A Very Rainy Saturday

Yesterday, Saturday, it poured buckets of rain. That did not stop us, however. We made a pilgrimage to Camden Town in search of a Puma bag for Katy Kathryn. We also explored the Stable Market where we have never been before. It is vast and exciting. We had a delicious spinach, cheese, and ham crepe for lunch in the rain. It was warm and very tasty.

Later in the P.M. Kris and I took the bus out to Sainsbury's in search of some Christmas items. The rain had stopped but the wind was fierce and cold. We went with KK to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen for supper, walked up Queensway by way of Whiteley's, and picked up a doughnut (KK) and two delicious McFlurries for me and Kris. This month they are featuring Terry's Chocolate Orange at McDonalds (newly redecorated in the cool mid-century style) and they are a fantastic cheap thrill.

We finished off the evening by watching Notting Hill here at the flat.

Katy Kathryn at the Stables Market

The same person in a pouring rain in Camden Town,
which was packed to the gills in spite of the weather

Today, of course, is Sunday and there little to report beyond the fact that Katy and I went to Hyde Park with Kris. It was a nice set of meetings. Tomorrow I will be giving a final and doing grades, so I will have no adventures to post, but watch out for Tuesday's. They should be good, even though I don't know what they will be.

OXO

D.

All Over the Map

Today dawned WINDY (it woke us up) and clear. The wind settled down and we went to the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens. There is a very interesting installation there with rooms lightly filled with stage smoke and images projected into the haze. The artist's work was really compelling. We also went to the Diana Memorial Fountain since it was being cleaned when Katy first arrived in London. We spent the rest of the morning at Kensington Palace, which has become a memorial to Diana. The state rooms are still there but you have to ingest huge helpings of exhibits centered on the late Princess of Wales before you get to the good stuff. (I know, that's my opinion, but it is my blog so you will get my opinions.) We had lunch at the Orangerie at Kensington Palace and then Katy and I went to the Wallace Collection to see a few paintings and a boatload of French decorative arts.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the West End on back streets and the high streets. We heard a killer steel band playing on Oxford Street, a brass quartet on Carnaby Street (had to change a Puma shirt for a smaller size), and a flute duet in front of the Royal Academy. Those musical bits were highlights. We visited Picadilly Circus and continued along Picadilly Street to Fortnum and Mason, the Royal Academy, the Burlington Arcade, Lower Bond Street, Berkeley Square, and back to Oxford Street just in time to catch a 94 bus home, arriving exactly at 5:00 P.M. for dinner. Tonight we are just blogging, reading, and Katy is watching a movie at the Ringers.

The ladies headed for the Serpentine Gallery on a beautiful morning

The Princess Diana Fountain

The Round Pond, Kensington Palace on the far right,
and Kensington Church in the background

Lunch at the Orangerie at Kensington Palace

The misplaced Wallace Fountain (belongs in Paris)
in front of the Wallace Collection with Katy

Katy and the Angel of Christian Charity (called Eros)
at Picadilly Circus

Fortnum and Mason done up for Christmas -
we saw the clock strike four

Posh Burlington Arcade

Lower Bond Street is all asparkle for the holiday season

Katy spotted these two cute little G-Wiz electric-powered
cars parked in a single space on Berkely Square

I don't know what our final Saturday in London holds, but we will keep you posted.

OXO

D.

A Trip to Walthamstow

Yesterday, Thursday, dawned rainy and warmer. We started by buying cheap tickets to see Lord of the Rings, again. The Bartons and Ringers were going as well and they were able to buy good seats on the front row of the dress circle at the "senior" rate because they were with me! They treat their old folks well here. We left them and went to the John Soane Museum. It is Soane's house at Lincoln's Inn Fields, cram-packed with all manner of antiquities and oddities. He was an ingenious architect and the interior spaces are very cool with unseen light sources and attractive spaces. We took the 25 bus from Holborn to Oxford Circus and visited Liberty of London, a very unusual and charming department store built in the Tudor style. From there we went around the corner to Carnaby Street so that Katy could visit the Puma store. We made one final stop at the Apple store on Regent's Street before hurrying home to meet Ringers and Bartons for an adventure in Walthamstow at the far north end of the Victoria Line. The William Morris Museum was our ultimate goal but the village was fun as well with a lively ethnic population with Cockney overtones. The museum was very interesting and made me remember the exhibit some of us saw at the V&A several years ago. We finished the day with an encore performance of Lord of the Rings.

