Hanging out with Gilly
Jul. 2nd, 2001 12:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetOur weekend started with dinner on Thursday. One of Barbara's friends,
Stefan, has moved to a flat just up the road from us on Green Lanes, so she
thought we should meet. Stefan is German and has a background in orthopedic
bodywork, but is now developing a self-actualization course aimed at
corporations. I made pan-fried duck breasts on a bed of spinach & rocket
salad drenched in a warm bacon balsamic vinaigrette with halved pomodorino
tomatoes and diced new potatoes sauteed with rosemary. Gilly came in from
Israel just in time for dessert of summer fruits with honey cinnamon whipped
cream. It was great to have her back.
On Friday Gilly and I went on the Legal and Illegal London Walk, which was a
very interesting tour of the Inns of Court. Afterwards we split an order of
fish & chips at the Old Bank of England Pub next to the Royal Courts of
Justice. I noticed an Au Bon Pain across the street and was very excited,
only to have my hopes dashed when I discovered that they don't have the
roast beef sandwiches that I love. We walked on down the Strand, through
Trafalgar Square and on to Picadilly Circus, where Gilly bought a ticket at
the Virgin Megastore for the Mardi Gras festival in Finsbury Park on
Saturday. We strolled through Leicester Square and down New Row, where we
sat in a sidewalk cafe for a while. We made a quick run to Lush for Volcano
foot masks and then rushed back to meet Jason at Bella Pasta for dinner.
On Saturday I made poached eggs on cheese toast, with back bacon for Jason
and I. Gilly went across the street to the queer festival, while we lazed
about at home, hearing the music through the windows. In the evening we
ordered pizza and watched Angel. Most of the day I spent reading
mysteries--I've gotten started at the beginning of Patricia Cornwell and Ian
Rankin's series.
On Sunday I went with Gilly to the BBC Experience. The BBC doesn't offer
tours of their working studios, so they've set up an alternative tourist
attraction. It consists of exhibits about the history of the BBC and the
production of various popular shows, a movie about BBC television production,
a chance to record a radio drama as a group (some visitors read parts, while
others push the sound effects buttons), a multimedia presentation of
historical clips from the Golden Age of Radio, and an area with perhaps
twenty different interactive stations allowing visitors to mix music, be a
TV presenter, choose camera angles, work puppets from one of their shows,
present the weather, etc. We also listened to a BBC radio blooper reel and
were most amused by announcers referring to Shakespeare as the "Bird of
Avon" and breathlessly proclaiming that "lesbian troops have just attacked
Israel." We spent a while in their gift shop before heading on.
I took Gilly over to Yo Sushi and introduced her to the drinks robots and we
had a nice lunch off the conveyor belt. I left her heading to Westminster
Abbey and came home to nap for a bit and change into something cooler.
Jason and I met back up with her at The Globe. Had either of us thought
about it, we might have known that the abbey would be closed to visitors on
Sundays, but she had wandered around the outside and seen Big Ben and the
Houses of Parliament and then gone round to the National Portrait Gallery
for a look at the Tudors. I was very glad I had changed--it was not as
brutally hot as it was earlier in the week when I had to leave in the middle
of Macbeth, but it was still fairly toasty.
The production of Cymbelline was quite good. It's not one of Shakespeare's
best, but the six member cast managed to present it fairly straightforwardly
and to bring out the humor of it without making it slapstick (tho' they did
use slapsticks, come to think of it). They did a very good job, without
sets or costumes, of making the locations and roles (over thirty) very
clear. With everyone playing different parts, the final scene in which
everyone is on stage simultaneously, exposing the various tricks and
confusions of the plot, was very funny. I think this was the best of the
three shows we've seen there.
After the performance, we had dinner at fish! nearby. It's one of those
choose a fish/choose a method of cooking/choose a sauce places. I started
with a dozen of the tastiest oysters I've ever had and Gilly chose a
delicious smoked haddock Welsh rarebit. Then we all got grilled fish: Jason
and I had herbed butter on our respective salmon and swordfish, while Gilly
had the tuna with salsa.
Jason and I have had a lazy morning today, though I was up to see Gilly off
to Paris at eight. We'll have one more day with her later in the week,
before she heads back to the States.
