Bombs Away
Mar. 5th, 2001 04:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetOn Wednesday Jason and I went to see the RSC's production of a new
translation of Luigi Pirandello's _Six Characters Looking for an Author_ at
the Young Vic, down in Southwark (Suth'rk) on the south bank of the Thames.
The acting was very strong and the new script was quite pared down, so the
points came through very clearly. Essentially, it's an exploration of the
difference between "real" and "true" and examines the role that change has
in our lives and what freedom it gives us to be able to move past the
terrible moments in our lives, along with all the rest. The role of the Son
was played by Paul Chequer, who also played Wilfred (the nephew) in _Tea
with Mussolini_.
We raced out of the theater after the curtain call and made it across the
street to claim the only unbooked table at Livebait before the post-theater
crowd made it in. I enjoyed the free lagniappe of eight boiled shrimp more
than Jason did, though having to rip off the heads and peel them, as well as
dealing with the roe in many of them muted my enjoyment of their sweet
taste. Jason ordered a bowl of chips (fries) as his starter and they were
good, but could not compare with my excellent seared scallops with greens in
a heavy balsamic vinaigrette. Jason went with the red snapper, coated in
ground walnuts and served with polenta cakes. My swordfish was very tasty,
with citrus butter that really brought out its flavor. Instead of potatoes,
I went with the stir-fried Asian vegetables with ginger, which made a nice
complement to my fish. We were unable to pass up a chance at the baked
apple cheesecake, which was very solid and more to Jason's taste than mine,
but quite good.
On Thursday morning Gale Langseth arrived around eleven, her flight from
Boston having been delayed by two hours. She is one of the Boston crowd,
whom Leah had invited to visit. Leah doesn't really have space for guests
in her dorm, so Gale had been planning to stay at a hostel unless a flakey
friend of her boyfriend could put her up. So I volunteered our guest room.
After giving her a chance to settle in, she and I headed out to meet Leah
for lunch at the cafe in the crypt of the church of St. Martin-in-the
Field. We had a pleasant lunch and then I ran a couple of errands and met
up with them again in Covent Garden Market. Leah took off to speand some
time on school and Gale and I wandered about for a bit before she headed off
to the British Museum and I came home to drop stuff off and collect Jason.
We met up with Gale and Leah again in Islington at an Alsatian restaurant
called Tartuffe, one of Leah's favorites. Their specialty is a pizza like
tarte made of very thin crust covered with fromage blanc (or "French yogurt"
as they describe it in the menu) and various toppings. Their set menu is
#10, which is only economical if you eat two a piece, so we dutifully set
about it. They bring one at a time and cut it for you at the table and then
everyone dives in. I think my favorite was the one with spinach, though the
sweet one with roasted plums and cinnamon was pretty incredible, too.
After dinner, Jason walked with the others down to Leah's dorm and then
tubed home, while I caught the bus straight home. I did make a brief stop
at the bookstore for something to amuse me on the trip and picked up David
Starkey's new biography of the early life of Elizabeth I. It's a wonderful
read, scholarly but not dry, and he really brings her personality to life.
The others followed my home by about half an hour and we hung out until Leah
had to leave to catch the tube home.
I stayed up too late working on the album of our wedding candids and, as a
result, was just getting up as Gale was leaving the house. I spent most of
the day puttering and working on various projects. In the evening, Jason
and I went back to Islington and had dinner at The Rotisserie, a restuarant
we'd noticed on our way to Tartuffe the previous night. I had their
carpaccio (which was really braseola, but tasty enough), followed by the
surf & turf of a rib-eye steak and six grilled prawns. The prawns were
good, but could have used some garlic. The steak was fine. The bearnaise
sauce that accompanied it was fairly tasteless, but the excellent mustard
ont eh table made a fine steak sauce. Their shoestring chips were very
nice. Jason started with a plate of roasted vegetables in balsamic
vinaigrette, which he enjoyed except for the asparagus, which needed to have
been grilled a bit longer. His main was lamb chops marinated in a too sweet
teriyaki-type sauce. For dessert we shared the pecan pie (warm with lots of
nuts!) and the apple cake soaked in hot caramel sauce.
We walked through the main square to Sadler's Wells theater where we saw a
performance of _Tap Dogs_. Originally choregraphed by an Australian working
class dancer, it uses sets that mimic surfaces one might find on a
construction set and some eye-catching visual effects to create a wonderful
show of percussive dance. They have several different companies touring the
world and if you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it. My only
caveat would be that if you don't like loud percussion, this is not the show
for you.
