finishing in london late june 2011

monday

we left hotel dina to arrive at fiumicino for our 0930 departure to london via alitalia...while checking in we ran into an encounter at the check-in counter...an italian woman kept arguing about "nothing"...and her reason, i have the right because this is a democracy....and all the alitalia rep wanted to do was help her...we met the serbian national basketball team in the concourse...i walked up to one of them and ask if they were volleyball players...they were that tall and that insulted...shared our table with a lady and her son...she was a teacher from jordan heading for malaga..she was very level headed and shared her insights about the arab spring and how it wouldn't hit jordan...

i sat next to an IT rep who was headed for a business meeting in london...he wasn't sitting in first class because he only works on software for terminals and not for planes...

we arrived in london and took a taxi to hotel elysee because it was cheaper...we left our luggage to head for harrod's...the lobby was crowded with people checking in and checking out...and no air conditioning so it felt tropical...we had lunch at harrod's and, after shopping for some foodstuffs, we returned to elysee and checked in...

we caught the central line to holborn and headed in search of war horse at new london theatre...we had dinner at the prince of wales pub, good old fish and chips and a pint of bitters...what can i say about a play that elevates a child's story to a magic evening of theatre, puppetry matched  with fine acting...how can spielberg make this into a movie with actual real horses...

tuesday

after breakfast in the hotel, we headed for saatchi gallery and its sculpture exhibit of contemporary european sculptors (shape of things to come)...one of my favorites was milky way by bjorn dahlem; also enjoyed reisen (giants) by martin honert...we had lunch in the mess, the gallery's restaurant...kept it light (gazpacho with poilane bread) as we were eventually headed for bill curley's chocolate shop...did a little shopping at peter jones which was beginning its summer sales in prep for fall wear...

we walked over to bill's place and overindulged in the chocolate treats...i ordered three pieces of chocolate, tomato-black olives, ginger-caramel, and japanese black vinegar...the ginger-caramel had the flavor most truthful to the descriptors...i tried two more chocolates, orange balsamic and juniperberry-cassis...the orange balsamic was orangey while the juniperberry-cassis was more chocolate... tried a wickedly decadent chocolate dessert called maché green tea chocolate entremet with its fillings of creme brulee, seville orange marmalade, chocolate sponge cake encased by chocolate mousse.

we returned to the hotel and got ready for the night performance of kevin spacey's richard iii at old vic via waterloo station...after picking up our tickets and having dinner at waterloo bar and grille...the play was a tour de force for kevin spacey...the only weakness was the performance of the american actors...the play was sponsored by the bridge project which brings american actors to england to learn the way of the bard...

wednesday

we began the day with a visit to john soanes's home (the original hoarder) who has stuff from all his works, even a sarcophagus (seti i's) the british museum passed on...there is a great collection of paintings and prints like canaletto and hogarth's a rake's progress...if you're ever in london, it's a treasure to visit...from soanes's home we headed to ottolenghi motcomb, passing the iranian embassy...when we entered motcomb street, i was overcome with the savory smells of the street (amazing)...the street has ottolenghi, waitrose grocers, and valerie, all creating smells that intoxicate the nose...we entered ottolenghi and were told there was some seating in the courtyard...i ordered the three salad and main dish of beet-plum salad, broccoli salad, a rice salad, and fritters.

we had dinner at flavors of india, a decent indian restaurant near paddington...from there we headed to regent's park for the open air performance of john gay's beggar's opera, the basis for three penny opera and bobby darin's hit, mack the knife...the play was bawdy...the leads were perfect, good looking and fine actors...and the performing space was perfect...especially on a great london evening...it was a perfect ending to a trip that took us across northern italy and onto london...