goddesstogo and mr. goddess's big London adventure (an ongoing tale)
Sep 22nd, 2010, 07:54 AM
#182
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So how was Emma's cold tea cake? Can she cook as well as she acts?
I've never been inside Buckingham Palace but now that you've mentioned the art I think maybe I should go before they ban mere mortals. Like annhig it's the gardens that I'd really love to wander through though and I think you'd have to scale a wall or two to get in there.
The scarf secret is you need to be flat chested.. otherwise it *complicates* the casual arrangement! JMO
congrats on the bat WH!
I've never been inside Buckingham Palace but now that you've mentioned the art I think maybe I should go before they ban mere mortals. Like annhig it's the gardens that I'd really love to wander through though and I think you'd have to scale a wall or two to get in there.
The scarf secret is you need to be flat chested.. otherwise it *complicates* the casual arrangement! JMO
congrats on the bat WH!
Sep 22nd, 2010, 04:21 PM
#184
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ali, there is no clothing combination that's hideous on a beautiful tall slender 18-year-old girl with shiny hair and flawless skin. It all works.
annhig, are you kidding -- I've been a corrie fan for years! I don't remember having the accent problem with the movie but in the play there was often background music while the actors were speaking so that may have compounded the problem.
lizzie, if I'd only known! I hope you (and the rest of you) are coming to the GTG on the 7th.
Emma's tea cake was fine though it doesn't hold a candle to my own whiskey cake. Still, I'm not famous and she is. I'd like to think that doesn't make a difference to the quality of her cake, but it does. Re the gardens at BP, you just get to walk down along the side of them. Most of what I saw was a large green space where the garden parties are held and then a bit of the lake (with a nest with a huge egg in it!).
Of course, at BP you don't get to see any of the residence or the area that I would liked to have seen which is the downstairs. I'd love to have seen more of how the palace is operated, the kitchens, for example. I've just reminded myself of that wonderful tv series, "Upstairs, Downstairs". Boy, I loved that.
We got a later start than planned today so we hopped on the tube down to Euston station. We walked around awhile and then stopped in at the Wellcome Collection and saw the Skin exhibit. It's fascinating but not for the faint of heart. If you're at all squeamish, it's not for you. I'd given thought at one time to becoming a medical illustrator so I was interested in it from that perspective. We browsed in the great bookstore there and then had coffee in the cafe. It's such an interesting place. I brought home the list of upcoming events and I know we'll go to several of them. My SO is familiar with the moderator of some of the talks and roundtable discussions and there are several that fall into his area of study.
More walking and a stop for a drink at the pub in the St. Pancras train station. We were in the bar where (I think) the Eurostar pulls into the station, where there's a big bronze sculpture by Peter Day. We passed by the library there so we stopped in and I got two books I've been meaning to read (Widows of Eastwick by John Updike and The Help by Katherine Stockett) and then it was time for dinner. We had a very nice meal at Prezzo (that's a chain, isn't it) and by the time we finished it was time to go to the theatre. We'd been invited to a comedy charity show at the Bloomsbury Theatre by a Canadian friend of a friend who was one of the comics. It was in support of the new cancer centre being built by UCLH. The show wasn't bad though there were probably only a hundred or so audience members. I'm pleased to say that the comic we knew was one of the top three. The closing act was a quartet called Three Poufs and a Piano.
There was a raffle (and since we didn't have to pay for our tickets, we bought lots of raffle tickets) and once again, I didn't win the dinner for two at a posh restaurant. What did I win then, you ask. Well, my dear, I won a football sweater signed by the football player and framed under glass. It was HUGE! What on earth was I going to do with that? So I told them I couldn't bring it home with me and asked them to auction it off with the proceeds going to the cancer centre. The MC (small thinker that he was) was going to start the bidding at £1 but I said, no, it had to start at £ 10 and guess what -- it brought in £ 90! I was hoping it would get up to 100 but 90 is pretty good!
...and so to bed. Sleep tight.
annhig, are you kidding -- I've been a corrie fan for years! I don't remember having the accent problem with the movie but in the play there was often background music while the actors were speaking so that may have compounded the problem.
lizzie, if I'd only known! I hope you (and the rest of you) are coming to the GTG on the 7th.
