From 'La Mole' to Penge

Yesterday we went to see the poppies at the Tower of London.
Over the last few months, volunteers have been placing ceramic poppies in the moat, one for each of the 888,246 British soldier who died in World War I.

It is certainly an impressive sight!













But it was so crowded!
I was rather surprised not to see even one policeman/woman; the path along the moat was very crowded indeed and if something had happened, it would have been a stampede with nowhere to go.
Toward the end of our extremely slow walk I started feeling rather panicky. Crowds are not for me (of course we didn't expect it to be so busy).

















Volunteers putting even more poppies in; they should finish just before Armistice Day.









All the poppies have now been sold. At £25 each! 6 armed forces charities will share the windfall.

I haven't quite finished posting about our Tuscan holiday (we've been back over 5 weeks) and I have been neglecting talking about what we have been up to in London too.

We have been to a couple of exhibitions in the last few weeks: 'The Vikings' at the British Museum and 'Veronese' at the National Gallery.



The first one would have been really interesting if the number of visitors hadn't been so high. You had to queue everywhere! The first room had the labels that accompanied the artefacts at knee level: not a good idea when there's a mass of people blocking the display cabinets.
Things got a bit better (or perhaps we got used to the crowd) and we enjoyed the rest of it.
In my opinion, the British Museum just sold too many tickets for each time slot.



Veronese on the other hand was superb! We were given a little booklet with the painting descriptions and you could spend as much time as you wanted looking at them.
As always with paintings produced by one artists, I'm always curious to read about which museum or collection they belong to.
I found it rather poignant that some paintings which were created to be together are now continents apart.

For instance, these portraits of a noble family from Vicenza were re-united: the men are in Florence, and the ladies in Baltimore.


(Pictures courtesy of Wikipaintings).
I wonder whether at night when the gallery is quiet, they all have a nice chat?

Before going on holiday, we went to the theatre to see Angela Lansbury in Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit", her return to the London's stage after almost 40 years!



It was very great fun and we were amazed at how sprightly and nimble she was on the stage!

The day after we came back from Tuscany we visited the RHS Great London Plant Fair at the Horticultural Halls in the evening.



The week leading up to Easter was very busy.
At the week-end Sue came to visit us - we didn't really do much (although we spent a couple of hours at a local charity fair selling our floral cards).

On the Tuesday evening we went to listen to Bach's St. John Passion at Westminster Cathedral.



Very nice, especially because of the surroundings (no pictures allowed) but an experience not to be repeated for a while.

On Thursday Linda and Bert (two neighbours from the other end of the street) came for dinner:



On Good Friday, after Veronese, we went for a very naughty steak lunch



before watching 'The Punch Game' at the cinema.

On Easter Saturday we ventured out of town, going to Hastings for the day, thanks to some very cheap train tickets that we had booked ages ago.
We really enjoyed the day out.



The highlights were the ruins of the Norman Castle and the old town.



The castle can be reached via one of two funiculars







The castle was the first one built by the Normans in England after their successful invasion in 1066 and used to cover much a larger ground (much of it has been lost to erosion)





Here we watched an introductory video and then had a walk around the ruins, admiring the views.







We walked down to the old town.



It could have been an episode of 'This is your life!' as within 30 minutes we bumped into Carole - who used to live across the road - in the park near the castle with her dogs, then Paul and Antony whom we hadn't seen for about 10 year (before they moved to France) and finally Lynne (who has moved to Hastings) and Miranda (but the last meeting had been arranged) who were later joined by Sue, yet another neighbour.
We had tea and a slice of cake with Lynne, Miranda and Sue at St. Leonard's.



Lynne drove us back to Hastings.

We had a look around the Stade - the shingle beach - which is apparently home the largest fleet of beach-launched fishing boats in Europe.


(These tall, black sheds are used to store the nets.)

We went on a ride on the other funicular







and then strolled around the old town, before catching the train back to London (2 hours to London Victoria!)













The week-end before last Fiona - Adrian's sister - and Inigo visited.



On the Saturday we went to the William Morris Gallery at Walthamstow (very interesting!) and had a walk around the nearby park.















