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Published: March 7th 2008
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I've decided to abandon the daily commentary in favour of a geographic entry. London has been a bit of a blur really, possibly due to my wholehearted acceptance of the culture of the pub! I bought in a bottle or two of duty free and the first night after spending some time with Helen and her family I had intended on an early night but first we opened the bottle of Champers that really has started something of a trend!
Besides the opportunity for a few domestic chores I have managed to get out and about. The weather is pretty nondescript as it is in the UK, it is a soft kind of weather I don't think there has been a thunderstorm since 1847 global warming will fix that though!
Saw a great exhibition at the Royal Academy called From Russia, http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/from-russia/
The best paintings were by French artists although Kandinsky whom I've always liked, featured along with Renoir a couple of nice Monet's (and one really ordinary one) Picasso and a very nice Georges Braque cubist painting I prefer Braque to most of the other cubists (including Picasso it must be said) I think it seems as if he distills
from a greater level of complexity same reason I like Kandinsky. His painting was Composition VII which he thought of as his most complicated piece but it is reallly quite an early flirtation with abstract, still a great collection even if most of the Russians came off looking like copyists (excluding Diaghilev and K).
We managed to find a Pub where we had a passably good meal with a pint before heading off to the Savoy Theatre. We ariived 45 min before curtain but fortunately there was a pub next to the theatre so we opassed some time in the Coal Hole before tootling next door to see Edward Fox performing in John Mortimer's Legal Fictions. It has received quite good reviews and was a late choice as Speed the Plough, the David Mamet play with Kevin Spacey and Geoff Goldblume is sold out til 2010! Still it was quite a gentle comedy and Fox more than returned the entry price.
When we got back to the car after the train ride out of town we scraped the ice off the windscreen and headed home.
In Sunbury there is a walled garden that is a remenant of the Manor farm
that once occupied the area. Part of the external wall has been converted to be the front wall of an embroidery exhibition. The embroideries were completed by dozens of locals to commemorate the millenium and both Gerry and Helen were substancilly involved in the project. The results are quite stunning.
http://www.sunburyembroidery.co.uk/
Following that we went to the Magpie and spent two pints drinking in the brief sunshine as the River worked its way past us. Moya collected us before any serious brain damage could commence and we took a drive up to Kew Gardens where thhey have installed nearly 30 Henry Moore pieces. The bigger pieces need a grand setting and Kew certainly provides that plus in very early spring the gardens are not really at their best and the Moore,s worked quite well among the bare trees and open vistas. It also meant not too many people around always something of a plus on this crowded little island.
Post Kew we met up with Moya's friend Monique (who, it must be said, is battier than Batman's batcave) and went out to a Loch Fyne fish restaurant and had a very nice meal. I had squid with chilli and corriander
and then a warm wood smoked salmon. Very yummy.
To spare all from my company I took a day out to visit London just to soak in the city. Caucht the train up and visited most of the streets on the Monopoly board and also the British Museum which is of course vast and covent Garden which was totally full of PSV Eindhoven supporters who are well greased and very tribal, although generally well behaved. Some poor busker was trying to do his schtick but had no idea how to involve the supporters and watching his frustration rise was like watching a slow motion train crash.
Still I walked miles and got back too tired to go to the movies as originally planned and rented a video instead.
I may go for a cycle today if it stops raining, then off to see Albert Lee in Putney tonight!
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