Sunny Day?

It's so ironic that a girl who loves the sun as much as I do has moved to Seattle and is spending one of Seattle's hotter months in London. Tomorrow's high? 60. So much for summer. But this weekend, I'll be visiting warmer climes, to be sure, because I'm going to Madrid! A friend from Riverside is from there and I will be visiting him and his beautiful city for a few days. I'm very excited to visit a new country, and even more excited to feel some sun on my brow!

Of Hats and Harrod's

After yesterday's trip to the British Museum, I went to the Victoria and Albert museum to see a few of their galleries. I ended up spending most of my time in the Fashion and Asian galleries, which were organized beautifully. 

Early in the evening, I met with K. and her husband M. to grab a cup of coffee. Coffee soon turned into a picnic at Hyde Park, which required food! On our way to Hyde Park, we stopped at Hotel Chocolat and grabbed a few types of chocolate to try (mainly salted-almond truffles and a mini fruit-and-nut bar.) Along with our sandwich from Paul's, we had the perfect early dinner. 

We watched people in their paddle boats and made snarky comments about a few people in row boats who couldn't figure out how to row them in a straight line. 

Then we made our way to Harrod's, which was a blast. I was amazed at the millinery section. One day, I will totally wear a head-piece like this to a wedding. Just watch me.  We had a blast looking at the housewares section, the food-halls, and the amazing clothes.

We ended our evening at Ladurée, which has a small cafe tucked away inside of Harrod's. I tried their bergamot macaron, as well as my favorite, the pistachio, along with some rose tea.  

It was a wonderful day -- I had such a good time with H. and M. They live in New Jersey, and their hospitality may be what gets me to finally visit New York!

A Garden Sunday

Today, I went with a group of colleagues to the Royal Botanic Gardens, otherwise known as Kew Gardens. We got there around 1pm and it stayed rainless (except for a single drop that landed on my nose) our entire stay! The gardens were massive; one could spend an entire day there and not see everything. There were many, many parents with children, and while it was annoying to trip over toddlers at every turn, had I children, I would have been out with them as well. It's not really a proper 'garden,' but a giant park with labeled trees and shrubs everywhere.

I spent a lot of time in the Tropical and Temperate Climate conservatories, originally built in the 19th century. I've always associated conservatories with giant British houses, probably because the only time I encountered them was when I watched Masterpiece Theatre as a young girl. These conservatories are great Victorian structures of hand-blown glass and steel that stand out like space ships in the green habitat. The one on the left houses all the palm trees and tropical plants. One can even climb up a spiral staircase and walk around on a second story balcony to see the tops of the palms at eye level.

It was during our picnic today that I had my first Scotch Egg. Apparently it's traditional picnic food here and meant to be eaten cold. It was quite good, although I only had half since everyone brought more food than we needed. I can imagine that it would be a good and easy snack to bring on a day's walk in the country. I contributed crackers and black olive tapenade, bread, and an interesting goat's milk cheddar.

My two favorite moments of the day came when I caught whiffs of two smells I associate with my life in California. The temperate greenhouse was home to many plants that are in my apartment complex. K. will be loath to find out that there were many examples of the ferns that once shaded our patio. (These ferns shed their spores twice a year all over our patio, creating a fine brown film that got on everything. They are very pretty, but really gross.) Anyway, I was walking down the path and smelled the wonderful scent of jasmine -- the familiar smell of a Los Angeles spring. Where ever I live I will plant jasmine by my patio. There is nothing better than relaxing in the evening to the sweet aroma of those little white flowers. The second smell was the odor of pine trees as we walked along the section of the park dedicated to conifers. I actually hugged the Oregon Douglass Fir, much to the chagrin of my more-proper friends!

By God and Saint Alban!

After raining for the entire month of July and some of August, the weather here has finally turned sunny in a way that only England can. My friend B. and I took a short train ride to the medieval city of St. Alban's in Hertfordshire. We walked around the city, which has some amazing Tudor buildings like the one on the right. There was a city-wide farmer's market in the city centre, so B. and I picked up some freshly pickled herrings from the fishmonger to go with our lunch of bread and cheese.