Stefan, has moved to a flat just up the road from us on Green Lanes, so she
thought we should meet. Stefan is German and has a background in orthopedic
bodywork, but is now developing a self-actualization course aimed at
corporations. I made pan-fried duck breasts on a bed of spinach & rocket
salad drenched in a warm bacon balsamic vinaigrette with halved pomodorino
tomatoes and diced new potatoes sauteed with rosemary. Gilly came in from
Israel just in time for dessert of summer fruits with honey cinnamon whipped
cream. It was great to have her back.
On Friday Gilly and I went on the Legal and Illegal London Walk, which was a
very interesting tour of the Inns of Court. Afterwards we split an order of
fish & chips at the Old Bank of England Pub next to the Royal Courts of
Justice. I noticed an Au Bon Pain across the street and was very excited,
only to have my hopes dashed when I discovered that they don't have the
roast beef sandwiches that I love. We walked on down the Strand, through
Trafalgar Square and on to Picadilly Circus, where Gilly bought a ticket at
the Virgin Megastore for the Mardi Gras festival in Finsbury Park on
Saturday. We strolled through Leicester Square and down New Row, where we
sat in a sidewalk cafe for a while. We made a quick run to Lush for Volcano
foot masks and then rushed back to meet Jason at Bella Pasta for dinner.
On Saturday I made poached eggs on cheese toast, with back bacon for Jason
and I. Gilly went across the street to the queer festival, while we lazed
about at home, hearing the music through the windows. In the evening we
ordered pizza and watched Angel. Most of the day I spent reading
mysteries--I've gotten started at the beginning of Patricia Cornwell and Ian
Rankin's series.
On Sunday I went with Gilly to the BBC Experience. The BBC doesn't offer
tours of their working studios, so they've set up an alternative tourist
attraction. It consists of exhibits about the history of the BBC and the
production of various popular shows, a movie about BBC television production,
a chance to record a radio drama as a group (some visitors read parts, while
others push the sound effects buttons), a multimedia presentation of
historical clips from the Golden Age of Radio, and an area with perhaps
twenty different interactive stations allowing visitors to mix music, be a
TV presenter, choose camera angles, work puppets from one of their shows,
present the weather, etc. We also listened to a BBC radio blooper reel and
were most amused by announcers referring to Shakespeare as the "Bird of
Avon" and breathlessly proclaiming that "lesbian troops have just attacked
Israel." We spent a while in their gift shop before heading on.
I took Gilly over to Yo Sushi and introduced her to the drinks robots and we
had a nice lunch off the conveyor belt. I left her heading to Westminster
Abbey and came home to nap for a bit and change into something cooler.
Jason and I met back up with her at The Globe. Had either of us thought
about it, we might have known that the abbey would be closed to visitors on
Sundays, but she had wandered around the outside and seen Big Ben and the
Houses of Parliament and then gone round to the National Portrait Gallery
for a look at the Tudors. I was very glad I had changed--it was not as
brutally hot as it was earlier in the week when I had to leave in the middle
of Macbeth, but it was still fairly toasty.
The production of Cymbelline was quite good. It's not one of Shakespeare's
best, but the six member cast managed to present it fairly straightforwardly
and to bring out the humor of it without making it slapstick (tho' they did
use slapsticks, come to think of it). They did a very good job, without
sets or costumes, of making the locations and roles (over thirty) very
clear. With everyone playing different parts, the final scene in which
everyone is on stage simultaneously, exposing the various tricks and
confusions of the plot, was very funny. I think this was the best of the
three shows we've seen there.
After the performance, we had dinner at fish! nearby. It's one of those
choose a fish/choose a method of cooking/choose a sauce places. I started
with a dozen of the tastiest oysters I've ever had and Gilly chose a
delicious smoked haddock Welsh rarebit. Then we all got grilled fish: Jason
and I had herbed butter on our respective salmon and swordfish, while Gilly
had the tuna with salsa.
Jason and I have had a lazy morning today, though I was up to see Gilly off
to Paris at eight. We'll have one more day with her later in the week,
before she heads back to the States.