The four of us had talked about going up to York for the day on Saturday.
Gale is very interested in Vikings (and spent last summer on a dig in
Ireland) and York has a special center about Viking history in England and
the many artifacts that have been found around the city, originally founded
by the Vikings as Jorvik. The trainwreck last week put a damper on our
plans, since rail service was still not restored at the weekend and the
train & bus would have taken over three hours each way. It also turns out
that the Viking center proper is closed for renovations at the moment,
although many of their exhibits are visible at another museum in town. But
that tipped the balance and Leah and Gale went off to take the London Walks'
Explorer Day in Canterbury that Jason and I enjoyed a few weeks back.
We went out after lunch and did some shopping. We had hoped to find new
shoes for Jason, but despite trying on a zillion pairs, had no luck on that
front. I, of course, couldn't resist and bought a pair of Doc Martens'
lace-ups to replace my everyday shoes that are running out of steam. After
finding a few other necessary items, we came home. Leah and Gale met us
here and we ordered Chinese food. After dinner we went to Sainsbury's, to
give Gale a chance to pick up various foodstuffs.
On Sunday we had arranged to meet Leah at ten, but due to a Real IRA bombing
at the BBC offices in White City, the western half of the Central line was
closed and we had to get off and walk a bit and find a bus, so we were a bit
late. We walked the length of Portobello Road, looking at all the antique
shops. Unfortunately, despite all our guidebooks' assurances that the
market is open on Sundays from 6am to 2pm, very few of the shops actually
were and the sheltered flea market area was locked up. There were signs
that things were opening up around noon, as we were ready to leave. The
Hammersmith & City line station was also closed, so we hopped on a bus to
the part of the Central line that was open and made our way to the Victoria
& Albert Museum in South Kensington.
We had lunch together in their restaurant--okay, but nowhere near as good as
the food at the British Museum--and then Leah left and the three of us
wandered around for a couple of hours. The V&A has a small collection of
paintings and sculptures, but their focus is on the industrial arts. We
saw, among other things, 20th century furniture, make-up packaging, silver
plate work, jewelry, textiles, period costumes, Islamic tile, ironwork and
stained glass. And their shop is filled with wonderful replicas and
unusual gifts.
Jason and I were both headachey and wanting to spend a little time at home,
so Gale went off to photograph the new Shakespeare's Globe theater (she's
planning to make a model of it in shortbread) and we headed for Manor
House. On the tube a man sat opposite from us and I commented to Jason that
he looked just like Crispin...and he looked up! I said "You're Crispin
Bonham-Carter!" and he agreed that he was and I told him that I enjoyed his
work as Bingley in the BBC's most recent version of _Pride & Prejudice_. He
thanked me and went back to his book. I love London, despite the fact that
our train was somewhat delayed by a "security alert" outside Holborn
station.
We met up again with Gale and Leah for dinner. Thanks to Time Out's guide
to eating & drinking in London, we found that rarest of birds: an
affordable, excellent French restaurant. Apparently it's the original of a
chain in which the other branches are nowhere near as good, but Pierre
Victoire did very well by us. Our starters were blinis (Leah), tomato &
basil soup (Gale), goat cheese salad (Jason) and warm smoked chicken on
greens (me). Our entrees were pan-fried haddock filets (Leah), tortellini
in beurre blanc (Gale) and swordfish on a bed of wilted spinach (me), but
the winner was Jason's pan-seared ribeye steak in a creamy black pepper wine
sauce with chanterelles, served on a bed of potatoes dauphinoise
(scallopped). We washed that down with a lovely Beaujolais and then split
the raspberry & Bailey's creme brulee and the warm sticky toffee pudding for
dessert. It's a small place, but on a cold night it was nice to have a cosy
spot for dinner. There's an upright piano by the door and we all enjoyed
the pianist's selection of pieces--Leah was especially excited that we got
to hear "Girl from Ipanema."
When we got back to the house, Gale checked BA's website and found out that
her flight back to Boston for this morning was cancelled. Unfortunately,
the airlines here don't believe in 24-hour hotlines, so she had to wait
until they opened this morning to find out that she would be put on the
flight tomorrow morning (assuming that one doesn't get cancelled). We are
all thinking of the folks in the Northeast and hoping the pummeling isn't
too rough.
translation of Luigi Pirandello's _Six Characters Looking for an Author_ at
the Young Vic, down in Southwark (Suth'rk) on the south bank of the Thames.