When we got home, I was 'dragged' (I hate parties!) to Linda and Bert's leaving do at a bar at Crystal Palace. We stayed for about an hour and then came home to cook dinner, and play Perudo afterwards. (I won, I won, I won! LOL!)

Last Thursday we had an evening out in town.
We had dinner at the camp-looking restaurant Salieri on the Strand,





followed by 'Handbagged' at the nearby Vaudeville Theatre.



The play was simply superb!
The idea is intriguing: on the stage you have the present-day Queen and Margaret Thatcher (the play - I believe - was written before the former Prime Minister's death) reminiscing about their private meetings and their relationship. (The Queen meets the Prime Minister every week privately, so no-one knows what is said).
The stage is shared with another Queen and another Thatcher who are contemporary to the events that are narrated, and with 2 actors who play an array of part from Dennis Thatcher to Neil Kinnock to... Nancy Reagan.

The result is hilarious, in spite of some of the subjects that are being covered, which certainly are not.
Having 2 pairs of Queens and PMs on the same stage is a brilliant ploy. And the way that they interact with the audience is very clever: in a way, they keep you on your toes!



The actresses are so convincing (appearance, voice, mannerisms) that sometimes you forget that they are not the 'real thing'.
For instance, when the Queen stated that at the time of the IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton she was in America on a private visit to 'inspect some studs' there was only some hesitant sniggering in the audience to start with, before we all erupted in laughter. Surely Her Majesty wouldn't say such a thing! And no, she wasn't amused at all!

On Saturday we went on a Downton Country location tour but it's a tale for another post.

The never-ending winter is (dare I say it?) finally over! Spring has arrived but everything is about 3 to 4 weeks late.

This evening I took some photos of the daffodils and the blossom in St. James's Park, on the way to Victoria.
One cannot feel gloomy when the sun's out and one is surrounded by all that bright yellow!

Before starting cycling on the Barclay (aka Boris) bicycles, I used to walk from the office to Victoria station most nights either through Soho/Piccadilly/Green Park or via Leicester Square/Haymarket/St. James' Park. And in the morning too, but normally from City Thameslink.

The yearly hire price for the bikes has now doubled from £45 to £90 (although it won't affect me until August when I have to renew the subscription) and I am bit tired of having to carry the helmet around. And of the traffic too.

So this week I have walked a couple of times to see if I still enjoy it. Both times through St. James' Park. But I've noticed that I am a bit slower than I used to be. I am getting old! (or is it all the panettone that I've been eating?)
I enjoyed the walk tonight in the dark park: there's just enough light from the adjacent roads and buildings to see but not quite enough to avoid any kind of poo that may be on the paths!

I stopped for a moment on the bridge and noticed that now inside the London Eye you can see the tip of the Shard


 
I didn't take any photos on Monday morning but I saw William Hague (the current Foreign Secretary) who was walking towards me, accompanied by two minders. 

I think I'll carry on walking for a while as I probably burn more calories than cycling. The drawback is that you have to avoid the busiest thoroughfares and also that it can be a bit monotonous.  

We enjoyed a lovely day out in south-west London yesterday: we went to 4 houses near Twickenham/Richmond and all along the Thames.

The first stop was Strawberry Hill, where we visited Horace Walpole's 'Gothic castle'.



Walpole is credited with inventing the Gothic genre, with his "Castle of Otranto" 'gothic' novel. It was here that he got the inspiration one night when he "awoke from a dream and imagined he saw a giant armoured fist on the staircase".



The house re-opened 2 years ago after a long restoration project. It is simply wonderful to visit. Walpole spent a lot of time and money planning it and had a keen eye for dramatic effect and theatre! Sound suspicious? LOL!
Yes he could have been gay (his only relationships with women were with unavailable ones) or some say asexual. 
He left a great legacy and also gave the English language a wonderful word: serendipity.









Next stop was Marble Hill, a house built for Henrietta Howard, George II's mistress

but the mistress did not receive us!

We crossed the Thames

on the 'foot ferry' and went for cream tea at Ham House.



Ham House was the house of William Murrey, Charles I's whipping boy.

