Had a very fun few weeks with Lisa, and caught up with a few friends and London attractions in a spirited fashion.
We had reasonbaly fine weather one Saturday, so we did a day trip down to Greenwich, London's famous maritime quarter. Took the DLR down there, which has some quite splendid modern stations, and we nosed around Canary Wharf briefly. On arrival, we headed down to the site of the Cutty Sark, which is undergoing renovations after the disastrous fire last year. While the girls relaxed by the waterfront, I took the opportunity to visit the run-down 1902 pedestrian tunnel that runs under the River Thames at that point to the Isle of Dogs. It's cold, damp and more than a little depressing. When you walk through it, it's easy to imagine the whole thing collapsing at some point. There's certainly lots of water and rust throughout! Also, no cellphone reception :)
Found a traditional phone box for Lisa to pose with...
We had a lovely walk through Sir Christopher Wren's Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich Park and up to the Royal Observatory. It's a bit of a huff and puff up the hill, but the view back over London are worth the effort. The museum was underwhelming, but we were in time to see the ball drop to mark 1:00PM, and I did enjoy standing over the Pirme Meridian. Set my watch to a personally-observed GMT.
Views back over the park...
After an ice cream and a beer, we walked back to the Queen's House (a grand old building, with impressive interiors and a variable collection of naval art) and the National Maritime Museum. We were very pleased to find a statue of Captain Cook, which also seemed very popular with the Spanish tourists (oddly enough).
Treated ourselves to a ferry trip back to Waterloo. It was a pretty slow jounrey, but it was a thrill to pass under Tower Bridge, plus we had a great view of the below ground-level Traitor's Gate entrance to the Tower of London, and all the other Thames-side sights and sounds.
No less than three of our friends had decided to head home that month, so we had a variety of farewell parties to attend. On the Sunday, Lisa and I went down to the Silverman's property in Surbiton to say goodbye to Gidon. Also got to meet Mia and Nikki again, as well as the elusive Lucie (after all these years). We were also witness to a particularly torrential downpour, with lightning in very close proximity...
Afterwards we headed back to town to see off Anne, over dinner and drinks at Giraffe. The next night, Lisa and I had dinner with Anthony Keys at a nifty little place called Sarastro. It has decor very reminscent of the set-design for Pink Narcissus, and they perform live classical and opera music while you dine.
There was one very amusing moment when somone was using a cellphone during the performances, so the tenor took his phone off him, and proceeded to sign an aria down it...
Juliette Binoche
Lion King
Goodbye
Connor's farewell
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