Then we made our way to the Cathedral, which boasts some of the biggest remaining English wall paintings (from the 13th century!), which are still visible. We spent a few hours wandering around the Cathedral, which has served as a hub for so much medieval history. The Magna Carta was first read at St. Albans; Matthew Paris, a famous medieval illuminator lived in the Abbey; the Peasant's Revolt in 1381 was led in part by men from St. Albans. To say nothing of Saint Alban himself!

After our tour of the city, we started our 10 mile walk, which was the main reason we visited St. Albans in the first place! Our walk took us through the forest outside of St. Albans and through the property of a manor house and to the ruins of Old Gorhambury House where Sir Francis Bacon lived and Queen Elizabeth I visited. We sampled some of the best blackberries I've had since I've been here (yum!) and saw many wild pheasants and a whole herd of black sheep!

It was a long, but satisfying day that ended with a big group of friends meeting at a local Ethiopian place for a veritable feast!

A Big Realization

I think I've figured out why I didn't like Notre Dame Cathedral. I went to Westminster Abbey today to do research for my dissertation. Part of a chapter will (hopefully) be about the Abbey, but I've been really trepidatious about braving the summer crowds so I can do my research. When one steps out of the tube stations that surround Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and the Abbey, one is immediately accosted by tour groups crowding the sidewalks, people taking photographs of themselves with Big Ben as a backdrop, and general rudeness that overtakes people when they need to see the coveted tourist locale that they have witnessed in countless postcards, paintings, and movies. Today, as I wandered towards Westminster Abbey, I realized that this part of London is incredibly beautiful, but I doubt it the bumbling tour groups noticed as they listened to their yelling guides waving their colored banners to keep all their ducks in a row (or roughly amoeba-shaped glob, rather).

I bought by ticket and walked up to information, ready for them to tell me that they didn't care I was working on my doctoral thesis and send me on my merry way. "Is it okay if I take notes while I'm here? I'm working on my thesis and I'd like to see Henry's chapel," I told the worn-out lady and the bursar who stood next to her--batting my eyes the whole while. Sadly, she told me that nobody gets to see the chapel at all. I think that she felt a little sorry when she saw my crestfallen face. I really was upset; I hadn't realized that the chapel was off limits.

Then the bursar chimed in and told me he'd take me! So I had my own personal tour of most of the king's tombs. Usually one is only allowed to walk along the outside of the tomb area and stare up at all of them, but I was able to get up close to all of them away from prying eyes. The bursar was great: we exchanged information about the tombs and he took me up the spiral staircase to Henry's chapel. If you're down below, you don't realize that there's another level at that point which houses a chapel. It was quiet and beautiful. The sun was just coming in the windows and reflected off the brass effigies. The bursar even let me take pictures!!!!! It's a big no-no in the cathedral, but I was able to snap away, even with people grumbling about it below. It was a magical, holy place in the middle of all the bustle. There was a perfect view down the nave of the church to the stained glass windows at the back. My favorite part was on the bottom level, where I was able to take a very close look at Henry's tomb. He has a wooden effigy that is breathtaking to see.

But my tour didn't end there! The bursar took me around the front of the big altar and let me look at the majestic golden altarpiece that covers the front of the church. It was brilliant. Amazing. As the bursar and I said goodbye, I wanted to hug him for my special morning. I spent the rest of my time there trying to sketch out what I was, much to the annoyance of all the people walking around me, but at that point, I was so happy, I didn't mind the tourists!

Marlyebourne High Street, etc.

I had a wonderful time today exploring a whole new area of London: Marlyebourne, which is a 2 mile walk from my dorm. H. and I went for brunch at Le Pan Quotidien (even though it's a chain, their 'bread basket' can't be beat for value and yumminess) and walked down Marlyebourne High Street perusing the shops.

We found a farmer's market along the way, which was incredibly impressive. Every king of meat was accounted for, even game (mmmmmm...), 3 cheese vendors, a person selling fresh eggs, and 3 people selling bread and homemade flour, in addition to all the vegetable stalls. It made me smile that I could probably do most of my weekly shopping there if I lived in London for a longer period. It had everything one needs for amazing, good quality meals. H. and I picked up a fresh loaf of bread, carrots, an eggplant/aubergine, bell peppers, and amazing-looking fresh mushrooms for a ratatouille, and we stopped at the Fromagerie and found a wonderful goat cheese to go with our bread. (I just had our dinner, and it was a wonderful feast of fresh produce, with melon for dessert!)

