Christmas in London
Dec. 27th, 2000 06:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetIt's been quite a week!
My sister, Anne, and her partner, George, arrived at Heathrow on Wednesday
evening. There'd been weather in Boston that had things delayed, but it
wasn't as bad as the reports had predicted and they got out about an hour
late and arrived here the corresponding hour late. I'd timed my trip out to
the airport well and got to the arrivals lounge just as the first folks from
their flight were coming out.
The tube was quite crowded, but we made the 75 minute trip smoothly.
Everyone was hungry, so I called Jason from the train and asked him to chop
up the stuff for stir fry and I pulled that together pretty quickly once we
got home.
On Thursday Anne & G. came with me to the grocery store--it really is fun
to see all the things that are different and how things are priced, etc.
They were jet lagged and Anne's back had really suffered from the flight, so
we had a noshing lunch and then they napped most of the afternoon. I made
duck breasts with potatoes dauphinoise and sugar snap peas for dinner.
On Friday I went down to Trafalgar Square with them and we wandered in the
National Gallery for a bit, seeing most of the 1700-1900 wing. We saw,
among other things, one of Van Gogh's sunflower paintings and Picasso's
_Child with Dove_ and some of Monet's garden scenes and a remarkably precise
landscape of Le Havre, and a wonderful nude by Renoir, and _The Execution of
Lady Jane Grey_ by Delaroche, which was just stunning. They had tons of
Constable and Turner. I kept being distracted because there was a guy
touring the gallery just ahead of us who looked like an actor I should
recognize, only I couldn't think who he resembled and I'd try to drop it and
then he'd cross my line of sight and it would start to nag at me again.
Anne was falling asleep at every turn, so after a quick lunch in the gallery
cafe, we hopped on the Original London bus tour. They have four different
routes and you can hop on & off as you like, but we just wanted to see some
of the city while sitting down. They took us down Fleet Street and across
London Bridge to Sothwark and then back over the beautiful Tower Bridge and
past the Tower of London and along the Thames by Cleopatra's Needle. It was
getting pretty dark by then, but it was nice to see the London Eye ferris
wheel and the Houses of Parliament all lit up. We got back to Trafalgar
Square about 5:40 and were slightly early for our 6pm reservation at Rules,
the oldest restaurant in London. They specialize in game caught on their
private shooting estate in the East Pennines.
Jason joined us and we all shared a plate of Irish oysters. They were fine,
but not nearly as good as the Fanny Bays and Kumamotos we got in San
Francisco. I started with a warm salad of smoked haddock with quail's egg,
potatoes and truffles. Anne had the hare soup, which was a rich broth
spiced with anise and cloves. Jason had a warm Stilton tart with walnuts
that he enjoyed, as the Stilton was not too blue. His entree was a
casserole of pheasant, barley, salsify and mustard greens in a delicious
light sauce. Anne had the wild duck and George and I both went for the
filet of red deer, served on a cake of potatoes and greens, with
chanterelles and a rich red wine sauce. I was disappointed that they were
out of the raspberry syllabub, but was consoled with a lovely sticky toffee
pudding with custard, which I shared with Jason. Anne had a chocolate
mousse, served in a box of dark chocolate, and George had a very strongly
coffee-flavored creme brulée. I was still full the next morning!
On Saturday we set out for the British Museum. They've opened the newly
reconstructed Great Court and Reading Room, which is very impressive. We
saw the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon and then had lunch in the cafe
there. Jason had their salmon in basil cream sauce and the rest of us all
went for the pork and gnocchi goulash, which was wonderful. We went up and
wandered through the section on China and then went out to try to catch the
bus tour again. After waiting almost half an hour in the cold, we gave up
and went back in to look at the South-East Asian section. I ran up and went
speedily through the special exhibit of drawings by Correggio and
Parmigianino, which were lovely. Many of them were "Lent by Her Majesty the
Queen." Then I raced through the temporary exhibit of modern Japanese
porcelain...I really wish I'd had more time there and we may try to get back
before they leave.
