Last week in London

I notice my last post was over a week ago! No, it’s not that I’ve been lazy. It’s actually been an amazingly busy week. But, I’m going to do my best to describe the memorable events of the past week, starting with last Friday, August 23rd.

Friday late afternoon the clouds began to thin out. We were to meet up with Jay at the Oxfam Bookstore in Marylebone. We walked across Primrose Hill Park and Regent’s Park into Marylebone. The air, pleasant, a bit muggy, had the promise of a summery evening. Jay, Daryl, and I went into a pub – Coco Momo’s on the High Street. The outside tables, alas, were all taken and the inside was beginning to rapidly fill up. The sky was now completely blue and everyone seemed happy and excited. It was the start of a 3 day weekend and there was a party like atmosphere around us. Over beer and munchies we chatted about the issues GP’s face in England. For dinner Jay said she wanted comfort food due to a hard, stressful day. “Shall we go to Drummond Street?” This is a street famous for Indian vegetarian food – there’s a string of them. So that’s where we had dinner – at a restaurant that had been there a long, long time, and was good and cheap in its heyday. The food unfortunately was quite mediocre, but, oh well, we enjoyed the experience.

On Saturday the weather was gorgeous. Warm, hot actually, and clear blue skies. We spent the afternoon doing a long, long walk. We walked along Regent’s Canal into Islington. What a charming area with an area of old buildings, pedestrianised cobbled lanes, and many, many shops selling antiques. We returned to the towpath and continued along the canal, then across town and picked up a lane along a man made river. It was a lovely walk – the area alongside the river beautifully landscaped. The river itself – quite stagnant – was covered with a thick green layer – ugh! As we approached the tube station we passed several noisy pubs and heavy police presence. We realized that Arsenal Football Stadium was nearby and a game was just finishing. We took the tube back home, then realized we were starving. It was around 7:00, warm, sunny. The pizza place beside the station had a huge patio and looked very inviting to two starving, tired souls. So we indulged in Italian wine and a great big pizza.

Delightful weather on Sunday too. We spent most of the day with the Self family on the Heath. We hauled a huge picnic lunch over, set it all out in the shade of an oak from where we had a terrific view of the London skyline. Hampstead Heath, an absolute hive of activity, looked so completely different to me on this Sunday afternoon. Down from where we were was the kiddies playground and wading pool and it was crowded. We could hear a band playing out by the café area. After lunch we walked around a bit, passing numerous clusters of picnickers. I just couldn’t believe that this Heath that I’ve come to know so well and which is usually quiet and peaceful when I walk on it, was so alive with activity.

Later in the evening with the weather still gorgeous, Daryl and I couldn’t imagine wasting it inside the flat. So we bought a large bag of fresh chips, grabbed an ale and returned to the Heath. We sat on a bench, stared out at the view of London’s skyline, and gorged on our rare treat. You can never find chips of this quality in the US. The potatoes are peeled and cut and fried at the restaurant. You can taste the freshness, and seasoned with vinegar and salt and pepper – OMG, so yummy!

On Monday evening we went to see a play at the National Theatre. We saw “Rafta Rafta” which was about an Indian family in Britain and the usual conflict between Indian immigrant parents and their British born kids. It was superbly acted and quite funny and engaging. The stage setting was really nice too. They managed to show scenes in 4 rooms of the house concurrently – kitchen and sitting room downstairs, and bedrooms upstairs. The play was mostly a comedy with tastefully funny scenes, but it dealt with a few serious issues too. In particular, the play focuses on the relationship between the father who was raised traditionally in India, and his British raised son. The play derives its conflict from their clashing interests, and the son trying to find a comfortable place as an Asian and as a Brit.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Early this morning I had to go to Budgens, the local grocery store, to get milk for breakfast. The air had a brisk chill to it, the mocking kind – “the ha ha summer is on its way out” kind. I remember when Angie and I took early morning walks on the Heath in July and often there’d be a coolness in the air. But it was different then. It was almost an apologetic coolness, a coolness that behaved like an unwelcome guest, squirmed a bit then escaped fairly quickly. Within 15 minutes of our walk, before we reached the top of Parliament Hill, we’d be shedding off our light coats and exposing our bare arms. So summer was a bit on the skimpy side this year in Britain, but heck, summer nevertheless holds promise. Who knows, we could have a sweltering weekend, which indeed, we did have one or two of those. But the last week of August holds no promise. Well, okay, maybe we’ll have an Indian summer. In other words we might not have to turn on the central heating for most of September. But you can’t escape the fact that the days are growing shorter, the evenings are losing their balminess, and the early mornings will greet you with a chill.

On Tuesday evening we were promenaders at the BBC Proms. Yes, we got in the queue around 5:15 and waited along with over a thousand others for £5 tickets. The program - an all Russian evening – Tchaikovsky (Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet) and Prokofiev - piano concerto #2 and Symphony #7 – looked very inviting, so we decided to get the true Promenading experience. And, apart from the discomfort of being on your feet for so long, it really is an awesome experience. We got to be somewhere in the middle of the arena with a pretty reasonable view of the orchestra. But the amazing part about this area is the sound quality – being so close – wow! Admittedly, we promendaders were rather crammed together – yeah, like sardines, and it got a bit stifling. But the experience, oh, we’ll remember this forever. And the music, especially the piano concerto – heavenly.

Wednesday morning I woke up to the news of the unveiling of Nelson Mandela’s statue. For some irritating reason I hadn’t computed that if I fled to Parliament Square that instant I would have been able to be there to witness the event. So, rather irritated at myself, I watched it streaming on the web. I was a bit surprised that this whole thing happened because of the efforts of Donald Woods. I then remembered from his book RAINBOW NATION REVISITED his early efforts on this ambitious project. Ken Livingston certainly ranks high in my book for the role he played in this matter. That South Africa has produced a hero deserving of a statue in Central London fills me with pride.

We were back at the Proms on Thursday night. This time we had reserved tickets because it was Beethoven’s Ninth. It was delightful to sit back and listen to this most beautiful piece of music ever composed. A grand piece of music performed in the grand Royal Albert Hall and there I was, witnessing it!

Time for us now to pack up our things and move on to the next phase of our travels. We’ll be in Toulouse, France for the first 10 days of September. Alas, another a topology conference forces us to a delightful city in France.
I'll miss London. I'll miss its energy, its diversity, its complexities, its hospitality, its pubs, parks, oh so many things to love about this city.