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lillibetWe've had a pretty busy week. Monday and Tuesday I never left the house,
taking delivery of my desk-thing and getting Christmas cards done and
presents wrapped and dinners made. On Wednesday morning Jonathan Root
arrived. He's an old friend from MIT, now living in Boulder. He napped for
a few hours and then came with me to Sainsbury's where I had fun pointing
out all the things I've noticed there that are different from what we find
in the States.
In the evening he and I took the tube to Blackfriars, where we met up with
Jason and found Shaughan, the London Walks guide leading the Along the
Thames pub walk. He was great; an actor who has appeared both onstage and
in TV and movies, he has a lovely baritone and good presentation skills. He
led us across Blackfriars bridge into Southwark and down beside the river to
Young's Founder's Arms, a very modern pub, but run by a group that's been
brewing traditional English beer in the same manner since 1831 and led the
traditional-ales revival during the 70's. They still deliver beer by horse
cart to pubs around the city daily. I had their Winter Warmer, which was
very tasty, and the boys tried their Special Bitter, which they both
enjoyed, and we shared an excellent order of fish & chips. From there we
continued past the Tate Modern and the Milennium Bridge (which had to be
closed shortly after opening, leading to some people--according to
Shaughan--equating London's milennial prjects to English male sexuality:
they can't get it up (the Milennium Eye ferris wheel), once it's up it
wobbles (like the bridge) and by the time it's up, everyone's lost interest
(as is the fate of the Milennium Dome)). We stopped briefly in front of
Shakespeare's Globe. He talked about the opening of the theater, when Sam
Wannamaker (instigator of the Globe reconstruction)'s daughter, dressed as
Elizabeth I, rode up the Thames in a barge and was met on the quay by
Elizabeth II, who opened the theater. He also told us the insider's tidbit
that in the scene in _Shakespeare in Love_ where Elizabeth appears at the
Globe, Judy Dench was so worried about being blown over in her costume that
she was wearing Nike trainers (or sneakers, as we would call them) under her
garb. From there we walked past the sites of the Hope Theater (the first in
London, on Bear Gardens, where the bear-baiting pits were), the Rose Theater
and the original Globe. We stopped in at the Anchor, where we had the very
fine Marsten's Pedigree bitter. It was a haunt of Ben Johnson and has
several of his quotations painted around the walls. We walked on past the
museum on the site of the infamous Clink Prison (which was having a company
event, evidently) and stopped briefly at the exposed foundations of the
dining hall of the Bishop of Winchester, who was responsible for Southwark
and profited from its many theaters, pubs, and brothels, which he regulated,
thus leading to the ladies being called "Winchester Geese." We stopped next
to the replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship, The Golden Hind, and looked at
the current incarnation of London Bridge, which, he assured us, is no longer
falling down. We paused in front of the Southwark Cathedral, where
Shakespeare's brother is buried and where John Harvard was baptized, and
then wound through the grounds of a huge open-air market. Standing on the
corner of Park Lane, while he described a pub there and what he considers
the finest cheese shop in all of London, we got to watch several local
mayors (identifiable by their chains of office) passing in their limos from
an event up the road. We crossed Borough High Street to The George, the
oldest pub in London, mentioned in the Canterbury Tales and Pride &
Prejudice. The tour planned for us to go in there, as well, but the pub was
very crowded and we all decided to go on our way, instead. We all enjoyed
the tour immensely and I very much hope to go on other of their walks very
soon. As a final grace note, we got a recommendation of an Italian place
around the corner for a late supper, that turned out to be the best Italian
food we've had yet in London.
I started with carpaccio--it being the first time I'd seen it on a menu
here--and followed up with a lasagne of veal and spinach pasta. Jason had
the most tender venison I think I've ever tasted, medallions smothered in a
brandy cream peppercorn sauce. JR ordered the fettucine in white clam
sauce. In the grocery store earlier in the day I'd pointed out that they
don't have clams. The canned fish aisle includes mackerel, anchovies,
skipjacks, kippers, salmon, many varieties of tuna, mussels, oysters, cod
roe and even caviar, but no clams. So we were very amused when his entree
arrived and turned otu to be fettucine with shrimp and mushrooms. Maybe
they just don't have clams?