Emma's tea cake was fine though it doesn't hold a candle to my own whiskey cake. Still, I'm not famous and she is. I'd like to think that doesn't make a difference to the quality of her cake, but it does. Re the gardens at BP, you just get to walk down along the side of them. Most of what I saw was a large green space where the garden parties are held and then a bit of the lake (with a nest with a huge egg in it!).
Of course, at BP you don't get to see any of the residence or the area that I would liked to have seen which is the downstairs. I'd love to have seen more of how the palace is operated, the kitchens, for example. I've just reminded myself of that wonderful tv series, "Upstairs, Downstairs". Boy, I loved that.
We got a later start than planned today so we hopped on the tube down to Euston station. We walked around awhile and then stopped in at the Wellcome Collection and saw the Skin exhibit. It's fascinating but not for the faint of heart. If you're at all squeamish, it's not for you. I'd given thought at one time to becoming a medical illustrator so I was interested in it from that perspective. We browsed in the great bookstore there and then had coffee in the cafe. It's such an interesting place. I brought home the list of upcoming events and I know we'll go to several of them. My SO is familiar with the moderator of some of the talks and roundtable discussions and there are several that fall into his area of study.
More walking and a stop for a drink at the pub in the St. Pancras train station. We were in the bar where (I think) the Eurostar pulls into the station, where there's a big bronze sculpture by Peter Day. We passed by the library there so we stopped in and I got two books I've been meaning to read (Widows of Eastwick by John Updike and The Help by Katherine Stockett) and then it was time for dinner. We had a very nice meal at Prezzo (that's a chain, isn't it) and by the time we finished it was time to go to the theatre. We'd been invited to a comedy charity show at the Bloomsbury Theatre by a Canadian friend of a friend who was one of the comics. It was in support of the new cancer centre being built by UCLH. The show wasn't bad though there were probably only a hundred or so audience members. I'm pleased to say that the comic we knew was one of the top three. The closing act was a quartet called Three Poufs and a Piano.
There was a raffle (and since we didn't have to pay for our tickets, we bought lots of raffle tickets) and once again, I didn't win the dinner for two at a posh restaurant. What did I win then, you ask. Well, my dear, I won a football sweater signed by the football player and framed under glass. It was HUGE! What on earth was I going to do with that? So I told them I couldn't bring it home with me and asked them to auction it off with the proceeds going to the cancer centre. The MC (small thinker that he was) was going to start the bidding at £1 but I said, no, it had to start at £ 10 and guess what -- it brought in £ 90! I was hoping it would get up to 100 but 90 is pretty good!
...and so to bed. Sleep tight.
Sep 22nd, 2010, 04:37 PM
#185
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Ah, Three Poofs and a Piano used to be on the Jonathon Ross talk show... so more famous people to add to your list of celebrities!
I love that you think you can compare Emma T's tea cake with your WHISKEY cake LOL... it sounds better for a start and I don't think I'd care who was holding a candle if there was enough whiskey in the cake.
I love that you think you can compare Emma T's tea cake with your WHISKEY cake LOL... it sounds better for a start and I don't think I'd care who was holding a candle if there was enough whiskey in the cake.
Sep 22nd, 2010, 04:49 PM
#186
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There's three quarters of a cup of rye whiskey in that cake, sass. It's he-man stuff. None of that limp-wristed tea cake business! If you come to the GTG, I'll bring you the recipe. Unless you're a teetotaler, that is.
Sep 23rd, 2010, 12:33 AM
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Three Poufs and a Piano....er I think that it's "4 Poofs and a Piano"...
St. Pancras train station. We were in the bar where (I think) the Eurostar pulls into the station, where there's a big bronze sculpture by Peter Day.
one of my favourite spots, did you try the champagne bar on the Eurostar platform? I took my Mum there as part of her 80th birthday....
and I want to know who the football player was too.....
St. Pancras train station. We were in the bar where (I think) the Eurostar pulls into the station, where there's a big bronze sculpture by Peter Day.
one of my favourite spots, did you try the champagne bar on the Eurostar platform? I took my Mum there as part of her 80th birthday....
and I want to know who the football player was too.....
Sep 23rd, 2010, 01:55 AM
#191
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"it's the gardens that I'd really love to wander through though and I think you'd have to scale a wall or two to get in there."
Not really. Tens of thousands of pretty well ordinary peeps get invited to garden parties there every year. They get free run of the gardens - which are just a bigger, better maintained, version of what most people have at home.
