Pippi at Gatwick

Airports are generally a good place for celebrity sightings.

Still, I was not expecting a child star so late at night.

Even at a distance we heard her shriek as her father pulled off her wig for the Customs Agent.

It wasn’t until her Pippi Longstocking hair was put firmly back in place that she was able to compose herself and head on down to baggage claim.

Getting around London

We took a short cab ride, with all our accompanying luggage and carry-ons, from the Waterloo train station to our flat on the day we arrived.

I love London cabs, so solid and spacious and cozy.

I have also taken the train and the tube.

But mostly I walk.

It was the discovery of a line of Barclays bikes for hire that made me think ‘woo hoo, another fun way to see the city’.

Hop on and off wherever you please.

Checked their website……nuts, there is a catch to signing up.

The fine print said:  You must have a UK postal address, which matches your billing address.

There are bike rental shops in the city ….but ohhhhh, they cannot begin to compete with the ease and ubiquity of a Barclays Bike!

Armistice Day

Marked the end of World War One.

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row…..“

The poppy is worn to remember the sacrifices made in times of war.

Passerby wearing a poppy on his lapel.

It seems that every other person on the street is wearing a poppy and have been during the month of November.

On Sunday night, that even included Simon Cowell and the other judges on the talent show, The X Factor.

Outside the London Bridge Station.

HMS Belfast on the Thames River.

A memorial commemorating the men lost in Royal Navy Submarines. 

Who Are They?

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

TIMES UP!

I didn’t know either but they showed up in my living room at 5:30 one night.

 On tv.

I love the cooking channel at home and I could even name a few of the chefs/tv personalities in the UK like Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and hmmm, ok, off the top of my head those are the only ones that come to mind.

But it turns out that these two fellas have been out there cooking up a storm, writing books, doing interviews and hosting a number of shows and specials.

So why haven’t we heard of The Hairy Bikers’ Cook Off in America? 

Rolling out homemade pasta.

What a hoot!

They are bumbling and casual, very rough around the edges, but the dishes look tasty and the show is quite amusing.

Out of the way, Rachel and Martha, the cooking bikers Si and Dave are in town.

At least here in London.

Royal Albert Hall

Sometimes it is the performer that is the motivating factor and sometimes a venue is the real draw.

We wanted to see the Royal Albert Hall.

Got in early to take pictures since it is not allowed during the performance.

On the weekends we had available, the choices were:

Best of Broadway by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

4 Poofs and a Piano: Smoke and MirrorBalls

Guess what we chose?

Saturday night was spent listening to four singers belt out everything from:

“Come on, Babe, Why don't we paint the town? And All That Jazz”

“Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Come to the Cabaret.”

“Memory…All alone in the moonlight, I can smile at the old days.”

There were also tunes from The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, Les Miserables, Billy Elliot, Hairspray and Dirty Dancing (which seemed really out of place, although it is a musical).

And then there was the finale.

We were in the nosebleed section which gave us a clear view of the crowd directly in front of the stage…as they rose….almost as a single unit (in their fancy dress and sport coats and ties) and lifted their hands to the sky and swayed and sang along to:

“You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen”

This crowd loved its ABBA!

Apparently so did the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

It is celebrating the music of ABBA by selling a new CD called appropriately ABBAphonic.

Wow, who knew.

Kinda took me by surprise.

Harrods

The retail equivalent of Disneyland and Las Vegas under one roof!

On a Saturday night, this department store is as crammed with people as the underground during a weekday commute.

Do you want a flat screen tv, a Prada handbag, a seat at a sushi bar, modern furniture, a pair of Jimmy Choo’s, a new pet for the family, then stop by Harrods.

My favorite finds were a set of Barbie dolls fashioned after the Mad Men series on TV:

High-end vehicles for the younger set:

A customized chair:

And the fact that you could buy something as common as a meat pie (granted there were a zillion choices):

Harrods has seven floors on almost five acres so I am fairly sure I missed a few departments.

Will have to go back for another visit --- wonder if mornings are less crowded.

Tate Modern Museum

Before reading any of the signs, I leaned over the railing at the Tate Modern Museum and looked down to the floor below and wondered why people were sitting and standing and examining and taking pictures around what appeared to be an enormous gray area rug.

There had to be more to it.

And of course there was.

Upon closer inspection (after heading down a flight of stairs), I saw that it was a ‘carpet’ of seeds.

100 million sunflower seeds.

And they were all individually crafted by hand in China.

Each seed is porcelain.

Next to the exhibit, a continuously running film shows how the artist Ai Weiwei, commissioned over 1600 workers in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen to make the seeds. The process started in the mines and later the molds were filled, then the ‘seeds’ were popped out and inspected. Each and every seed was painted with 3-5 brush strokes. Amazing.

Last month visitors to the museum were encouraged to walk across and roll in the work “to experience and contemplate the essence of Ai Weiwei’s comment on mass consumption, Chinese industry, famine and collective work”.

Now there are posted signs to stay off the seeds due to health concerns over the dust that was created.

Just looking at the enormity of the project is compelling (although it would have been wild to roll around in the exhibit).

In addition to the Sunflower Seeds exhibit, there are floors of contemporary art housed at the Tate featuring photographs, sculptures, and paintings – here are some examples: