Back Home & Unbalanced

It’s been a grand adventure, and now we’re home. Before we left we visited some of our favorite haunts—took a walk on Hampstead Heath, dropped into the Tate Modern and British Museum, ate at the Falafel King and our neighborhood favorite St. Chads Place—and hopped aboard the Eurostar for a two-hour train ride under the English Channel to Paris. Did we have fun? Do badgers dig holes in Kew Garden? Do foxes run free in London parks? Do the English love their beer? Rightie-o.

Tippy Chairs at the London Design Museum

Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

The debate between the familiar and innovation is ever present in London. This unique Memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales was opened in July 2004. Highly controversial as a memorial, the design by American landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson is a swirling, low oval loop of white granite set near the Serpentine pond in Hyde Park. The fountain contains 545 pieces of stone - each shaped by computer-controlled machines, but pieced together using traditional skills. The design aims to reflect Diana's life - water flows from the highest point in two directions as it cascades, swirls, and bubbles before meeting in a calm pool at the bottom. Most Londoners don't like it and criticize its lack of grandeur; critics have called it a "moat without a castle" and a "puddle without a middle."  Gustafson's design, despite a lack of grandeur, reflects the Princess's sense of accessibility and projects itself as an elegant and restrained necklace of water.

English Telly for the Curious

Telly in London is certainly different.  To begin with, you still have to buy a license to watch television at home on your set - a whopping $245/year. This fee fundamentally underwrites the BBC, and accordingly, BBC programming must appeal to everyone. Thus there are five 'free' channels, called terrestrials, and then lots more available digitally. The BBC has four channels; shows run the gamut from Botany: Powerful Plants to From the Lambing Shed to Apples: British to the Core to Grumpy Old Holidays to Embarrassing Bodies where experts make live diagnoses on members of the public (yuk). Reruns of Friends occur on several channels. Due to the innate fascination of Englanders with machines, there's constant and hilarious reruns of Top Gear.  Multiple shows feature how to buy property in sunny locations outside the UK.  One puzzling aspect is that on the morning news shows, the newscasters sit around and show/comment on that day's front pages.

Young Architect Thomas Hardy's Tree

In nearby St. Pancras Old Church cemetery is a towering, fenced-in ash tree whose base has grown up and over headstones placed there by Thomas Hardy. A plaque near the tree explains that "before turning to writing full time," Thomas Hardy "studied architecture in London from 1862-67.  Hardy would have spent many hours in St. Pancras Churchyard overseeing the removal of bodies and tombs from the land on which the railway was being built."  The job perhaps inspired The Levelled Churchyard wherein one verse says..."We are late-lamented, resting here, Are mixed to human jam, And each to each exclaims in fear, 'I know not which I am!'"

Cambridge: A Place Apart for Centuries

King's College Chapel, its court, chapel nave, fan ceiling, & world-famous choir

With eight centuries of scholarly endeavors under its belt, Cambridge truly exemplifies the notion of the academical village. Composed of 31 colleges, the University of Cambridge--along with rival Oxford--forms an axis mundi of learning (although if I was ever fortunate to be given a choice, Cambridge is hands down much better). Only an hour north of London, the village is clearly light years away in demeanor with a serious air wafting about the academic cloisters and quads. Students and dons weave by on bicycles and flat-bottomed boats (called punts) lazily meander down the river in scenes that could come straight out of "Chariots of Fire." Yet, the modern world intrudes as bio-tech firms seem to sprout like mushrooms. A pilgrimage to the Eagle Tavern prompted a quiet toast at the table where Watson & Crick announced their discovery of DNA; in an adjoining room the walls and ceiling are covered with names and emblems of both RAF and US airmen. Evensong at King's College Chapel was a great place to end the day. Sitting in the chapel and listening to the voices of the Men's Chapel Choir, it was easy to be transported in time back to a medieval monastery for a day of reflection and introspection.

Christopher Wren's Library at King's College, punting on the River Cam

06 St. Chads Place

Down a crooked alley and surrounded by lots of designers in converted warehouses lies St. Chad's

If we had a local, this would be it.  Down a Dickensian alleyway and atop a rumbling train line, St. Chad's is a cobbled mechanic's workshop converted into a unpretentious cafe/bar. With its interior of clean, straightforward exposed surfaces, an elegant single volume provides a casual setting for breakfast, late evening meals, drinks or tapas. Chilled music provides background for design office meetings, neighborhood mates meeting during the day, and simply winding down the week with a DJ on Friday evenings. Wrap it up and take it back to Portland.

Greater Portland in London

Who knew there were so many local places in London, notwithstanding too many Starbucks.

Barrier Gates for London's Thames' Doorstep

Thames Barrier Park, the barrier, and an apocalyptic London globally warmed?

In the far eastern corner of London, next to the Docklands development, is one of the more unique parks in the city. Sleek pavilions, manicured hedge rows, and wide grassy areas lead to the edge of the Thames and the behemoth that keeps the river in check. Rising like 10 silver-backed armadillos, the  Thames Barrier is marvel of modern engineering. London is susceptible to flooding since the Thames is very tidal and North Sea winter storms regularly roll up a long and broad estuary. The barrier's curved gates normally lie on the river floor, but if needed, huge rocker arms rotate up to provide a five-story wall. Built in 1984, the barrier is 1.5 meters higher than the last great flood in 1953 but is typically raised at least twice a year. A barrier now, but who knows what the future holds if the seas continue to rise as a result of climate change?

Food for Thought

Cottage pie, take-away sandwiches, fish & chips with mushy peas, and who knows what

Bubble & Squeak...Toad in the Hole...Mushy Peas...S & M  (as in sausage and mash)...Making our way through a pub menu, shop signs, and markets. Two months in England and there's still fun in eating out (or in). Back in the 1970s, when I went to university here, a friend told me that the British had their tastebuds removed at birth (no wonder they circled the globe looking for spices). There was no evidence to refute that. Now, though, "good British food" is no longer an oxymoron, and the number and variety of foreign cuisines available is truly staggering. The obsession with locally sourced food has also struck London, and our neighborhood grocery store labels their produce not only with the geographic origin but sometimes the farmer, so you know that some guy named Brian grew your strawberries on the Isle of Wight. There's still a chance of getting a miserable meal but it's no longer dead certain.  

Trooping the Color for the Queen's Birthday

The Queen's birthday is celebrated at least twice a year (so nice to be the Queen): on her actual birth date (April 21) and on a designated day in summer when the weather is bound to be nicer. Part of the Queen's Birthday Parade is called Trooping the Color, a tradition from the 1700s that brings out a regal display of royal troops for HRH's review. We had the opportunity to watch one of the rehearsals - colors flying, multiple regiments, and lots of mounted cavalry guards. And the day just happened to coincide with the Champions League Final between ManU (hate 'em) and Barcelona (love 'em). Thousands of Barca fans also showed their colors all over the city, from Trafalgar Square to Wembley Stadium. A glorious 3:1 thrashing by Barca...can you say Messicre?...ole, ole, ole!

The colors from the Queen's Life Guards to Barcelona's Faithful