Friday, April 13

Well, it has been a busy few days.  Shannon arrived on Easter Sunday morning and we have been busy trying to cram the complete London experience into her seven days.  We had a lovely Easter dinner at the Wells Tavern and a good walk about Hampstead. The days are blurring together, but here are some highlights.

On Monday we managed to walk through Hyde Park despite the rain and see the iconic London sites. We had a fantastic Indian dinner in the local restaurant.

 Then, on Tuesday, after a short classroom session, we all adjourned to the Victoria and Albert which is the British Design Museum.

We took in the Modern British Design exhibit and a photo exhibit of England in the past 50 years.
The exhibit included films of 1970--1990 rock groups which were quite amusing.

Then, off to Harrods where Shannon and I had salads for lunch.  Again, the weather was raining on and off so we hailed a hackney and took off to Regent Park for a long boat ride through the canal.  We had a woman cab driver--one of 500 women who drive in London where there are 24,000 cab drivers.

The sun came out for our smooth ride which stopped at the London Zoo for some passengers to alight and others to board.  Ending up in Camden Town, we did a little shopping for trinkets to bring home.  We were amused by the houseboats along the canal--a stark contrast to those I saw in Amsterdam.  These were rather seedy with little humor or mirth with the exception of  this houseboat "garden."

 Finishing up, we tubed to Covent Garden and got a little twisted around in the rain--navigating under umbrellas between tall buildings we took the #24 bus in the wrong direction--but quickly realized the mistake and re-routed ourselves.
Shannon took a nap and we ventured out around 8pm to see the City lights.  That was a worthwhile adventure, although by the time we finished having a Lebanese meal and returning to the bus, it was cold and midnight with few carriages running.

On Wednesday, we went to Brick Lane, Spitalfields Market and Shoreditch where I think the edgy art scene is far superior to other neighborhoods.

We had a lousy curry lunch and vowed to return to the Sandiri Tandori in Hampstead for another great Indian meal before Shannon returns to Corvallis.  The shops off Brick Lane are vintage and the galleries are more interesting than the food.

 I cooked red snapper purchased from the monger and walked around Hampstead after dinner.

Thursday, my students each brought five photos that exemplify their highlights of the study abroad experience.  It was four hours of laughs, insights, memories and social cohesion. So entertaining to see how their experiences of living together, traveling together, and learning about UK and EU have changed them.

After class, Shannon and I went for tickets at the National Theater and were lucky to get seats for the Thursday evening performance of One Man, Two Governors.  We took in the National Gallery and had a lovely meal in one of my favorite French restaurants in town.  The play was hilarious and great fun.

I am certain that I would not have understood many of the jokes had I not been living here and privy to the popular culture of the UK (including references to Princess Margaret).  Excellent acting, funny script, good music and a great plot.  Very funny.

We finally hit bed around 1 am and Shannon is still sleeping at 10am (now almost 11am!) while I have been grading the mountain of papers and doing laundry.

We have loose plans for her last two days here.  The weather will be a large factor in plans as it is quite variable and subject to swings in temperatures as well as dripping sky.

I am grateful for the timing of her visit.  Not only is Shannon easy company after 49 years as friends, but it really helped me from brooding about my approaching departure to be showing her London.  I leave a week from today for Paris and it is a hard transition, to say the least.
Have a wonderful weekend, all.  Shabat Shalom.