It was quite late by the time we finished and JR was jetlagging, so we
passed up the chance to walk across London Bridge and got on the nearer tube
station and headed back to our flat, where I stayed up much too late reading
email.
On Thursday morning our phone was installed! I spent much of the early
afternoon logged on. When I logged off to go up to HomeBase to get a few
things, Beckie managed to catch me before i made it out the door and thus
was our very first caller! Wait'll we tell her what she's won! In the
evening, Jason and I met over at The Ritz in John & Mike's suite, and went
with them to a vegetarian Indian resturant, Woodlands, that John had tried
before. We all had thalis, sampler plates of various dishes. Mine included
a dosa, pillau rice, vegetable korma, another pancake-thing, several
accompanying sauces and a delicious coconut/rice pudding that was heavy with
cardamom. The others' thalis were all slightly different mix of things.
After dinner we dropped them back at the hotel and tubed home.
Today I headed back over there around 10:30 and the three of us went to
Harrod's. That was a fairly extreme experience, especially looking at the
price tags, but they did have some lovely things. We went back to the hotel
where we met Jason and Leah and all had tea in the Palm Court. Everyone
ordered Darjeeling, except for me. I had tea, Earl Grey, hot, and it was
really good! Besides tea we were served sandwiches (cucumber, egg salad,
salmon salad, gravlax, ham, roast beef and cream cheese, I believe), scones
with jam & clotted cream, and a selection of pastries (napoleons, chocolate
mousse cake, strawberry mousse tart, raspberry tart, mixed fruit tart, and
lemon cream pie). Toward the end they came around and offered either marble
cake or fruit cake (I had the latter) and then they brought each of us a
tiny creme brulee with the check. We all had that glazed, unreal feeling of
WAY too much sugar. We dropped John & Mike back at the suite and Leah took
the tube with us as far as King's Cross.
Once home I napped and read email and played Snood and read some of The Last
Kabbalist of Lisbon. Jonathan came back from a day of touristing and I
finally got started on dinner around 9:30pm. I made shrimp fra diavolo and
didn't eat very much of it, but the boys did it justice.
Tomorrow we're planning to go to Kew Gardens, unless the gale force winds
and rain actually materialize. On Sunday we're having everyone over for
dinner.
taking delivery of my desk-thing and getting Christmas cards done and
presents wrapped and dinners made. On Wednesday morning Jonathan Root
arrived. He's an old friend from MIT, now living in Boulder. He napped for
a few hours and then came with me to Sainsbury's where I had fun pointing
out all the things I've noticed there that are different from what we find
in the States.
In the evening he and I took the tube to Blackfriars, where we met up with
Jason and found Shaughan, the London Walks guide leading the Along the
Thames pub walk. He was great; an actor who has appeared both onstage and
in TV and movies, he has a lovely baritone and good presentation skills. He
led us across Blackfriars bridge into Southwark and down beside the river to
Young's Founder's Arms, a very modern pub, but run by a group that's been
brewing traditional English beer in the same manner since 1831 and led the
traditional-ales revival during the 70's. They still deliver beer by horse
cart to pubs around the city daily. I had their Winter Warmer, which was
very tasty, and the boys tried their Special Bitter, which they both
enjoyed, and we shared an excellent order of fish & chips. From there we
continued past the Tate Modern and the Milennium Bridge (which had to be
closed shortly after opening, leading to some people--according to
Shaughan--equating London's milennial prjects to English male sexuality:
they can't get it up (the Milennium Eye ferris wheel), once it's up it
wobbles (like the bridge) and by the time it's up, everyone's lost interest
(as is the fate of the Milennium Dome)). We stopped briefly in front of
Shakespeare's Globe. He talked about the opening of the theater, when Sam
Wannamaker (instigator of the Globe reconstruction)'s daughter, dressed as
Elizabeth I, rode up the Thames in a barge and was met on the quay by
Elizabeth II, who opened the theater. He also told us the insider's tidbit
that in the scene in _Shakespeare in Love_ where Elizabeth appears at the
Globe, Judy Dench was so worried about being blown over in her costume that
she was wearing Nike trainers (or sneakers, as we would call them) under her
garb. From there we walked past the sites of the Hope Theater (the first in
London, on Bear Gardens, where the bear-baiting pits were), the Rose Theater
and the original Globe. We stopped in at the Anchor, where we had the very
