Paul & Libby’s World of Travel

Today was another cool and drizzly day, but we managed to miss most of the rain. We also managed to avoid any disruptions caused by a bus drivers’ strike in London today (which followed yesterday’s doctors’ strike and next week’s cargo workers’ strike at Heathrow… not to mention firefighters in some other city). I’m all for workers’ rights, but seriously… WTF, England?

Libby, Emerson and Mom set off ahead of me this morning for Gymboree. That’s right. Emerson attended her toddler class here in London, as it seems our membership has worldwide privileges (that I assume hardly anyone uses). While there were many similarities to Gymboree at home, there were differences too… mainly the number of nannies vs. mummies and differences in songs. But, hey, it was an experience.

I met up with the gang Whitley’s Mall (the location of Gymboree) and we headed off to the Tate Modern. Libby and I attended the Damian Hirst exhibition (his first major retrospective held in London), which I have to say was awesome. Aesthetically, Hirst’s Spot Paintings appeal to me visually, whereas Libby prefers his more conceptual works. That said, I think we both found his In and Out of Love to be the most arresting – especially the gigantic white canvases festooned with pupae from which butterflies hatch and go on to live, reproduce, and die within the exhibition space. It was sort of high art meets butterfly garden. Simply amazing.

Damien Hirst @ Tate Modern

After the museum, we headed over to the Borough Market. Emerson slept in her stroller while we walked through the food stalls. The Borough Market really is a foodie’s paradise. Words can’t do it justice – you really have to see it, smell it, and taste it. Two of the three I can’t help with, but here are a couple of photos:

Borough Market -- Foodie Paradise

Monmouth Coffee -- Best in the world!

Tonight, we prepared for our onward journey to Europe.

A quick logistical note: the pace of our trip will be picking up, and I’ll be driving each day (in some cases fairly long distances). To that end, I may not be able to post daily… though, I’ll try.

Today was our first rainy day in London during this trip. It didn’t rain heavily or constantly. We just faced intermittent showers off and on throughout the day… really nothing more than a light drizzle.

Since it wasn’t raining, Mom and I started off by taking Emerson to Holland Park to enjoy the playground. She enjoyed this immensely and didn’t really want to leave, but it was time to move on… things to do! We returned to the timeshare to have lunch with Libby, who’d spent the morning relaxing.

In the afternoon, we took Emerson to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. Wow! The museum with all the dead/stuffed/fossilized animals was a total zoo! Emerson, Libby, and Mom all enjoyed it greatly. But, the museum was a little too crowded for me with oodles of families and scads of school kids on field trip for me to really enjoy it. In fact, after we got into the museum, they started having to queue people at the door in order to manage the crowds.

After the Natural History Museum, Mom departed with Emerson to walk back to the Allen House. Emerson fell asleep en route. So, Mom took the scenic route through gardens and parks happily taking photos along the way. It seems that both enjoyed their time.

Meanwhile, Libby and I headed off to the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, which had been a tradition for us in past years (though we haven’t visited since 2008). Comparing it to past exhibitions, I thought it lacked a certain pizzazz. My favorite work was Onya McCausland’s Red with Shadow, which felt both evocative of, as well as an evolved form of, Ellsworth Kelly’s paintings. My honorable mention goes to Brigitte Williams’s two works on paper, including her Homage to Boetti (the only work I seriously considered purchasing). Of course, others’ works were complete crap… poorly executed and/or conceptually weak. Since I’m generous of spirit, I won’t mention those artists/works by name (though my handwritten notes in margins of the List of Works is an amusing read—“best of a boring bunch;” “crap, again;” etc.).

Following the Summer Exhibition, we walked up Old Bond Street and New Bond Street, mostly window shopping at the high-end stores (which, we agreed, paled in comparison to what was on offer in Dubai). We then popped over to Regent Street where Libby (surprise, surprise) bought a new purse at Furla (another summer vacation tradition it seems). Following retail therapy, we headed back to Kensington to pick-up dinner for the family at Whole Foods. In particular, we enjoyed some especially scrumptious gorgonzola dolce w/ a lime & red chili marmalade on crostini.

Tomorrow is our final day in London before heading off to Dusseldorf.

We started our day with a trip to Coram’s Fields, which according to at least one London guidebook is a “Top 10” sight for children. The park/playground/petting zoo is owned and operated by a charitable foundation. As such, their signs clearly state that it’s “not a public park” therefore unaccompanied adults (presumably perverts, kidnappers, and those with a child fetish) aren’t allowed… however, as Michael Jackson could have made it in with Snuggie (or whatever he called his kid) and since the park isn’t very well guarded (it has signs, after all), this is probably a silver lining to his untimely departure. The park itself was modest but enjoyable – some playground equipment and a few animals (chickens, a rabbit, a couple of other birds, three goats, and a black sheep (every petting zoo has one).