Just about any destination garden (like Waddesden or Kiftsgate) is more interesting, because they've been designed by garden lovers: the Palace is more a working garden and feels very like a posher than average English municipal park, without the dog pooh (I think they cork the corgis up) or the asbonauts. Not surprising, because it's got pretty much the same purpose: a whopping great expanse of grass to hold lots of people, and a good mix of lakes and bowers so meanderers can feel they've got away from the big city.
A decade or so on your local council, or running the regional admin for your favourite charity (or being attached to someone who has) and the invite's practically automatic.
Not really. Tens of thousands of pretty well ordinary peeps get invited to garden parties there every year. They get free run of the gardens - which are just a bigger, better maintained, version of what most people have at home.
Just about any destination garden (like Waddesden or Kiftsgate) is more interesting, because they've been designed by garden lovers: the Palace is more a working garden and feels very like a posher than average English municipal park, without the dog pooh (I think they cork the corgis up) or the asbonauts. Not surprising, because it's got pretty much the same purpose: a whopping great expanse of grass to hold lots of people, and a good mix of lakes and bowers so meanderers can feel they've got away from the big city.
A decade or so on your local council, or running the regional admin for your favourite charity (or being attached to someone who has) and the invite's practically automatic.
Sep 23rd, 2010, 02:39 AM
#192
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Well, I'm so sorry to disappoint you but I have no idea what football player it was. I don't even know the team. It was a red shirt.
Poofs. Yes.
Hi, MG! No, we don't have a TV here in the flat. We can watch on the computer but we haven't tried it yet. Corrie is so far ahead of us here in the UK that I figure when I get home in December, it will work out just about right. At home, Blanche is still alive. Hope you're keeping the home fires burning!
Poofs. Yes.
Hi, MG! No, we don't have a TV here in the flat. We can watch on the computer but we haven't tried it yet. Corrie is so far ahead of us here in the UK that I figure when I get home in December, it will work out just about right. At home, Blanche is still alive. Hope you're keeping the home fires burning!
Sep 23rd, 2010, 05:36 AM
#193
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gtg, The whiskey cake does sound very good. I'm not teetotal so I might accidentally adapt the recipe by drinking some of the whiskey while I'm baking..
I can't make the Oct GTG I'm afraid. I live in Massachusetts but we're in London in November for a few days so maybe another GTG then if people are up for it.
Red shirt... could be the England away strip.
flanner,
"and a good mix of lakes and bowers so meanderers can feel they've got away from the big city."
That sounds good to me and as you say no dog poo to boot!
I have seen the wide stretches of lawn on televised garden party clips in the past but hoped for more.
BTW, I'm not even remotely likely to get an invite to any royal garden parties in this decade or the next.
I can't make the Oct GTG I'm afraid. I live in Massachusetts but we're in London in November for a few days so maybe another GTG then if people are up for it.
Red shirt... could be the England away strip.
flanner,
"and a good mix of lakes and bowers so meanderers can feel they've got away from the big city."
That sounds good to me and as you say no dog poo to boot!
I have seen the wide stretches of lawn on televised garden party clips in the past but hoped for more.
BTW, I'm not even remotely likely to get an invite to any royal garden parties in this decade or the next.
Sep 24th, 2010, 12:02 PM
#194
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Alright, I've done some serious sleuthing. (Well, I sent an email.) The shirt was a West Ham shirt and I've been told it 'was signed' but I don't know by whom. Maybe the whole team. It ultimately did go for £100 so yay for that. I guess someone is a big West Ham fan. Or maybe they thought they could do well on e-bay. And it seems the house was packed for last night's show.
Today we had a nice chatty lunch with WHampstead at the Wet Fish Cafe (good scrambled eggs/good coffee/good conversation -- what more is there to life than that?)
After lunch we parted ways and SO and I went off to the National Gallery where we walked around in our usual haphazard way stopping to gawk at paintings I've seen a million times in books, on hasty notes, in art history class, but lordy -- these were the real thing, baby! About a hundred times, I pulled SO over and said, "Look...(insert artist's name) stood right here -- RIGHT HERE -- holding his brush when he painted that stroke!" Honestly, I can never get over that. We both got to pick the paintings we would buy and say where we would hang them in our house. In real life, we bought a small print of a scene in Venice by Canaletto because it happens to be the exact spot on the Grand Canal where we stayed when we were there.
