Art, the City, and an Evening at the Theatre

Wednesday we bought Travelcards at the Notting Hill Gate Station and then took the #94 to its terminus (near Her Majesty's Theatre [Phantom]) and walked to the National Galley for a highlights tour. We popped into St. Martin-in-the-Fields and had a lovely chat with a docent there. From near there on the Strand, we took a #15 (Historic Routemaster) to St. Paul's. We purchased lunch at M&S at Paternoster Square and ate on the steps of the cathedral. We crossed the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern before walking to the Southwark Bridge and across to the City. We headed east to St. Dunstan-in-the-East and then on to Lloyds and Leadenhall Market. We walked back to the Bank of England and (former) Royal Exchange and caught the Central Line Tube to Notting Hill and made a puchase at Tyler's (hardware/housewares store next to Mickie D's) before heading back to the Centre for a few minutes. Late afternoon, we walked down Palace Gardens (millionaire's row) to the Kensington-High-Street Wagamama for supper. We took a #9 bus (spiffy new one with an exit on the rear like the Routemasters) to Hyde Park Corner. Thence a #14 to Shaftesbury Avenue and the Guielgud Theatre for a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nigh-Time. The good old #94 brought us back to Queensway for some breakfast necessities before heading home to bed.

National Gallery with St. Martin's in the distance

Wilton Diptych is a highlight

I love the false perspective of progressively smaller arches

in the Sainsbury Wing

After watching Tim's Vermeer, these are even more of a treat

The grand entry features fantastic huge flower displays

This is always a striking view

KBT takes it all in

Temporary contemporary art pieces are featured on this podium

at Trafalgar Square

St. Martin-in-the-Fields

These Routmasters take me back to our time in London 

when the kids were small

View of Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill, and St. Paul's from the 

front seat of the #15 Routemaster

Wren is my hero

Lunch

Temple Bar at Paternoster Square

Millennium Bridge 

The Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern

Remember "Shibboleth" from 2007?

The patched cracks are still there

Gherkins, Shards, Walkie Talkies, and Cheesegraters: 

the Londoners love their architectural nicknames

The Globe Theatre

KBT and DAT at SDE

The tranquil island in the City

"Peace!...serenity!...beauty!" is our creed

St. Margaret Pattens stands firm amid change

Still my favorite

Different kind of busy than in the 19th cenury

I'm surprised they don't go back to work completely sloshed

Bank of England and Royal Exchange

Palace Gardens on a beautiful evening

My favorite Wagamama

Chicken Katsu Curry and Pad Thai

The insane bendy busses are gone and these have begun to appear

The Curious Incident

We enjoyed it

Piccadilly Circus in the Night-Time

This was a beautiful, wonderful day. We will let you know later what happens today. As Uncle likes to say, "It's a negotiation."

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Return to Palace Court

Tuesday, Kris and I took the train from Edenbridge to London Bridge, caught the Northern Line to Bank, whence we took the Central Line to Queensway and our old Bayswater neighborhood. We settled in a tiny bit and had a nice chat with Leslie Benfell before heading out for lunch at the Notting Hill Gate Pret. We dropped down into the Underground and traveled back to Bank where we caught the Docklands Lightrail (DLR) out to Pontoon Pier to see the Thames Barrier. We couldn't figure out how it could stop a flood tide, but it is impressive, nonetheless. (We need to do some barrier research.) We returned to the DLR Tower Gateway Station so Kris could see the poppies at the Tower and then caught a #15 bus to the West End for theatre tickets and some serious shopping. After a light Indian dinner from Tesco, we went with all the BYU-London-Centre people to Snowflake, a really fine gelato shop on Westbourne Grove.

 The 9:33 to London Bridge arriving in Edenbridge

 Back in the old neighborhood

 Getting close

 This is it

 Mrs. Shepherd's flat, now "the studio"

 Kris and Leslie in the studio

 The bathroom is up the half flight seen in the previous photo

 Looking back into the studio below

 Bayswater Road and Ossington Street in front of the Champion

 Near the Cafe Diana

 Looking from Pret to Jamie Oliver's new shop across the street

 Lunch at Pret was as good as ever

 A clever word play with "mince" in the Notting Hill Gate Station

 On the Central Line train

 Docklands Light Rail train at Pontoon Pier Station

 View through the station window of the very interesting

garden at Pontoon Pier -- Thames Barrier in the distance

 Thames Barrier at low tide

 The O2 arena and the Docklands in the distance

 The garden at Thames Barrier Park

 Another view of the same

 Towers at the Tower with ceramic poppies in foreground

All Hallows with the Walkie Talkie building in the background:

the curved glass on the front of this awful building reflects and

focuses the sun so that the seats of bicycles below have been
melted and eggs have been fried on the sidewalk

 St. Martin in the Fields and the National Gallery

 Leicester Square

 New Bond Street where all the shops make me feel like I

have sh@# on my shoes

 More New Bond Street

 Burlington Arcade

 Kris bought some of her favorite perfume here

 Fortnum and Mason

 The Cath Kidston flagship store on Piccadilly Street

 An old familiar face out our window

 Excellent gelato

Kris, Leslie's head, Stan Benfell, Jim Faulconer, and Janice 

Faulconer : Faulconers are the permanent directors

A fun, but tiring day. We will keep you posted on today's activities. 

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Monday at Costco

Monday morning I went with Connor to his appointment with his GP to get prescriptions for his meds. We stopped at Boots to get his prescriptions filled and pick up a few things for the baby before going to Waitrose for a couple of food items. When Matt returned from work we drove in caravan (Matt, Kim, Kris, and Brig in the Beamer, and Connor and me in the Mini) to Croydon for a visit to Costco for supper and some mayo. I do love Costco, so this made me very happy. It was much the same as at home with many of the Kirkland products we are familiar with, but there were also many British products in the mix.

The Edenbridge Post Ofice, kitty-corner from Boots, 

is a handsome little building

Nashi loves a scratch behind her ears

The Croydon Kirkland Temple

The snack bar offerings include jacket potatoes and cottage pie

Hot dogs, but no relish offered

Dinner

Emily would like their pebble ice

Checkers wearing the hijab are rare in Orem

Palm trees always seem so strange in England, but Costco has them

The mayo turned into a full trolley of good stuff. This was a fun outing. Today we will take the 9:33 train up to London. Last night I had London-Centre dreams, so the timing seems right. There will be more from London, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.

Paucity of Post Pickins

Sunday we stayed home again, so interesting adventures were scarce. I did however make Sunday dinner. I braised a pork roast, made mashed potatoes and gravy, browned and braised some Brussels sprouts, and braised some local Kentish apples. It was, apparently, a braised dinner.

Dickie dinner

Little man is growing

I'm not sure what today holds. We will do laundry and get ready to go up to "Towne," as they call London in the Jane Austen stories. We have word back that they are ready and expecting us, so I am excited. 

That's it for now.

OXO

D.