We met at the door at five and walked back through Russell Square to the
tube. At Leicester Square we had a quick meal at Bella Pasta, where we'd
gone with Mark and Leah last month. We split a carne mista pizza with
various meats on it and some of their wonderful garlic bread. I had the
Spaghetti Americano (with meatballs and tomato sauce), Jason had the
delicious pasta with chicken and bacon in cream sauce, and George had tasty
ravioli. We had a little time to kill before the show, so we
wandered up Charing Cross Road to the used bookstores and found a couple of
things we couldn't live without. Anne got the English versions of the Harry
Potter books. Then it was time to head back to the Duke of York theater for
_Stones in His Pockets_. It's a two-man show about the filming of an
American movie in Ireland, with the two guys mostly playing extras, but also
various people from the film and the town. The actors were extremely good
and made up for a slightly weak script. They did a very good job of
distinguishing their various characters and pulling the story together.
On Sunday I really needed to get to the grocery store and do some lifestyle
maintenance, so I sent Jason off with Anne & G. to the new "Dali Universe,"
an exhibit of about 500 of his pieces, including sculpture. Then they were
going to Brick Lane, where we've been advised is a good place to find good
Indian food. Meanwhile, I did laundry and went to Sainsbury's. I have
never seen a grocery store so crowded. There must have been hundreds of
people there and every ten minutes the stuff in the bakery and the produce
section and the meat aisle was getting cheaper and cheaper, since they're
closing down for the next two days. Back at the flat I talked to Barbara
for a while and wrapped a last few Christmas gifts before the others made it home.
On Christmas morning, I got up around 9:30am, but let the others sleep until
I had showered and gotten started on breakfast. I made French toast from a
loaf of brioche-style bread I'd picked up the day before. Made with some
double cream that was about to go bad in the fridge, it was delightfully
rich and wonderful. I also made some very cheesy scrambled eggs and the
organic pork sausages that had caught G's eye at the store. They were
really intensely flavored.
After breakfast we opened presents. It was kind of nice to have only the
four of us, because it meant we could really linger over presents and admire
them all. We got wonderful presents from our families--Trish was even kind
enough to send stockings full of little things for Jason and I and some
lovely gifts for Anne & G. My big present from Jason was a new camera with
lots of zoom. I'm very much looking forward to getting film in it and
giving it a try.
After presents we all napped for a while and I cleared up the living room
and went for a short walk. I set to work on dinner about five. Barbara
showed up at six and dinner was ready about 7:30pm. Now, I'm a pretty good
cook and I usually enjoy the meals I make and feel reasonably proud of them,
but this was a Christmas dinner that couldn't be beat! The roast of beef
was perfectly rare and tasty, the Yorkshire pudding came out toasty and
perfect, the potatoes were tender and tasty, the salad was nice and folks
raved about the peppercorn dressing I made for it, the garlic bread was nice
and the spinach with garlic and shallots was a big hit. Barbara had brought
a lovely dessert...this peach, chocolate, almond creation that we all
snarfed up with glee. After dessert I convinced everyone to try out my new
Harry Potter Trivia Game, courtesy of Beckie. The rules were a little
complicated, but we figured it out and even G., who's never read the books,
had fun. Then we talked and talked until suddenly it was 2:30am and we all
scurried to our beds.
On Boxing Day we all slept late. We had leftovers for breakfast (Jason took
care of the leftover curry and scrambled eggs, while I polished off the
French toast and made one of the prettiest omelettes) and then sat around
the house for a bit. I convinced Jason and George to go for a walk in the
park, but by the time we made it out the door, the park was due to be locked
in ten minutes, so instead we walked all the way around the park, up to
Stroud Green and Finsbury Park and back along Seven Sisters Road. Home
again we hauled leftovers out of the fridge and had lovely roast beef
sandwiches.
We took the tube to Covent Garden and walked through the (shut up tight)
marketplace to the Savoy Theater. After a funny mix-up about tickets, due
to there being two different "Hunter" parties of four, we ended up in the
eighth row for the D'oyly Carte Company's production of The Mikado. It was
wonderful to be seeing a Gilbert & Sullivan show in the theater where they
originally staged their shows. And what a show! The costume designer had
gone with the concept that these are Englishmen, dressed up as Japanese
people. So all the men were wearing ties and trousers and spats and bowlers
with obis tied around them. In the opening number they sing "If you're
wondering who we are...we are gentlemen of Japan" and take off their
bowlers to reveal topknots. The entire company was good, but the men
playing Koko and Poobah were especially fun to watch. Oh, it was just so
good!