The acting was very strong and the new script was quite pared down, so the
points came through very clearly. Essentially, it's an exploration of the
difference between "real" and "true" and examines the role that change has
in our lives and what freedom it gives us to be able to move past the
terrible moments in our lives, along with all the rest. The role of the Son
was played by Paul Chequer, who also played Wilfred (the nephew) in _Tea
with Mussolini_.
We raced out of the theater after the curtain call and made it across the
street to claim the only unbooked table at Livebait before the post-theater
crowd made it in. I enjoyed the free lagniappe of eight boiled shrimp more
than Jason did, though having to rip off the heads and peel them, as well as
dealing with the roe in many of them muted my enjoyment of their sweet
taste. Jason ordered a bowl of chips (fries) as his starter and they were
good, but could not compare with my excellent seared scallops with greens in
a heavy balsamic vinaigrette. Jason went with the red snapper, coated in
ground walnuts and served with polenta cakes. My swordfish was very tasty,
with citrus butter that really brought out its flavor. Instead of potatoes,
I went with the stir-fried Asian vegetables with ginger, which made a nice
complement to my fish. We were unable to pass up a chance at the baked
apple cheesecake, which was very solid and more to Jason's taste than mine,
but quite good.
On Thursday morning Gale Langseth arrived around eleven, her flight from
Boston having been delayed by two hours. She is one of the Boston crowd,
whom Leah had invited to visit. Leah doesn't really have space for guests
in her dorm, so Gale had been planning to stay at a hostel unless a flakey
friend of her boyfriend could put her up. So I volunteered our guest room.
After giving her a chance to settle in, she and I headed out to meet Leah
for lunch at the cafe in the crypt of the church of St. Martin-in-the
Field. We had a pleasant lunch and then I ran a couple of errands and met
up with them again in Covent Garden Market. Leah took off to speand some
time on school and Gale and I wandered about for a bit before she headed off
to the British Museum and I came home to drop stuff off and collect Jason.
We met up with Gale and Leah again in Islington at an Alsatian restaurant
called Tartuffe, one of Leah's favorites. Their specialty is a pizza like
tarte made of very thin crust covered with fromage blanc (or "French yogurt"
as they describe it in the menu) and various toppings. Their set menu is
#10, which is only economical if you eat two a piece, so we dutifully set
about it. They bring one at a time and cut it for you at the table and then
everyone dives in. I think my favorite was the one with spinach, though the
sweet one with roasted plums and cinnamon was pretty incredible, too.
After dinner, Jason walked with the others down to Leah's dorm and then
tubed home, while I caught the bus straight home. I did make a brief stop
at the bookstore for something to amuse me on the trip and picked up David
Starkey's new biography of the early life of Elizabeth I. It's a wonderful
read, scholarly but not dry, and he really brings her personality to life.
The others followed my home by about half an hour and we hung out until Leah
had to leave to catch the tube home.
I stayed up too late working on the album of our wedding candids and, as a
result, was just getting up as Gale was leaving the house. I spent most of
the day puttering and working on various projects. In the evening, Jason
and I went back to Islington and had dinner at The Rotisserie, a restuarant
we'd noticed on our way to Tartuffe the previous night. I had their
carpaccio (which was really braseola, but tasty enough), followed by the
surf & turf of a rib-eye steak and six grilled prawns. The prawns were
good, but could have used some garlic. The steak was fine. The bearnaise
sauce that accompanied it was fairly tasteless, but the excellent mustard
ont eh table made a fine steak sauce. Their shoestring chips were very
nice. Jason started with a plate of roasted vegetables in balsamic
vinaigrette, which he enjoyed except for the asparagus, which needed to have
been grilled a bit longer. His main was lamb chops marinated in a too sweet
teriyaki-type sauce. For dessert we shared the pecan pie (warm with lots of
nuts!) and the apple cake soaked in hot caramel sauce.
We walked through the main square to Sadler's Wells theater where we saw a
performance of _Tap Dogs_. Originally choregraphed by an Australian working
class dancer, it uses sets that mimic surfaces one might find on a
construction set and some eye-catching visual effects to create a wonderful
show of percussive dance. They have several different companies touring the
world and if you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it. My only
caveat would be that if you don't like loud percussion, this is not the show
for you.