We also saw a wonderful small exhibit of paintings called Acts of Mercy by Frederick Robinson, including a diptych called Orphans which I just loved.
I'm sure we missed a huge portion of the gallery (and didn't even go to the portrait gallery, but will) but we wanted to be outside by that time. There was a big Maylaysian festival in Trafalgar Square so we browsed around there for a while and looked at the ship in a bottle on the fourth plinth (must remember to look it up and see what that's all about). We decided to walk up Charing Cross Road (oh darn it -- I forgot to look for 84!) but got distracted by Piccadilly Circus and Chinatown, so we meandered over that way a bit. We finally got back on track on Charing Cross but SO got waylaid by a street of music shops. While he went to look at guitars, I went into TK Maxx (surely a relation of TJ Maxx in the US) and bought the fastest pair of boots ever -- fifteen minutes, in and out. Walk, walk, walk, till Charing Cross turned into Tottenham Court Road and we tried to remember the street where the hotel was where we stayed 35 years ago. It was somewhere near the British Museum. It was one of those hotels where you have a sink in the room and the toilet is way down the hall.
It was getting pretty chilly by that time and we were getting pretty tired so we hopped on the tube. We had a quick pizza dinner in the neighbourhood and then as we were walking home we noticed what look like a church but all lit up. Hey, sez I, it a) looks like a church but there are no crosses, and b) is all lit up on Friday night. Must be a shul! So we stepped in (just into the lobby) and spoke to a young man and sure enough, it's the Hampstead Synagogue (orthodox). It's not that we're likely to go, but it was interesting to see. There are no markings on the outside at all that would indicate what the building is -- no Star of David, no name -- at least not that we could see. There was a stained glass window very high up but it wasn't backlit. I think it was a scene of Jerusalem, though. Interesting.
Home tonight. You have a good night too.
Today we had a nice chatty lunch with WHampstead at the Wet Fish Cafe (good scrambled eggs/good coffee/good conversation -- what more is there to life than that?)
After lunch we parted ways and SO and I went off to the National Gallery where we walked around in our usual haphazard way stopping to gawk at paintings I've seen a million times in books, on hasty notes, in art history class, but lordy -- these were the real thing, baby! About a hundred times, I pulled SO over and said, "Look...(insert artist's name) stood right here -- RIGHT HERE -- holding his brush when he painted that stroke!" Honestly, I can never get over that. We both got to pick the paintings we would buy and say where we would hang them in our house. In real life, we bought a small print of a scene in Venice by Canaletto because it happens to be the exact spot on the Grand Canal where we stayed when we were there.
We also saw a wonderful small exhibit of paintings called Acts of Mercy by Frederick Robinson, including a diptych called Orphans which I just loved.
I'm sure we missed a huge portion of the gallery (and didn't even go to the portrait gallery, but will) but we wanted to be outside by that time. There was a big Maylaysian festival in Trafalgar Square so we browsed around there for a while and looked at the ship in a bottle on the fourth plinth (must remember to look it up and see what that's all about). We decided to walk up Charing Cross Road (oh darn it -- I forgot to look for 84!) but got distracted by Piccadilly Circus and Chinatown, so we meandered over that way a bit. We finally got back on track on Charing Cross but SO got waylaid by a street of music shops. While he went to look at guitars, I went into TK Maxx (surely a relation of TJ Maxx in the US) and bought the fastest pair of boots ever -- fifteen minutes, in and out. Walk, walk, walk, till Charing Cross turned into Tottenham Court Road and we tried to remember the street where the hotel was where we stayed 35 years ago. It was somewhere near the British Museum. It was one of those hotels where you have a sink in the room and the toilet is way down the hall.
It was getting pretty chilly by that time and we were getting pretty tired so we hopped on the tube. We had a quick pizza dinner in the neighbourhood and then as we were walking home we noticed what look like a church but all lit up. Hey, sez I, it a) looks like a church but there are no crosses, and b) is all lit up on Friday night. Must be a shul! So we stepped in (just into the lobby) and spoke to a young man and sure enough, it's the Hampstead Synagogue (orthodox). It's not that we're likely to go, but it was interesting to see. There are no markings on the outside at all that would indicate what the building is -- no Star of David, no name -- at least not that we could see. There was a stained glass window very high up but it wasn't backlit. I think it was a scene of Jerusalem, though. Interesting.