We walked around the shops and I finally spent my birthday money that my mother and father gave me buying a pair of shoes for autumn (like the ones to the left, but with a lower heel and in brown) from Shoon. These will look great with pants or with my usual 4os-inspired skirts, so I'm very happy to have them, especially since they're really nicely made, with beautiful leather. I love shoe shopping over here much more since London gets more shoes from Italian shoemakers than the States do.

After we were done shopping we went to Regent's Park and walked around. If bird flu ever hits, all I can say is to stay away from that place. I saw an impressive number of waterfowl there, but the pigeons were everywhere and particularly nasty. There were feathers all over the grass. H. and I managed to find a quiet bench where the ducks and shade were plentiful and we read for an hour. Just sitting on my bench I saw: Mute Swans, a stray Whooper Swan, Tufted Ducks, Bean Geese, Shelducks, Pochard, Red-Crested Pochard (which was the cutest duck ever), and my favorite bird of the day, a Black Swan. (Please visit this site for pictures of the other waterfowl mentioned above.)

It was a wonderful and relaxing way to spend a Sunday!

Sunday, Lovely Sunday

On Sunday, my friend from W.B.L. and I went to down to Richmond, a town in the southwest of London. It's a posh town, with upscale stores like Max Mara and such, but B. and I ignored those in favor of seeing Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal on the big screen. Even though I consider myself quite the medieval movie buff, I had never seen this film, so I was really excited to get the chance. I now understand why everyone wanted me to see it so much! I really liked Bergman's portrayal of the over-zealous clergy, as well as his casting of Death. I want to see it again before I make any other judgments, however.

After our movie screening, we walked along the Thames, which borders the town. Edwardian and Victorian mansions face the river. The path was filled with bikers, runners, and walkers enjoying the views of Egyptian Geese and Canada Geese puttering along amongst the rowboats. Had we world enough and time, we would have gone to Hampton Court, but we settled for views of the majestic Ham House.

After we finished our walk, we stopped at the White Cross Pub for a 1/2 pint of cider, as the Thames slowly rose to high tide, covering most of the sidewalks near the water's edge. Then we caught a matinée of Lady Chatterley and afterwards ate leftover bread and cheese for dinner whilst trying to avoid getting pecked at by hungry geese. (I highly recommend Lady Chatterley to everyone who liked the book. I've seen it twice and it's a truly beautiful film.)

I'd post pictures of my adventures, but my silly camera has decided to ignore my computer (or vice versa) so my photos will have to wait for now.

Recap of Paris, Le Fin!

This is the last in my recaps of my trip to Paris. To pick up where I left off, on Saturday night my professor invited us to his abode and we had a local aperitif with pate and then made our way across the Seine to a wonderful restaurant right across from Notre Dame. He and his wife were very generous and wonderful to K. and me--he really has changed my scholarly life. I think K. and I are going to have him over for dinner when we all return to the States this fall.

But back to my recap! On Sunday, K. decided that we should go to Le Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (That National Museum of Natural History). It was one of the strangest experiences I've had this summer. We walked through the gardens, which were beautiful and very orderly -- much different than the planned chaos of the Chelsea Physic Garden. At the front of the museum, we were greeted by a dragon made from recycled cans and plastic (click on the photo to embiggen). It was really cool, not to mention an awesome use of the plastic bags (flames!) that fly about.

The real treat of the day, however, was the paleontology exhibit. We walked up the stairs into a turn of the century iron building (of which there are many throughout England and France). Once we looked in the door, I almost gasped: the room is filled to the brim with skeletons. There's really not a good descriptive phrase I can come up with to give you an idea of the shock I felt seeing so many angled-white bones, seemingly floating about. Along the walls of the room were more skeletons as well as many jars of various body parts, dead things, and Victorian oddities (like a one-eyed cat). Each of these had a carefully written sign that looked as if someone wrote it for the original exhibit and hadn't changed it since. It was a strange, and eye-opening experience -- I think I came away with a much better understanding of the Victorian obsession with science and death. There were three floors of specimens to go through. The above photo gives some idea of the first floor's interior (picture just as many skeletons on the other side of the first floor as well. To view some of the more gruesome pictures in the set, click on the 'photo' links to the right.

A Most Satisfactory Day

I went to the Tate Britain today with a friend I've made who lives at my dorm. She's also a graduate student and specializes in 18th century history at Harvard. We've spent many a night talking in our kitchen about our experiences living abroad.