The four of us had talked about going up to York for the day on Saturday.
Gale is very interested in Vikings (and spent last summer on a dig in
Ireland) and York has a special center about Viking history in England and
the many artifacts that have been found around the city, originally founded
by the Vikings as Jorvik. The trainwreck last week put a damper on our
plans, since rail service was still not restored at the weekend and the
train & bus would have taken over three hours each way. It also turns out
that the Viking center proper is closed for renovations at the moment,
although many of their exhibits are visible at another museum in town. But
that tipped the balance and Leah and Gale went off to take the London Walks'
Explorer Day in Canterbury that Jason and I enjoyed a few weeks back.
We went out after lunch and did some shopping. We had hoped to find new
shoes for Jason, but despite trying on a zillion pairs, had no luck on that
front. I, of course, couldn't resist and bought a pair of Doc Martens'
lace-ups to replace my everyday shoes that are running out of steam. After
finding a few other necessary items, we came home. Leah and Gale met us
here and we ordered Chinese food. After dinner we went to Sainsbury's, to
give Gale a chance to pick up various foodstuffs.
On Sunday we had arranged to meet Leah at ten, but due to a Real IRA bombing
at the BBC offices in White City, the western half of the Central line was
closed and we had to get off and walk a bit and find a bus, so we were a bit
late. We walked the length of Portobello Road, looking at all the antique
shops. Unfortunately, despite all our guidebooks' assurances that the
market is open on Sundays from 6am to 2pm, very few of the shops actually
were and the sheltered flea market area was locked up. There were signs
that things were opening up around noon, as we were ready to leave. The
Hammersmith & City line station was also closed, so we hopped on a bus to
the part of the Central line that was open and made our way to the Victoria
& Albert Museum in South Kensington.
We had lunch together in their restaurant--okay, but nowhere near as good as
the food at the British Museum--and then Leah left and the three of us
wandered around for a couple of hours. The V&A has a small collection of
paintings and sculptures, but their focus is on the industrial arts. We
saw, among other things, 20th century furniture, make-up packaging, silver
plate work, jewelry, textiles, period costumes, Islamic tile, ironwork and
stained glass. And their shop is filled with wonderful replicas and
unusual gifts.
Jason and I were both headachey and wanting to spend a little time at home,
so Gale went off to photograph the new Shakespeare's Globe theater (she's
planning to make a model of it in shortbread) and we headed for Manor
House. On the tube a man sat opposite from us and I commented to Jason that
he looked just like Crispin...and he looked up! I said "You're Crispin
Bonham-Carter!" and he agreed that he was and I told him that I enjoyed his
work as Bingley in the BBC's most recent version of _Pride & Prejudice_. He
thanked me and went back to his book. I love London, despite the fact that
our train was somewhat delayed by a "security alert" outside Holborn
station.
We met up again with Gale and Leah for dinner. Thanks to Time Out's guide
to eating & drinking in London, we found that rarest of birds: an
affordable, excellent French restaurant. Apparently it's the original of a
chain in which the other branches are nowhere near as good, but Pierre
Victoire did very well by us. Our starters were blinis (Leah), tomato &
basil soup (Gale), goat cheese salad (Jason) and warm smoked chicken on
greens (me). Our entrees were pan-fried haddock filets (Leah), tortellini
in beurre blanc (Gale) and swordfish on a bed of wilted spinach (me), but
the winner was Jason's pan-seared ribeye steak in a creamy black pepper wine
sauce with chanterelles, served on a bed of potatoes dauphinoise
(scallopped). We washed that down with a lovely Beaujolais and then split
the raspberry & Bailey's creme brulee and the warm sticky toffee pudding for
dessert. It's a small place, but on a cold night it was nice to have a cosy
spot for dinner. There's an upright piano by the door and we all enjoyed
the pianist's selection of pieces--Leah was especially excited that we got
to hear "Girl from Ipanema."
When we got back to the house, Gale checked BA's website and found out that
her flight back to Boston for this morning was cancelled. Unfortunately,
the airlines here don't believe in 24-hour hotlines, so she had to wait
until they opened this morning to find out that she would be put on the
flight tomorrow morning (assuming that one doesn't get cancelled). We are
all thinking of the folks in the Northeast and hoping the pummeling isn't
too rough.