Home tonight. You have a good night too.
Sep 25th, 2010, 12:07 AM
#195
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>>At home, Blanche is still alive.<<
Thanks to Youtube, Blanche will never die (nor Ena Sharples).
Don't forget, the National Gallery isn't going anywhere, and it's free, so don't worry about trying to see everything - you can drop in for a while whenever you're passing.
Fourth Plinth: http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplint...ns-ship-bottle
http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/
Thanks to Youtube, Blanche will never die (nor Ena Sharples).
Don't forget, the National Gallery isn't going anywhere, and it's free, so don't worry about trying to see everything - you can drop in for a while whenever you're passing.
Fourth Plinth: http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplint...ns-ship-bottle
http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/
Sep 26th, 2010, 05:48 AM
#196
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If the street with the guitars was Denmark St (seems likely) then you also walked past one of central London's hidden restaurant gems - the Giaconda Dining Room. Well worth checking out http://www.giacondadining.com/. Is on the site of a cafe that was a legendary musician hangout (think Bowie) in the 60s/70s. I recommend highly (although it has its idiosyncracies, they add to rather than detract from the experience). And lunch was great!
Sep 26th, 2010, 09:37 AM
#197
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Denmark Street? I don't know. I gmapped it and it doesn't seem likely unless there's more than one. We were on a little street that runs off Charing Cross Road (or Tottenham Court Road -- I'm not sure how far along we were at that point).
If the restaurant is near there, I'm sure I'd have no problem convincing SO to go back. He only had 15 minutes in the music stores and I've known him to browse for an hour in one store alone at home. I'm sure I could amuse myself till dinner time. From the looks of the picture, I'd be appropriately dressed for dinner with the limited wardrobe I've brought here. And it's quite an amazing menu!
Today we cleaned the apartment like good boys and girls and then to reward ourselves we went to Covent Garden Market. I bought a very nice tie as a gift for SO and a tiny hand-enamelled necklace for the littlest niece. She's got an usual name and I can never get her anything with her name on it in the normal places, so she'll be quite pleased with it. The market is very pretty but I was a little disappointed with the arts and crafts aspect because it was mostly stands selling stuff that was clearly not made by artisans. Still it was a nice way to spend the day. We walked away from the market through a charming small street and ended up at Trafalgar Square again. Today's festival was the end of Eid festival and the square was packed with people.
Dinner at home tonight and then a quick pack up because we're going to Paris tomorrow for a few days. I love saying that -- we're going to Paris tomorrow for a few days.
If the restaurant is near there, I'm sure I'd have no problem convincing SO to go back. He only had 15 minutes in the music stores and I've known him to browse for an hour in one store alone at home. I'm sure I could amuse myself till dinner time. From the looks of the picture, I'd be appropriately dressed for dinner with the limited wardrobe I've brought here. And it's quite an amazing menu!
Today we cleaned the apartment like good boys and girls and then to reward ourselves we went to Covent Garden Market. I bought a very nice tie as a gift for SO and a tiny hand-enamelled necklace for the littlest niece. She's got an usual name and I can never get her anything with her name on it in the normal places, so she'll be quite pleased with it. The market is very pretty but I was a little disappointed with the arts and crafts aspect because it was mostly stands selling stuff that was clearly not made by artisans. Still it was a nice way to spend the day. We walked away from the market through a charming small street and ended up at Trafalgar Square again. Today's festival was the end of Eid festival and the square was packed with people.
Dinner at home tonight and then a quick pack up because we're going to Paris tomorrow for a few days. I love saying that -- we're going to Paris tomorrow for a few days.
Sep 26th, 2010, 11:08 AM
#199
"<i>I gmapped it and it doesn't seem likely unless there's more than one. We were on a little street that runs off Charing Cross Road (or Tottenham Court Road -- I'm not sure how far along we were at that point).</i>"
You need to ditch the gmapping and get yourself a handy A to Z.
There are MANY 'Denmark somethings' - ave., place, street, etc. (nearly 30 distinct roads . . . . )
You were 100% definitely on that Denmark Street.
You need to ditch the gmapping and get yourself a handy A to Z.
There are MANY 'Denmark somethings' - ave., place, street, etc. (nearly 30 distinct roads . . . . )You were 100% definitely on that Denmark Street.
