Cold in London
Jun. 19th, 2001 12:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetRachel Mello arrived late on Wednesday night. She'd had a slight detour
getting here--as her plane was about to land at Heathrow, it suddenly pulled
up and flew to Stanstead, which is about an hour north of London.
Apparently the winds on the runway they'd been assigned were far too strong
for the safety rating of the plane and they didn't have enough fuel to
circle out and get in line for a different runway. So they refueled and
flew back to Heathrow (which is west of London) again, landing almost three
hours late.
On Thursday she had some stuff she wanted to do during the day, so we met up
with her at the Founder's Arms pub in front of the Tate Modern to grab some
food before our show and then walked down the river to Shakespeare's Globe,
the modern reconstruction of the theatre in which Shakespeare's plays were
originally performed. It's a nifty place--they had to get an Act of
Parliament to allow them to have an authentic thatched roof, since those
haven't been legal in London since the Great Fire four hundred years ago.
Our seats were in the upper gallery on the side of the stage. We happened
to be there on the anniversary of the birth of Sam Wannamaker, who founded
the theater and died just before it opened. They gave a special award in
his honor to John Barton, one of the founders of the RSC, as a person who
has had a profound impact on how Shakespeare's work is presented to the
world.
The show was _King Lear_. Overall, we were impressed with it, although it
certainly had some flaws. Chief among these were the costumes, which were
distracting and without a clear concept. Cordelia's performance was also
sadly under par. But it was great to see and we are looking forward to the
other two shows we will see there in the next month.
On Friday I went out for the day with Rachel. We visited Westminster Abbey,
which is stunning. There was a huge line, but it moved quickly and after
the initial crush, the crowds weren't too bad. It meant a lot more to me
now than it did when I was twelve and had little idea of its history or who
most of the people buried there were in life.
From there we took the tube up to Green Park and had a late tea at Fortnum &
Mason. Rachel had a plate of Irish salmon, while I enjoyed one of the
finest Welsh rarebits of my experience, with a fantastic chutney that really
enhanced the flavors of the cheese and mustard.
Continuing east, we passed through Picadilly Circus and Leicester Square to
Covent Garden, where I introduced Rachel to Lush, my favorite bath store.
There was a busker playing old favorites (James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Carole
King, Simon & Garfunkel, etc.) and we sat and listened to him for a while
and bought his CD.
We hopped back on the tube and went to the Tate Modern, but were running
late enough that we had only about half an hour in the galleries before it
was time to meet Jason. I took our accummulated bags and headed home, while
the two of them went to Brick Lane for Indian food. When they got back to
the flat, we watched an episode of Buffy and went to bed.
By Saturday my cold had really taken hold, so I stayed in while Rachel went
to Kew Gardens and then out for dinner and an experimental performance with
Barbara. Jason and I ordered pizza and had a quiet evening.
On Sunday I was still feeling rather poorly, so I sent Rachel out with Jason
to Camden Market for the afternoon while I scanned in some pictures and took
a nap. They came back around seven, Leah showed up at nine and Barbara
arrived with Gilly just after ten. We ordered Chinese food and all sat
around feasting and laughting until very late.
Rachel left yesterday and I continued to rest and recuperate. Today I am
markedly better--I woke up mostly able to breath and my uvula is no longer
swollen. So I have hopes that by tomorrow I will be able to go out and play
with Gilly.
getting here--as her plane was about to land at Heathrow, it suddenly pulled
up and flew to Stanstead, which is about an hour north of London.
Apparently the winds on the runway they'd been assigned were far too strong
for the safety rating of the plane and they didn't have enough fuel to
circle out and get in line for a different runway. So they refueled and
flew back to Heathrow (which is west of London) again, landing almost three
hours late.
On Thursday she had some stuff she wanted to do during the day, so we met up
with her at the Founder's Arms pub in front of the Tate Modern to grab some
food before our show and then walked down the river to Shakespeare's Globe,
the modern reconstruction of the theatre in which Shakespeare's plays were
originally performed. It's a nifty place--they had to get an Act of
Parliament to allow them to have an authentic thatched roof, since those
haven't been legal in London since the Great Fire four hundred years ago.
Our seats were in the upper gallery on the side of the stage. We happened
to be there on the anniversary of the birth of Sam Wannamaker, who founded
the theater and died just before it opened. They gave a special award in
his honor to John Barton, one of the founders of the RSC, as a person who
has had a profound impact on how Shakespeare's work is presented to the
world.
The show was _King Lear_. Overall, we were impressed with it, although it
certainly had some flaws. Chief among these were the costumes, which were
distracting and without a clear concept. Cordelia's performance was also
sadly under par. But it was great to see and we are looking forward to the
other two shows we will see there in the next month.
On Friday I went out for the day with Rachel. We visited Westminster Abbey,
which is stunning. There was a huge line, but it moved quickly and after
the initial crush, the crowds weren't too bad. It meant a lot more to me
now than it did when I was twelve and had little idea of its history or who
most of the people buried there were in life.
From there we took the tube up to Green Park and had a late tea at Fortnum &
Mason. Rachel had a plate of Irish salmon, while I enjoyed one of the
finest Welsh rarebits of my experience, with a fantastic chutney that really
enhanced the flavors of the cheese and mustard.
Continuing east, we passed through Picadilly Circus and Leicester Square to
Covent Garden, where I introduced Rachel to Lush, my favorite bath store.
There was a busker playing old favorites (James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Carole
King, Simon & Garfunkel, etc.) and we sat and listened to him for a while
and bought his CD.
We hopped back on the tube and went to the Tate Modern, but were running
late enough that we had only about half an hour in the galleries before it
was time to meet Jason. I took our accummulated bags and headed home, while
the two of them went to Brick Lane for Indian food. When they got back to
the flat, we watched an episode of Buffy and went to bed.
By Saturday my cold had really taken hold, so I stayed in while Rachel went
to Kew Gardens and then out for dinner and an experimental performance with
Barbara. Jason and I ordered pizza and had a quiet evening.
On Sunday I was still feeling rather poorly, so I sent Rachel out with Jason
to Camden Market for the afternoon while I scanned in some pictures and took
a nap. They came back around seven, Leah showed up at nine and Barbara
arrived with Gilly just after ten. We ordered Chinese food and all sat
around feasting and laughting until very late.
Rachel left yesterday and I continued to rest and recuperate. Today I am
markedly better--I woke up mostly able to breath and my uvula is no longer
swollen. So I have hopes that by tomorrow I will be able to go out and play
with Gilly.