After the show we walked up to Leicester Square and found a little Italian
place open for business and shared a couple of small pizzas before heading
back to the flat.
Today I went with Anne & G. to the National Portrait Gallery. We started at
the top again and managed to get through that whole floor. It was the part
I'd already seen, but still interesting. My favorite curatorial note
describes Catherine Douglass, Duchess of Queensbury, who was still
considered a beauty when she died, at the age of 72, "from a surfeit of
cherries."
We had an amusing run-around trying to get lunch. The cafe is in the
sub-basement. So we took the elevator to the first floor and then walked down
the stairs to the ground floor and then to the basement and then to the
sub-basement. Only they were just about sold out of sandwiches and had no
soup, so we decided to try the restaurant. So we took one elevator back to
the exit floor, another to the 2nd floor, and walked to the back of the
gallery and took a third elevator up to the rooftop restaurant, which was
fully booked. So we took the elevator back down and the stairs back down
and got our coats and walked on down to the exit and left. We did finally
get lunch at Cafe la Dome, just up the road. Anne and I had parsnip & leek
soup with croque monsieurs and George had the chicken pesto pasta. I left
them to visit the special exhibit at the National Gallery and headed home,
where I had a rejuvenating nap and then went to Sainsburys to restock.
Jason was good enough to come meet me at the check-out and carry most of the
groceries home.
Anne & G. didn't make it back until just after seven, at which point I
started dinner. I made my standard lemon chicken, but using my own chicken
stock instead of commercial, whcih makes it even richer. After a
dishwashing break, we had dessert. I had planned this for Christmas before
I knew that Barbara was bringing something wonderful, and was pleased enough
with the concept to really want to try it. I had bought some ready-made
crepes and some things I thought would be tasty with them. I set out
Nutella, "Luxury Toffee Spread," raspberry preserves, honey, custard,
whipped cream, double cream with orange liquer and choclate mixed in, and
frozen berries that I'd heated up. So everyone assembled their own crepes
and the general consensus was that this is a marvelous dessert.
Now everyone has gone to bed and I mean to follow them momentarily. Thank
you to everyone who sent gifts and greetings...we had a lovely London
Christmas.
My sister, Anne, and her partner, George, arrived at Heathrow on Wednesday
evening. There'd been weather in Boston that had things delayed, but it
wasn't as bad as the reports had predicted and they got out about an hour
late and arrived here the corresponding hour late. I'd timed my trip out to
the airport well and got to the arrivals lounge just as the first folks from
their flight were coming out.
The tube was quite crowded, but we made the 75 minute trip smoothly.
Everyone was hungry, so I called Jason from the train and asked him to chop
up the stuff for stir fry and I pulled that together pretty quickly once we
got home.
On Thursday Anne & G. came with me to the grocery store--it really is fun
to see all the things that are different and how things are priced, etc.
They were jet lagged and Anne's back had really suffered from the flight, so
we had a noshing lunch and then they napped most of the afternoon. I made
duck breasts with potatoes dauphinoise and sugar snap peas for dinner.
On Friday I went down to Trafalgar Square with them and we wandered in the
National Gallery for a bit, seeing most of the 1700-1900 wing. We saw,
among other things, one of Van Gogh's sunflower paintings and Picasso's
_Child with Dove_ and some of Monet's garden scenes and a remarkably precise
landscape of Le Havre, and a wonderful nude by Renoir, and _The Execution of
Lady Jane Grey_ by Delaroche, which was just stunning. They had tons of
Constable and Turner. I kept being distracted because there was a guy
touring the gallery just ahead of us who looked like an actor I should
recognize, only I couldn't think who he resembled and I'd try to drop it and
then he'd cross my line of sight and it would start to nag at me again.
Anne was falling asleep at every turn, so after a quick lunch in the gallery
cafe, we hopped on the Original London bus tour. They have four different
routes and you can hop on & off as you like, but we just wanted to see some
of the city while sitting down. They took us down Fleet Street and across
London Bridge to Sothwark and then back over the beautiful Tower Bridge and
past the Tower of London and along the Thames by Cleopatra's Needle. It was
getting pretty dark by then, but it was nice to see the London Eye ferris
wheel and the Houses of Parliament all lit up. We got back to Trafalgar
Square about 5:40 and were slightly early for our 6pm reservation at Rules,
the oldest restaurant in London. They specialize in game caught on their
private shooting estate in the East Pennines.