Kris and Katy at the John Soane Museum

Liberty of London decked out for Christmas

The Carnaby Street decorations were chosen as best
by Time Out magazine

The Apple store on Regent's Street made me homesick
for our new, barely used computer

Katy was in Puma heaven -- she is holding a tiny pair for babies

The gang at the Walthamstow Market

The Walthamstow Market is great

The William Morris Museum is housed in this Georgian-era
house where Morris lived in his younger years

Waiting for the Tube back to Central London

Our encore visit to Lord of the Rings

I'll include the adventures from today in the next post.

OXO

D.

Windsor and Eton

Today we had our last field trip with the students. Rather than a coach, we took the train to Windsor. (British Office fans will be happy to know that we changed trains in Slough.) Of course we visited the Castle, which always surprises me -- I really like it. We spent a little time in the town and Katy and I walked to Eton, where the famous boys school is. Harry and Wills both attended Eton.

Lunch on the "terrace" overlooking Eaton

Kris and Katy on the terrace at Windsor Castle with the
Eton Chapel in the distance

The round tower built by the Normans

Katy art directed and took this photo of me playing the very evil
St. David in Chains in the chapel gift shop -- yes,
the chapel has a gift shop -- soon the loos will too

Some of the gang waiting for the rain to pass -- it was a blustery,
intermittently showery day, with lots of billowing clouds and sunshine

Kris and Katy on Peascod Street with the castle in the distance

The chapel at Eton

The Eton Library: pretty posh, more like Oxford or Cambridge

An artsy shot of some of the Eton school boys

An Eton street scene

Katy Kathryn is the all-seeing eye -- that's me in the silver ball below

Tomorrow is unplanned as yet, but we will keep you posted.

OXO

D.

Hampton Court

Tuesday I gave the final exam in Religion, and after class we headed to Hampton Court in company with Lauren Carlile. She didn't go when the group went because she was in Paris. We bought our train tickets just as the Hampton-Court train departed. So the thoughtful ticket agent told us that if we took the Surbiton train we could beat the Hampton Court train to that station and be able to pick up the the Hampton-Court train that had just departed in Surbiton. Sweet! The weather held and we had a nice day. Since she wasn't going, Kris was kind enough to correct the tests for me while we were gone. Thank you, Kris.

Lauren, me, and Katy at Hampton Court --
the huge balls in the tree in the background are mistletoe

Katy and Lauren checking out Henry VIII -- the clock tower
is being restored and maintained, hence the scaffolding

A nice winter mood in the gardens

The King's apartments face the formal garden

Lauren and Katy are amazed by the maze!

I'll show you what we did today in the next post.

OXO

D.

Finn Would Love This Place

Monday we started at Shepherds Bush, hopeful of finding a used copy of Harry Potter 5 in a charity shop. No such luck. We made our way back home on foot through Holland Park. A little later we met the Ringers at Covent Garden and visited the Transport Museum. It has just reopened after being completely redone. It is so much fun. We kept thinking of Finn who loves every kind of transport. He would love it.

Katy with a statue of Lord Holland located out in the
wilderness part of the park

We walked past Observatory Gardens on the way home. The same redevlopers have done some other great projects and are currently turning some old buildings on Bayswater Road into luxury flats that will really be stunning. Check out their web site: http://thelancastershydepark.com/

Katy and Kris outside the Transport Museum at Covent Garden

The museum goers -- that's Mitchel Barton with Hansen

Such larks! The kids thought these old uniforms were great

Trying out an old double-decker tram

More about Tuesday on the next post.

OXO

D.

BRB

I have been creating and giving a religion final and completing grading for that class with the help of Kris and Katy. Also the computer is very busy with three of us here so I don't get as much time as I used to for blogging. We have been out and about, however, and I will get caught up very soon. Those are my lousy excuses for several days without a post.

OXO

D.