We walked along the south bank of the Thames near the theatre district, which is a place I rarely go in London. It was a beautiful afternoon, especially when I spotted Big Ben through the trees and Westminster Abbey just down the road. It was nice to be in the throng of tourists, all excited to be in London, instead of the usual somber Londoner.

The Tate Britain was an an unexpected treat. Everywhere I turned there were paintings I recognized from my childhood. They have an amazing collection of the Pre-Raphaelites' paintings, like the one on the right. (Mom, we HAVE to go there together, you'd love it!) Four days before I leave for the States they're putting on a giant exhibition of all their paintings. I have to see it before I leave!! There was also a special exhibit called 1807: William Blake, Slavery, and the Radical Mind that had some of Blake's art and some wonderful examples of abolitionist books. I was introduced to the artwork of Richard Dadd, who painted the image on the left. I'd love to read a biography on him, but I haven't found a good one yet. There was also an exhibit on Turner, who I didn't give enough credit to, I think; I really liked his more abstract watercolors a lot.

Then my friend and I came home and made a wonderful dinner of pasta and veggies, with a caprese salad on the side. Mmmm.

Recap of Paris, Part Six

Instead of boring you with more details of my Saturday afternoon in Paris, it can be summed up in two pictures. Sitting on the Seine while listening to street musicians, overlooking Notre Dame, and eating ice-cream from Berthillon. (Caramel for K. and grapefruit for me.)


We were stupid and went to the Jewish district on Saturday on the search for falafel. Don't ask me why I forgot it was Shabbat. It was so sad to walk along along the streets and see all the shops closed. Luckily, Chez Marianne was open and K. and I could pick up our falafel and big dill pickles from their takeout window and sit on a closed storefront to eat our lunch. Mmmmmm....

Recap of Paris, Part Cinq

Well, it seems that my years-long, Proustian recap has finally reached my second day in Paris! Don't worry, dear readers, you aren't missing much of my travails in London. I've been working, reading, and sleeping (in that order), with not much time for anything else except a movie here and there. This weekend I will have updates though -- I'm planning outings!

So Saturday morning K. and decided to continue our tourist-y streak and went to visit the zoo that is Notre Dame Cathedral. It was beautiful, especially the intricate carvings on the outside, but honestly, the tremendous lines, crowding, crowds, and flashes from cameras made my time there a little uninspiring. You know how I get: all riled up about something on principal and K. has to listen to me hold forth on my topic of choice while he tries to hush me since we're in a place of God?! It wasn't that bad, but it was close. There's really not much to say about Notre Dame other than it's a mammoth, beautiful church, with a really great sculpture of Saint Denis (he's the one the angels are staring at saying 'dude, where's your head?'). I am in a MOOD tonight, folks!

After we toured Notre Dame, we visited the Crypt Archeologique de Parvis de Notre Dame / The Archaeological Crypt of Notre Dame Square. It's only about 100 feet from the church, so it was easy to find once we knew we were looking for something that resembled a subway entrance (it is a crypt, after all). It's an unassuming little museum that ended up being the highlight of our day! It takes you underneath Notre Dame to the archaeological excavations that have uncovered ruins from the Roman period right on up to the 19th century. Most of the museum is constructed around the excavations themselves, so you really get a feel for how different parts of history are literally on top of each other. I really enjoyed this museum: it wasn't expensive, it was small enough to be manageable in a short time, and it was well-developed and thought-out.

Next up, K. and I search for the perfect ice-cream cone in Paris!

Recap of Paris, Part Quatre

Isn't learning the French cardinal numbers fun? I kid, I kid.

On Friday evening, I decided we should visit the Eiffel Tour, or as I insisted on calling it to bug K: La Tour Eiffel!!! I think we might have seen it from a long distance away as we were walking through Paris earlier in the day, but it looked so dinky and small that I was very disappointed, so much so that I really was expecting something really lame. We walked out of the Metro (the Paris version of the Tube) and didn't see the damned thing anywhere. We started walking in what we thought might be the correct direction, but other than the ubiquitous street cafes and statued squares, we didn't see anything of note. The all of a sudden we saw a few people with cameras leaning against the side of one of the white-stoned buildings. And then we saw it -- in a fit of lights that looked more Las Vegas than Paris, La Tour Eiffel! (See, doesn't it sound better that way?) The strobe and search lights served to be our Star of Wonder for the evening, and eventually we made it to the park that stretches for at least a quarter mile past the Eiffel Tower. There were many people there with picnics, vendors selling cheap wine from their backpacks, and people hawking cheap Eiffel Tower key-chains and the like.