Jason joined us and we all shared a plate of Irish oysters. They were fine,
but not nearly as good as the Fanny Bays and Kumamotos we got in San
Francisco. I started with a warm salad of smoked haddock with quail's egg,
potatoes and truffles. Anne had the hare soup, which was a rich broth
spiced with anise and cloves. Jason had a warm Stilton tart with walnuts
that he enjoyed, as the Stilton was not too blue. His entree was a
casserole of pheasant, barley, salsify and mustard greens in a delicious
light sauce. Anne had the wild duck and George and I both went for the
filet of red deer, served on a cake of potatoes and greens, with
chanterelles and a rich red wine sauce. I was disappointed that they were
out of the raspberry syllabub, but was consoled with a lovely sticky toffee
pudding with custard, which I shared with Jason. Anne had a chocolate
mousse, served in a box of dark chocolate, and George had a very strongly
coffee-flavored creme brulée. I was still full the next morning!
On Saturday we set out for the British Museum. They've opened the newly
reconstructed Great Court and Reading Room, which is very impressive. We
saw the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon and then had lunch in the cafe
there. Jason had their salmon in basil cream sauce and the rest of us all
went for the pork and gnocchi goulash, which was wonderful. We went up and
wandered through the section on China and then went out to try to catch the
bus tour again. After waiting almost half an hour in the cold, we gave up
and went back in to look at the South-East Asian section. I ran up and went
speedily through the special exhibit of drawings by Correggio and
Parmigianino, which were lovely. Many of them were "Lent by Her Majesty the
Queen." Then I raced through the temporary exhibit of modern Japanese
porcelain...I really wish I'd had more time there and we may try to get back
before they leave.
We met at the door at five and walked back through Russell Square to the
tube. At Leicester Square we had a quick meal at Bella Pasta, where we'd
gone with Mark and Leah last month. We split a carne mista pizza with
various meats on it and some of their wonderful garlic bread. I had the
Spaghetti Americano (with meatballs and tomato sauce), Jason had the
delicious pasta with chicken and bacon in cream sauce, and George had tasty
ravioli. We had a little time to kill before the show, so we
wandered up Charing Cross Road to the used bookstores and found a couple of
things we couldn't live without. Anne got the English versions of the Harry
Potter books. Then it was time to head back to the Duke of York theater for
_Stones in His Pockets_. It's a two-man show about the filming of an
American movie in Ireland, with the two guys mostly playing extras, but also
various people from the film and the town. The actors were extremely good
and made up for a slightly weak script. They did a very good job of
distinguishing their various characters and pulling the story together.
On Sunday I really needed to get to the grocery store and do some lifestyle
maintenance, so I sent Jason off with Anne & G. to the new "Dali Universe,"
an exhibit of about 500 of his pieces, including sculpture. Then they were
going to Brick Lane, where we've been advised is a good place to find good
Indian food. Meanwhile, I did laundry and went to Sainsbury's. I have
never seen a grocery store so crowded. There must have been hundreds of
people there and every ten minutes the stuff in the bakery and the produce
section and the meat aisle was getting cheaper and cheaper, since they're
closing down for the next two days. Back at the flat I talked to Barbara
for a while and wrapped a last few Christmas gifts before the others made it home.
On Christmas morning, I got up around 9:30am, but let the others sleep until
I had showered and gotten started on breakfast. I made French toast from a
loaf of brioche-style bread I'd picked up the day before. Made with some
double cream that was about to go bad in the fridge, it was delightfully
rich and wonderful. I also made some very cheesy scrambled eggs and the
organic pork sausages that had caught G's eye at the store. They were
really intensely flavored.
After breakfast we opened presents. It was kind of nice to have only the
four of us, because it meant we could really linger over presents and admire
them all. We got wonderful presents from our families--Trish was even kind
enough to send stockings full of little things for Jason and I and some
lovely gifts for Anne & G. My big present from Jason was a new camera with
lots of zoom. I'm very much looking forward to getting film in it and
giving it a try.