We have visited the house a number of times,


so we just had a stroll around the gardens, which were 'enhanced' by some modern art


We crossed the Thames again


and stopped at Orleans House.
The palace takes its name from its most famous occupant: Louis Philippe, Duc d'Orleans and later King of France.
Only the Octagon Room remains






It was great to be out and about while the sun was shining, and to visit a couple of new places.


More pictures in the slideshow:

Last night I met Adrian at the Crypt




for a quick dinner



Outside the Crypt, I made Adrian pose next to one of the many 'themed' Olympic mascots that seem to have appeared all over London

I don't think he was pleased!

(I believe its name is Wenlock - although I keep calling it Wedlock)

A very short walk 


and we were at the BB Bakery Covent Garden where we indulged in tea and cake (Black Forest for me, Mille-feuille for Adrian)


This was a madeleine moment; a bite and I was back to the Italian summers of my childhood when we sometimes had ice-cream cakes with amarene... 



Adrian enjoyed his mille-feuille too


It was soon time for the evening's entertainment



(Is it a bird? Is it a plane?)

"What the Butler Saw" is a Joe Orton's farce performed for the first time in 1969. 
The review for this production haven't been very good at all, but we still enjoyed it.
A woman in the row behind me was laughing all the time and so loudly a noise and nuisance officer should have been called in.
We were much more restrained.

It was all rather racy and I expect it must have been rather controversial in 1969 with its many references to lesbians, gays, and sex.
Perhaps in 1969 the policeman would have covered his family jewels with its helmet but last night he just didn't bother and was quite happy to run naked across the stage (he was rather blessed in his nether-regions department!).

Talking about what the butler saw, the 'Metamorphosis - Titian 2012' exhibition at the National Gallery is putting together works by the old master with some contemporary art installations. One of these allows the user a peeping Tom experience.
According to The Independent:
"Mark Wallinger's Diana is customarily wonderful. In a darkened room, he has built a sub-room into which we cannot quite look through a louvred door and frosted window. It seems to be a bathroom: blurred shampoo bottles stand on the window's sill. As you ponder these, something moves. It is a woman, seemingly naked – one of seven chosen by Wallinger, all genuinely called Diana, who will occupy the room in turn throughout the show."

and today it was the first time - and probably the last - that someone shouted at me 'F***ing Nazi' repeatedly!

I simply objected to a 'gentleman' aggressively trying to stop me (was he a nutter? did he want money?) by pushing his bike into my legs. 
Granted, I could have just said 'Leave me alone, please' instead of barking 'Just f*** off!' but I saw red.

When we came home from our holiday 10 days ago, I was telling Adrian how I don't feel relaxed in London any more but always slightly on edge.

Said that, bad behaviour seems to be universal. One evening in SItges 4 American teenagers by the church saw Ricardo walking past and said 'One euro for the cripple'. They are lucky I didn't hear them as I was walking ahead, or they would have got a piece of my mind.

Maybe I am getting less tolerant of fools, or you could just blame it on my Mediterranean temper (although I'd like to add that I first glimpsed at the sea when I was 15 y.o.)

When you are on your own in a freezing house, the best thing to do is to keep moving. And switch the oven on! lol

So today I spent some time baking a cake.



This is the 'Hummingbird cake' from the 'Hummingbird bakery cookbook' and is made of 3 banana/pineapple/pecan and cinnamon sponges, sandwiched with and covered in cream cheese frosting.




If you are worrying about my cholesterol, thank you but fear not! I only had a tiny slice. Honest! I gave the rest to 5 neighbours!

Then I went into town to the YMCA to practise my swimming.
I'm pleased that I feel more confident in the water - the goggles made a lot of difference: it looks pretty underwater!

The weather forecast was very accurate and it started to snow at around 6 pm when I left the Y.

Fighting against my instinct of getting home as soon as possible (a must for any sensible Londoner as we know from bitter experience that just a sprinkling of snow will cause train armageddon), I walked down to Trafalgar Square to have a look at the ice on the fountains.





I love the changing colours











Talking of sensible, these two were anything but. The lions are on a high pedestal and climbing up there in this weather? Tut tut!



The snow is not of the fluffy, soft variety. It's ice and it hurts your eyes. I almost wore my goggles! lol