Category London
Ballet and knick-knacks
What came of the weekend? Well, one highlight was an evening at the ballet. The program featured a new dance by a guy whose name I forgot but who normally does Beyoncé music videos and is generally considered a “big deal”. The piece was made for Natalia Osipova who, as the reigning prima of the […]
Does this count as adding to the “patina of age”?
Dang it. Apparently this is what happens when your 18th Century china taps the granite countertop in just the wrong way. I could be devastated and flagellate myself for not having wrapped it in bubble tape or hung it safely on the wall. But that would be no fun and besides I need something to […]
People in town!
Two different sets of out-of-towners, two fun nights of London theatre 🙂 Everybody’s Talking About Jamie on Friday with Derek. And A Comedy of Errors on Saturday with the Keyes padres. And since the rest of the weekend was spent working in front of a computer instead of enjoying the beautiful spring weather, I’m grateful […]
Harry Potter!
I figure it wouldn’t do to have lived in London for several years without visiting the Harry Potter studios — if for no other reason than to be able to tell the nieces and nephews about it. Tickets are devilish hard to get hold of, so today’s excursion is the fruit of planning done months […]
Finally inside St. Paul’s
I have this philosophy that I should never see absolutely everything there is to see in a place. Setting aside that it would be impossible to actually do that (except, maybe, in Winnemucca), this philosophy means that there’s always a reason to come back One of the “obvious” things that I’ve never done in all […]
Gravestones and Jeeves in Stoke Newington
The middle weekend of February. The second of three weekends that I set aside to do my U.S. taxes. Ugh. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still do something interesting! I spent all morning figuring out the accounts for my house in Seattle, which I’m renting through Airbnb (surprise: it’s making money), and then hopped […]
Taking care of unfinished business at Mud Australia
Remember that lovely ceramics shop below our flat in Sydney that was closed the entire time we were there? Well, as I faced a weekend of work and taxes, I resolved that I would carve out at least enough time to make a visit to the shop’s London sibling. I had the shop to myself, […]
Diverted to Essex!
Flying back from Luxembourg to London in a smallish propeller plane mostly full of my colleagues coming back from the same conference. The weather is terrible the whole way — high winds and clouds, lots of turbulence. Finally we start our descent into London City Airport, breaking through the clouds into driving rain. But as […]
Taxes and hot chocolate
Last year I resolved to do at least one interesting thing every weekend I spend in London. Well, during the season of tax preparation and writing endless performance reviews, the bar for what counts as “interesting” is apparently quite low. This weekend drinking fancy French hot chocolate out of Danish porcelain while sorting through expenses […]
Guests!
Dinner was loud and delicious at Yauatcha Soho, followed by an uber-glamorous after party at Disrepute, a subterranean speakeasy that was notorious for scandal and international intrigue during the Cold War. Today I turned Nicole and Bruce loose to explore Notting Hill and Little Venice without me (in the pouring rain) while I sat (cozily […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 