English as She is Spoke
Wednesday was stormy upon departure from Cricklewood, sunny upon arrival on the South Bank. In the AM did a quick skinny in the Tate modern, lunch at Wagamama, then a matinee at the Young Vic. The plays, the first a…
Enough Blue Sky to Make a Dutchman’s Breeches
Tuesday was clear. Tuesday was cloudy. It was dry, it was drizzly. There was a breeze, then still. In short, Tuesday was an autumn day in London. In the morning I took the train down to Richmond and walked the…
Raw Material, Finished Article
BA 84 overnight to Britain. Westminster, Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben), the Eye. Kensington Gardens, back yard of Buck House, and a plane from Iran; something you don’t see everyday (or, you know, ever in Canada). The fly…
In the Winter When it Drizzles
We did not have a Cole Porter moment on our last day but it did rain on and off. Pretty good I would say: Two weeks in Europe in mid-November and one wet day and even that was sporadic. So…
Extravagance, Geometry & the “Annees Folles”
A few days ago we posted a picture of a stork laying eggs (a stuffed stork, laying fake eggs). We weren’t sure what that was all about so Nina took us back, to Deyrolle, to show us that in fact…
The Wasted Years So Close Behind
Sunday morning brought the dawn in. We met up with Michelle at breakfast, but she then took off for the Eurostar (with cheese and terrine in tow). We headed into the 5th, first up Rue Mouffetard (referenced in Trois Couleurs:…
Paris in the Meantime
Seville is lousy with orange trees. Every “calle” and every courtyard and every plaza. Could there be a lime tree? Oh no, just a bunch of lemons masquerading as oranges. They are coming into fruit just about now. While notoriously…
More Moorish
One week in and we have more of it all: Moorish architecture, religious art, ample tapas, and spectacular November weather. Today we started at the Museum of Fine Arts or Museo de Bellas Artes, housed in what was once (a…
The Red One, the Big Red One
It’s possible to take the train from Seville to Granada, 2.5 hours each way, so we did. We took the direct. It stopped at Cordoba. Then it stopped at Puente Genil-Herrera. Then it took a short stop at Antequera-Santa Ana. …
Courtyard of the Maidens, Garden of the Grotesques
Castilian Christians: You rock. Peter the Cruel started it all (or Peter the Just, history has some “elasticity”), but the tourist brochures refer to him without commitment as Peter (aka Pedro) I. In a very modern and counter-intuitive decision given…