Emerson playing in Coram's Fields

After the zoo, we walked over to Leicester Square (to visit the TKTS booth) and then on to the National Galley. We’d taken Emerson to the Ringling Museum at home when she was very small, but this was her first proper visit to view art. I wheeled her around in her stroller, and we looked at a handful of works that I thought might have some toddler appeal… you know, cheerful stuff like The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. Other hits included works by Joseph Wright of Derby (Caravaggio-worthy use of light), Claude Monet (where we compared his impressionistic work of the Thames and Houses of Parliament to our pictures from yesterday), and Vincent Van Gogh (“I see crabs and sunflowers, Daddy.”). After the museum, we ate lunch outside in the sunshine near Leicester Square.

Following lunch, we walked up Regent Street to visit Hamley’s, London’s five story wonderland of toys. I’d actually never been to Hamley’s in London before (though we visited one of its outlets for the first time in Dubai this past March). It really is a fairly amazing store, if a bit crowded and crazed. As kids, we both would have loved it, though I never visited London in childhood and (somewhat inexplicably) Libby never went on her many trips. In any case, I feared Emerson would simply meltdown from complete toddler overload, but she managed to keep (reasonably) calm and carry (very little) on. She was allowed to buy two new books and a couple of little animals to add to her collection.

Piccadilly Circus en route to Regent St.

For dinner, we picked up Mexican food at the Whole Foods (which now has a fairly awesome burrito station). Emerson also partook of a container of fresh guacamole (which she prefers to eat with a spoon rather than chips) and the better part of two pints of cherry tomatoes. After dinner, Emerson stayed with Gram (my mother) while Libby and I headed out to the theatre to see Michael Ball in Sweeny Todd, which provided our second dose of imagined perverts for the day (as much of the story hinges on the actions of a lecherous judge, who at least in this production seemed excessively interested in rubbing his crotch—lest the audience be uncertain of his motives). To be clear: Michael Ball—though Libby thought he played his part too broadly—did not rub his crotch… much to Libby’s disappointment.

I’ll leave you with that happy thought…

After a restful sleep, we awoke to clearing skies following an overnight rain.

We departed Allen House around 9:30am bound for the Sea Life London Aquarium located on the South Bank just across the Thames from Westminster. While the aquarium isn’t cheap (~$30 per person for adults, kids under 3 are free), it was actually much better than I expected given its location and general association with touristy claptrap (London Eye, Madame Tussaud’s, London Dungeon, etc.). The displays were fairly informative. Moreover, while the volume of sea life was modest (e.g., just a handful of penguins), the diversity of aquatic life and display quality were more than decent.

Sea Life London Aquarium (and London Eye) on South Bank

Libby and Emerson across from Houses of Parliament

After the aquarium, we walked back over Westminster Bridge, through St. James’s Park, around Buckingham Palace, and on to Victoria Station to pick up lunch (great selection). Following lunch, we walked a couple of blocks back down Buckingham Palace Road and visited the Royal Mews. Highlights of the Mews included the Windsor Grey horses and the really splendid Gold State Coach (c. 1760 – see photo below).

Gold State Coach @ Royal Mews

We left the Mews for Bayswater, as I needed to find a T-Mobile store to acquire my Internet access. Emerson fell asleep in my lap on the Tube ride across town. We exited at Bayswater, placed Emerson in her stroller, and headed down the block to Whitley’s mall (from which the T-Mobile was directly across the street). Libby also popped into the mall to visit the local Gymboree – since Emerson’s a member she can attend a class in the UK!

BTW, getting wireless broadband Internet access that works in both the UK and throughout Europe is a bit of a hassle. T-Mobile appears to be the best deal going from a single carrier. It’s about $15 for the wireless USB stick (or “dongle” – a word I much prefer), $10 for 7 consecutive days of access in the UK, and $10 for 50MB of data usage in Europe. All in all, I think it’s a good investment.

For dinner, we stopped by the Whole Wallet Foods (the world’s second largest… and always I highlight for me… Mom—having not been there before—was also suitably impressed) to pick-up dinner. I cooked gnocchi with a simple homemade tomato sauce and a shave of Parmesan (from WF’s swoon-worthy cheese room), which I paired with a green salad and some fresh bread. For dessert, we had tiramisu… good enough but not as good as mine! I also picked up a bottle of wine: a fairly inexpensive but highly quaffable Italian dry rose from Sicily.
Ah, la dolce vita in London…