Meanderings

Monday, May 16, 2011

Yesterday was another very quiet day. That's why we didn't post. There was really nothing to report. We both visited the outdoor art show by Hyde Park that Tim visited last week. After a nice roast beef dinner at a 250 year old pub we did some shopping on Oxford Street and then went to Evensong at Westminster Abbey. Evensong is done a bit differently at Westminster then at St. Paul's. At St.Paul's we sat in seats the same as if we were at a regular worship service. We could see the choir stalls from our seats. At Westminster Abbey we were seated beyond the choir stalls (about where the Queen sat at William & Kate's wedding). On a previous visit we had actually sat in the stalls. This time we did not get there soon enough to sit in the stalls so we could not see the choir. We were able to see the other celebrants. The acoustics were much better at Westminster so the choir, again boys and men, sounded incredible. After church we took the bus towards our apartment. We had to change buses at Victoria Station. As we were coming up to Victoria Station we saw a church we had seen before but did not know what it was. So, before changing buses, we checked it out. It was Westminster Cathedral, the main Catholic cathedral in London. There was an organ concert going on as we walked about the Cathedral. We never did figure out how old the Cathedral is and were a bit taken back by how modern some parts of it seemed. There were two grave sites inside the Cathedral for two Cardinals who had served Westminster. Interestingly, each had a red hat, symbolic of Cardinals, suspended from the ceiling over the graves. The rest of the evening was spent reading in our apartment.

Today was a frustrating day. We went back to the Saatchi Art Gallery in Chelsea that we had tried to visit last week. It was closed again today for a private event. We were told that the gallery is closed to the public for most of the month of May. After another nice pub lunch we went to the Chelsea Physics Garden. It was also closed. We were two unhappy campers to say the least. We decided that there was no way Harrods could be closed so we headed there. Along the way we passed by two small restaurants that we had not noticed on our way to the garden. Both were Gordon Ramsey restaurants. One was very much more upscale than the other. While more expensive than most pubs they were not outrageously expensive. The menus were a bit more upscale as well.

For those of you unfamiliar with Harrods, it is one of the great department stores in the world. Their motto use to be "if we don't have it, you don't need it."
Up until last year it was owned by the Al-Fayad's. Dodi Fayad was who Princess Diana was with when she was killed. We usually head for the Food Halls first. Today was no exception. They have the finest fresh products from all over the world. It is a treat to walk around looking at all of different items. You are not going to believe this, but new to the Food Halls since we were last there is a Krispy Kreme donut shop. We are not convince that this is a good thing. Feeling much better about life in general, we left Harrods and had a nice walk through Hyde Park. While walking through Hyde Park we saw the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and the statue of Peter Pan. The fountain was in a lovely and peaceful setting. Peter Pan was surrounded by shrubs and gorgeous flowers in bloom. There were several rather pointed comments from Lynda about Tim liking Peter Pan because, like Peter Pan, Tim refuses to grow up. Tim was so offended he stomped his feet, stuck out his bottom lip and pouted for the next 15 minutes.

Have we told you that we have discovered a gelato store on Portobello Rd. that sells the best gelato this side of Italy. We mention this because after dinner tonight we went there for gelato. What a wonderful way to end the day.

The pictures are of the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and Peter Pan.