Paul & Libby’s World of Travel

Today is our last day in London and final day/night in the Allen House…

Before heading out for the day, we stopped down in the office to see Julie to confirm our travel arrangements for the morning and settle up our bill at the Allen House. According to Julie, they’re still not sure what’s going to happen to the Allen House long term after all of the timeshare leases expire, but the speculation is that it will be sold as flats (which makes a lot of financial sense I’m sure). She said that she’d email us in September or October to let us know, but I very much suspect this will be the end of an era for us at Allen House.

We spent the day in Kensington visiting the Science Museum and Natural History Museum (again). Both of these venues are really excellent, highly educational, and a favorite of Emerson.

After walking home from the museums, I spent the late afternoon packing for our onward journey around the United Kingdom and Ireland. We had dinner at Nando’s and tried to go to bed relatively early (as we had to leave the Allen House by 5am for our flight to Jersey).

Our mission for this morning was to visit the exhibition of Matisse’s cut outs on display at the Tate Modern. From what I’ve read, it’s been a blockbuster show. And, I have to admit, I was very excited to see it as I’ve always been fond of both the artist and these particular works within his oeuvre.

I like Henri Matisse for much the same reason that I like Frans Hals or Terry Frost: his work is joyful. You have the sense that making art made him happy. What’s more, looking at his art makes me happy. I appreciate work that is more academic, constrained, or even disturbing. But, here’s my truth — I live a pretty examined life already… I don’t need art to serve as an unhappy meditation on the complexities, contradictions, or controversies of life. No, I prefer art that makes me smile…

Matisse? Well, he does that. This is especially true of his cut outs that were created toward the end of his life when he was infirm and unable to paint as he once did. Yet, he continued to innovate, enhance his technique, and literally carve these constructions out of color.

Needless to say, the show was excellent.

Afterwards, we strolled through some of the Tate’s other galleries. In particular, I sought out the hard edge / minimalist works and really enjoyed the Ellsworth Kelly room.

Once we finished at the Tate, we strolled over the Millennium Bridge that connects Southwark with The City. We picked up a lunch of take away sandwiches and ate on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral. After lunch we visited the church, which is the first time we’ve gone in about 15 years.

Of course, at £16 per person it’ll likely be 15 years or more before we go back (as it’s really not that great). In all sincerity, I think it’s actually a little shameful to charge for admission to a house of worship, especially such an exorbitant amount. It’s one of the things I appreciate about my Catholic heritage, as we don’t generally do this even for far greater churches like St. Peter’s in Rome.

After our visit to St. Paul’s, we walked home to the Allen House. That’s about 5 miles, not including the mile or so we’d already walked. But, it was a great way to see the city: along Fleet Street and the Strand. We made a detour to Covent Garden to eat a delicious confection called an Eton Mess, which consisted of strawberries, whipped cream, and a crushed up merengue all mixed together.

We continued our walk through Trafalgar Square, down Pall Mall (passing Princess Margaret’s daughter on the street), and into Green Park. From there we passed through Wellington Arch and by Apsley House before entering Hyde Park to continue on to Allen House.

For dinner, I brought in takeout from Whole Foods.

Today’s plan: take Emerson to see her first, proper show in the West End.

We explored our options online as concluded that our best choice (really only choice) for a kid-friendly matinee was Wicked, which Libby and I had both seen previously. To use our time most efficiently, we agreed to split up this morning with me heading to the TKTS booth in Leicester Square while Libby and Emerson went to the playground in Holland Park.

I took the Tube to Tottenham Court Rd and walked down Charing Cross. I noticed that Foyle’s mega-bookstore moved to a new location (which can only be an improvement), but I didn’t stop in despite my strong desire to do so. I also passed by a Chipotle (second that we’ve seen), which seems like a good addition to London’s fast dining options (though I’m not sure how well it will go over with the Brits as Mexican remains fairly “exotic” compared to in the States). After securing our tickets, I returned via the Piccadilly Line and grabbed lunch for the girls on High St. Ken.

In the early afternoon, we left for Wicked.

How was the show? Meh… neither Libby nor I love Wicked. Despite its popularity, it has some issues. We also had understudies for both of the lead roles, though we actually thought the Elphaba was more interesting than the portrayal we saw in New York. In contrast, the Glinda was kind of weak and frankly a little too unattractive for the role. Emerson enjoyed it well enough and was perfect throughout, but I think she vacillated between bored (a sentiment I shared) and occasionally scared by some of the special effects. After nearly 1.5 hours (a long first act), we opted to leave at intermission because none of us really wanted to stay.

On the way back to Allen House, we stopped in a new German bakery outside the High St. Ken. station. It’s called Kamps, and it’s very good. They actually serve Frikadeller in sandwich form, which–while a popular family dinner from my childhood–is a dish I’ve never seen “in the wild.” They also have amazingly good Cinnamon wuppies (buns), which are called a “zimt wuppie” in German and for which Kamps seems to be fairly well known in Germany.

For dinner, we had decent yet relatively uninspired pizza from Pizza Express.

Today’s plan: visit the ZLS London Zoo.

Unlike the prior evening, we awoke well rested and ready to start the day. We departed the Allen House around 9am and made it to the zoo a little after opening at 10am.

The zoo is always a fan favorite with Emerson (and Libby). It makes for a nice day out, but it’s a little pricey for the three of us at nearly £60 (~$100). That said, it is the world’s oldest scientific zoo is generally considered to be one of the best too.

After the zoo, we walked home through Regent’s Park, down Baker Street, briefly along Oxford Circus, and then cut across Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens — somewhere between a 3-4 mile walk. On foot is the best way to experience London…

We returned to the ever popular Whole Foods for dinner.

Last night, I didn’t manage to fall asleep until quite late — err jet lag. We also sort of lacked a plan for the day; so, we ended up not doing much at all. This was actually fine (or better) with me given the craziness of the few weeks and immediate days leading up to the trip.

We spent a relaxing morning in the Allen House and then went out to lunch at Nando’s, a fast casual restaurant featuring Portuguese-inspired grilled chicken dishes. The quality was relatively high, Emerson enjoyed it, and it was reasonably affordable (£30 for the three of us). It’s a good edition to our choices on High Street Kensington (though Nando’s has locations all over London).

Emerson at Nando’s:

In the afternoon, Emerson and Libby went to the playground. I went shopping for materials for dinner at Whole Foods. I opted for a simple Italian meal: potato gnocchi w/ red sauce and grated Parm-Reg cheese, crusty bread, and some gorgonzola dulce as a spread. I paired this with a Spanish dry rose… nice for the relatively warm summer evening.

I also spent a little time working in the evening, using a MiFi device that I’d acquired for £50 (including 6GB data usage) at EE the day before. While one might find working on vacation objectionable, I actually sort of enjoyed it today. It supported the charade of the day: living as Londoners doing perfectly ordinary stuff.

View from our flat: