musical film version of Oliver Twist called simply, Oliver!. And when the lad is finally reconnected with loving relatives, he dances through a street scene extending the song of the flower sellers, singing, "Who Will Buy... This Wonderful Feeling!" I am quite sure this Cresent was the scene was filmed- and the streetlamp a choreographer's prop.

Wonderfully clever things in the Times this morning.
A selection:
Somerset Maugham: To eat well in England, you have to have breakfast three times a day. To eat well in America, you hvae to be on Death Row."
Martin Amis: "It is clear to me that on your last lap of life, you do't think about work at all."
Also this..... "Men are cinematic, women, theatrical. Men underact and women overact."
Rita Rudner on marriage: "Whenever I date a guy, I think, "Is this the man I want my children to spend weekends with?"