After presents we all napped for a while and I cleared up the living room
and went for a short walk. I set to work on dinner about five. Barbara
showed up at six and dinner was ready about 7:30pm. Now, I'm a pretty good
cook and I usually enjoy the meals I make and feel reasonably proud of them,
but this was a Christmas dinner that couldn't be beat! The roast of beef
was perfectly rare and tasty, the Yorkshire pudding came out toasty and
perfect, the potatoes were tender and tasty, the salad was nice and folks
raved about the peppercorn dressing I made for it, the garlic bread was nice
and the spinach with garlic and shallots was a big hit. Barbara had brought
a lovely dessert...this peach, chocolate, almond creation that we all
snarfed up with glee. After dessert I convinced everyone to try out my new
Harry Potter Trivia Game, courtesy of Beckie. The rules were a little
complicated, but we figured it out and even G., who's never read the books,
had fun. Then we talked and talked until suddenly it was 2:30am and we all
scurried to our beds.
On Boxing Day we all slept late. We had leftovers for breakfast (Jason took
care of the leftover curry and scrambled eggs, while I polished off the
French toast and made one of the prettiest omelettes) and then sat around
the house for a bit. I convinced Jason and George to go for a walk in the
park, but by the time we made it out the door, the park was due to be locked
in ten minutes, so instead we walked all the way around the park, up to
Stroud Green and Finsbury Park and back along Seven Sisters Road. Home
again we hauled leftovers out of the fridge and had lovely roast beef
sandwiches.
We took the tube to Covent Garden and walked through the (shut up tight)
marketplace to the Savoy Theater. After a funny mix-up about tickets, due
to there being two different "Hunter" parties of four, we ended up in the
eighth row for the D'oyly Carte Company's production of The Mikado. It was
wonderful to be seeing a Gilbert & Sullivan show in the theater where they
originally staged their shows. And what a show! The costume designer had
gone with the concept that these are Englishmen, dressed up as Japanese
people. So all the men were wearing ties and trousers and spats and bowlers
with obis tied around them. In the opening number they sing "If you're
wondering who we are...we are gentlemen of Japan" and take off their
bowlers to reveal topknots. The entire company was good, but the men
playing Koko and Poobah were especially fun to watch. Oh, it was just so
good!
After the show we walked up to Leicester Square and found a little Italian
place open for business and shared a couple of small pizzas before heading
back to the flat.
Today I went with Anne & G. to the National Portrait Gallery. We started at
the top again and managed to get through that whole floor. It was the part
I'd already seen, but still interesting. My favorite curatorial note
describes Catherine Douglass, Duchess of Queensbury, who was still
considered a beauty when she died, at the age of 72, "from a surfeit of
cherries."
We had an amusing run-around trying to get lunch. The cafe is in the
sub-basement. So we took the elevator to the first floor and then walked down
the stairs to the ground floor and then to the basement and then to the
sub-basement. Only they were just about sold out of sandwiches and had no
soup, so we decided to try the restaurant. So we took one elevator back to
the exit floor, another to the 2nd floor, and walked to the back of the
gallery and took a third elevator up to the rooftop restaurant, which was
fully booked. So we took the elevator back down and the stairs back down
and got our coats and walked on down to the exit and left. We did finally
get lunch at Cafe la Dome, just up the road. Anne and I had parsnip & leek
soup with croque monsieurs and George had the chicken pesto pasta. I left
them to visit the special exhibit at the National Gallery and headed home,
where I had a rejuvenating nap and then went to Sainsburys to restock.
Jason was good enough to come meet me at the check-out and carry most of the
groceries home.
Anne & G. didn't make it back until just after seven, at which point I
started dinner. I made my standard lemon chicken, but using my own chicken
stock instead of commercial, whcih makes it even richer. After a
dishwashing break, we had dessert. I had planned this for Christmas before
I knew that Barbara was bringing something wonderful, and was pleased enough
with the concept to really want to try it. I had bought some ready-made
crepes and some things I thought would be tasty with them. I set out
Nutella, "Luxury Toffee Spread," raspberry preserves, honey, custard,
whipped cream, double cream with orange liquer and choclate mixed in, and
frozen berries that I'd heated up. So everyone assembled their own crepes
and the general consensus was that this is a marvelous dessert.
Now everyone has gone to bed and I mean to follow them momentarily. Thank
you to everyone who sent gifts and greetings...we had a lovely London
Christmas.