I couldn't get over how beautiful the Eiffel Tower was at night. And how big! I must have seen it from very far away, because standing near it made all of Paris look tiny. The shot on the right was taken pretty far away and it *still* filled up most of the frame. It truly is a wonder of engineering and quite beautiful when the strobe lights die down and its normal night-time lights illuminate the dark sky. K. and I were both filled with a very childlike glee as we walked home that night--not just that we'd seen something as iconic as the Eiffel Tower, but in this age of bombastic sites, it still held up and was worth getting pestered by wine vendors every three seconds. Plus, I am now the proud owner of an Eiffel Tower key-chain that someone accidentally dropped. I'm Ricky the Raccoon: I can spot shiny things from 30 paces.
In honor of La Tour Eiffel, K. wants to get an Eames rocker with Eiffel Tower legs. Those are some nice gams on that chair!

Recap of Paris, Part Trois

After we finally said goodbye to the Museum of the Middle Ages, K. and I went back to Le Marais to explore the patisserie near our hotel. It was there I spied one of my culinary quests: MACARONS! I know, these look nothing like the macaroons I grew up with: dense, coconut cookies that (if they're made correctly) have a hint of moisture in the center. I love these cookies, especially when half of the cookie is dipped in bitter chocolate.

I had seen pictures of French macarons before, and don't they look heavenly? The colors! And they're sandwich cookies -- one of (w0)man kind's greatest inventions, I think. I pointed at a green one and told K. that instead of a pastry, I was getting a macaron.

I was not disappointed. I bought a 'macaron pistache' and ran up the three flights to our room to taste it. There were 4 distinct parts to the cookie: the sandwich portion was made from a very light dough on the inside, and the dough had cooked smooth on the outside. When you bit into it, little fault-lines appeared on the top of the cookie. The filling was made from a thin layer of creme as well as a layer of chopped pistachios. Even though it had so many layers, the cookie was still light to touch and not overly sweet on the tongue. All the textures were perfect together, and the pistachio was a perfect, nutty complement to the sweetness of the creme filling.

Everybody's favorite domestic goddess, Nigella Lawson has a recipe for Pistachio Macarons! Leslie! Jasmine! Kevin! I'm calling you out!

Realization of the Day:

Nettles hurt.

Ouch! I received my first nettle sting today. Nettles are everywhere here (really, whole fields of the little suckers) and the little plants look like mint. I bent down to pick some and received a most unwelcome surprise. My thumb still hurts!

Today I went on an eight mile hike in the county of Hampshire, in the south of England with the other intern that shares my position at the WBL. This year the powers that be picked two interns instead of just one, so I now have a partner in crime (and a very nice one at that)! She happens to have gone to college with Greg, one of my dearest friends. Since I met him when I went on a trip during high school, I've never talked to anyone else who knows him--it was so nice to be able to talk to another person who knew Greg!

We took a train from London to a village called Mortimer and walked to the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, which is now the town of Silchester. There's an amazing ruined amphitheatre outside of town, and the city walls are still intact, so one can walk along their (now grassy) top. We had a snack at the base of a giant oak tree, walked along many pastures and streams, and even stumbled onto a pheasant and game-bird farm when we took a detour away from our planned route (read: we got lost).

We spent part of our afternoon going through St. Mary's Chuch in Silchester. It has some wonderful remnants of medieval wall-paintings of flowers (photo to your left), possibly painted as early as the 13th century. It was a nice, quiet parish church, with a 400 old yew tree that shaded many of the old tombstones. It was great seeing the church with an art historian, especially since I've always been interested in the history of medieval churches in England. This church also had a wonderful wooden ceiling, but none of the guides mentioned if it was a Tudor one or not (it looked as if it might be).

One of my favorite parts of England are the little villages filled with wonderful remnants of the medieval and Roman periods one just runs into! We ended our day with a much more modern stop at the pub at the next village over, called Bramley Then, we caught the train back to London! After all was said and done, we walked about 8 miles.