fine Marsten's Pedigree bitter. It was a haunt of Ben Johnson and has
several of his quotations painted around the walls. We walked on past the
museum on the site of the infamous Clink Prison (which was having a company
event, evidently) and stopped briefly at the exposed foundations of the
dining hall of the Bishop of Winchester, who was responsible for Southwark
and profited from its many theaters, pubs, and brothels, which he regulated,
thus leading to the ladies being called "Winchester Geese." We stopped next
to the replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship, The Golden Hind, and looked at
the current incarnation of London Bridge, which, he assured us, is no longer
falling down. We paused in front of the Southwark Cathedral, where
Shakespeare's brother is buried and where John Harvard was baptized, and
then wound through the grounds of a huge open-air market. Standing on the
corner of Park Lane, while he described a pub there and what he considers
the finest cheese shop in all of London, we got to watch several local
mayors (identifiable by their chains of office) passing in their limos from
an event up the road. We crossed Borough High Street to The George, the
oldest pub in London, mentioned in the Canterbury Tales and Pride &
Prejudice. The tour planned for us to go in there, as well, but the pub was
very crowded and we all decided to go on our way, instead. We all enjoyed
the tour immensely and I very much hope to go on other of their walks very
soon. As a final grace note, we got a recommendation of an Italian place
around the corner for a late supper, that turned out to be the best Italian
food we've had yet in London.
I started with carpaccio--it being the first time I'd seen it on a menu
here--and followed up with a lasagne of veal and spinach pasta. Jason had
the most tender venison I think I've ever tasted, medallions smothered in a
brandy cream peppercorn sauce. JR ordered the fettucine in white clam
sauce. In the grocery store earlier in the day I'd pointed out that they
don't have clams. The canned fish aisle includes mackerel, anchovies,
skipjacks, kippers, salmon, many varieties of tuna, mussels, oysters, cod
roe and even caviar, but no clams. So we were very amused when his entree
arrived and turned otu to be fettucine with shrimp and mushrooms. Maybe
they just don't have clams?
It was quite late by the time we finished and JR was jetlagging, so we
passed up the chance to walk across London Bridge and got on the nearer tube
station and headed back to our flat, where I stayed up much too late reading
email.
On Thursday morning our phone was installed! I spent much of the early
afternoon logged on. When I logged off to go up to HomeBase to get a few
things, Beckie managed to catch me before i made it out the door and thus
was our very first caller! Wait'll we tell her what she's won! In the
evening, Jason and I met over at The Ritz in John & Mike's suite, and went
with them to a vegetarian Indian resturant, Woodlands, that John had tried
before. We all had thalis, sampler plates of various dishes. Mine included
a dosa, pillau rice, vegetable korma, another pancake-thing, several
accompanying sauces and a delicious coconut/rice pudding that was heavy with
cardamom. The others' thalis were all slightly different mix of things.
After dinner we dropped them back at the hotel and tubed home.
Today I headed back over there around 10:30 and the three of us went to
Harrod's. That was a fairly extreme experience, especially looking at the
price tags, but they did have some lovely things. We went back to the hotel
where we met Jason and Leah and all had tea in the Palm Court. Everyone
ordered Darjeeling, except for me. I had tea, Earl Grey, hot, and it was
really good! Besides tea we were served sandwiches (cucumber, egg salad,
salmon salad, gravlax, ham, roast beef and cream cheese, I believe), scones
with jam & clotted cream, and a selection of pastries (napoleons, chocolate
mousse cake, strawberry mousse tart, raspberry tart, mixed fruit tart, and
lemon cream pie). Toward the end they came around and offered either marble
cake or fruit cake (I had the latter) and then they brought each of us a
tiny creme brulee with the check. We all had that glazed, unreal feeling of
WAY too much sugar. We dropped John & Mike back at the suite and Leah took
the tube with us as far as King's Cross.
Once home I napped and read email and played Snood and read some of The Last
Kabbalist of Lisbon. Jonathan came back from a day of touristing and I
finally got started on dinner around 9:30pm. I made shrimp fra diavolo and
didn't eat very much of it, but the boys did it justice.
Tomorrow we're planning to go to Kew Gardens, unless the gale force winds
and rain actually materialize. On Sunday we're having everyone over for
dinner.
