London's Brilliant Parade

Just look at me, I'm having the time of my life

Or something quite like it

When I'm walking out and about in London's brilliant parade.

These lines come from English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello’s song “London’s Brilliant Parade.” I like this phrase! As my faithful readers know, London is my favorite city and I wish I had more time to discover and enjoy its endless attractions. I think “parade” is a great word for how everyone you see is constantly moving along in this lively city.

So far this summer, we’ve spent three separate days in London, commuting from our place in the ‘burbs. It always takes a while to drive to the station, park, ride the train, transfer to the appropriate Underground line, and walk to our final destination. But, it’s very doable as a day trip from our house near Brentwood.

Here are the highlights:

Winston Churchill the Artist

The Wallace Collection, a cool museum, is exhibiting 50 of Churchill’s paintings this summer and fall, and we thought it would be fun to see them. He obviously had other important things to do besides paint, but art was his hobby and a much-needed respite from the burdens of leadership. He is recalled as saying: “If it weren't for painting, I couldn’t live. I couldn’t bear the strain of things.” 

He took a break from his beloved hobby during WW2, only completing one painting during those years which he gifted to President Roosevelt (the first one below, a scene from Marrakech, Morocco where he loved to travel). But in his lifetime he created around 500 canvases. What do you think of these examples? For an amateur, I thought he was pretty good!

Marrakech, Morroco

the garden at Chartwell, the Churchill home

a study in bottles

the artist at work

London is a Dining Destination

We enjoy trying a well-regarded restaurant whenever we visit London. The possibilities are endless, and you can get any kind of world cuisine there. As old people, we tend to be “early bird diners” so we often seek out lunch instead of dinner. On two recent visits, we went for Indian the first time (Tamarind Mayfair) and French the second (Bouchon Racine). Both were outstanding. 

a salad of many flavors at Tamarind

all these delicious Indian dishes!

Robin's "starter" at French lunch

...and my chocolate mousse dessert

speaking of dessert.....

This was a WOW

And while Robin was branching out beyond the Churchill exhibit to enjoy some of the other art at the Wallace Collection, I ran down to the awesome Fortnum & Mason to renew my acquaintance with some of my favorite gourmet groceries. But wait — what's this? A new treat called the Whoppalossus???  How could I not try this thing? Official description: a thick dark chocolate shell with layers of crumbly oat biscuit, jammy raspberry marshmallow and pure Italian pistachio paste. It has lasted a couple weeks as one should only eat a sliver at a time, but I rated it a 10 out of 10.

Cole Porter’s “High Society”

I love seeing musicals in the West End, London’s theatre district. Alas, several appealing newer shows don’t open until September, and we’ll be gone by then. However we are fans of Cole Porter’s music (American songwriter, 1891-1964), and we were able to get tickets to High Society starring Helen George (aka Trixie for fellow "Call the Midwife” fans). It was a terrific production and we loved it. 

On our next visit to London, I’ve agreed to accompany Robin to a lecture at an organization called The Royal Institution on the topic of “In Search of Now: The Mystery & Science of the Present Moment” which will “bring together the latest thinking in quantum mechanics, neuroscience, and more to ask “What is Now”? Hmm, better have a light meal and no wine beforehand. I’ll let you know if I stay awake for the 90-minute duration! But seriously, the mission of this group, to connect ordinary people with the world of science, sounds like a great one.

Green Spaces

It seems to rain every time we visit London, but we were a bit luckier with the weather yesterday. After visiting a historic estate on the north side of the city, Kenwood House, we took a walk through a park called Hampstead Heath. One of this city’s most charming attributes is its wealth of open space, from Richmond to Regent's to Hyde Park and many more. According to Wikipedia, London is 40% public green space, including 3,000 parks and totaling 35,000 acres. Hampstead Heath at around 800 acres is one of the larger parks and very scenic. It's also a setting often found in literature, such as Dracula, David Copperfield, and Keats' Ode to a Nightingale. It was a pleasure to walk through, and catch the skyline view from atop its Parliament Hill. 

We have a number of excursions planned to some of the incredible, jaw-dropping scenic places in the UK, so probably won't be spending more time commuting into London to walk in the park — we have plenty of parks near our place in Brentwood and we’ve enjoyed exploring those with our dogs — but it’s nice to know about them. 

Next: we go to the country, including the New Forest (new to us too!) and then our old haunts in Oxfordshire.

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