Category Archives: England and U.K.

July 8, 2017 · 7:43 am

Hot train ride, dinner at Pall Mall club – cotswolds to London 


Marion and I had a longer and hotter than expected train ride back to London. Our train was cancelled so we waited over an hour for the next one, chatting with some nice women and kids from Stratford as we sat on the platform in surprisingly hot weather that got even hotter in London (87 degrees. Dripping). The train that finally arrived had only three cars and little ventilation. I put my purse on the floor in front of my seat only to discover later that it had landed in a cup of what appeared to be hot chocolate, discarded by a previous passenger. Ick. Our friends tell us this decline in rail service is a result of the Tory government’s austerity measures that are causing the decline of public services.

We met Dirck at Paddington, who came from Heathrow after a flight from Warsaw (that fortunately was not too messed up by our awful president’s quick trip to Poland.  Can’t escape the guy) and had a quick lunch with Marion at a fast food Mexican place overlooking the arrivals at Paddington. No AC. Lukewarm soda. No ice cubes. London just isn’t prepared for increasingly weird hot temps. (but climate change is a hoax, right?)

Tonight we had a very English experience– dinner with Francine and Russ at Russ’s club in Pall Mall. I used to ride by the stately cream colored private clubs on my bike as a 20-something.  We had drinks on the balcony, with great views of the St. James area  (although not views of my favorite park) and delicious English food (asparagus with hollandaise sauce, Dover sole, salmon, gooseberry pie, strawberries and cream) with impeccable service on the terrace and coffee in an elegant high-ceilinged room where many an English club scene has been filled (including for the BBC show “the crown”) and where Dickens’ chair is in a corner (yes he was a member, as was another illustrious Charles…Darwin.)

Mixed feelings about these exclusive clubs but at least this one (the Atheneam) bases admittance on merit and achievement vs money and bloodlines.

Leave a comment

Filed under England and U.K., public transportation, train

Tagged as , ,

July 7, 2017 · 5:11 am

Stanton (the Mount), Laverton, Buckland, Sezincote – The Cotswolds

THe Mount

It was surprisingly hot and sunny today as we set off on a three mile hike (found in an excellent guidebook “50 walks in the Cotswolds” lent to me by my friend Francine).  Walk #8 goes through three perfect little villages, across fields and pastures between each, stepping over turnstiles and through kissing gates. After the hike, we had lunch at a picnic table at The Mount, a pub high on a hill overlooking the village of Stanton and the valley beyond and the hills. Good food and glorious landscape and free wifi which I needed, sadly, for an emergency with my dog back home. (We think she’s okay.)

 

Later we drove to a footpath near the bizarre country home Sezincote, which has Indian architectural touches including minarets and a big onion dome.

Looked like a cross between the Taj Mahal and Downton Abbey. Sort of. We also drove through Chipping Norton which was too big for our tastes and next time I’d like to check out the nearby village of Kingham (home to the posh pub, The wild rabbit).

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under England and U.K.

Tagged as , ,

July 5, 2017 · 8:53 pm

Broadway Tower, Lions Inn/Winchcombe, Guiting Power, Slaughters, Boulton-on-the-water – Cotswolds Day Two

More driving and strolling and talking and eating with my old friends from London, here in the Cotswolds. We have been on some tiny narrow roads, seen glorious views, visited charming villages and eaten good pub grub. We have also been lucky with the weather, which has been dry, cool, sunny in spells, lower 70s.

We encountered tourists in some of the bigger towns (Boulton-on-the-water) and attractions (Broadway Tower, a folly tower with great views of 16 counties) but most of the time we have been happily surprised by the lack of tourists, maybe because it’s a weekday and before kids’ school holidays. In Winchecombe, we had a lovely lunch in the garden behind the Lions Inn (a ploughmans although no one seems to call it that any more…now it’s a “cheese board”; creamy cauliflower soup) and walked along the bridal path in Lower Slaughter (a sentimental favorite of mine… first visited in the early 1980s and last visited with my kids in 2004 when I insisted we get out of the car and walk a little so we could “feel the Cotswolds.”); did more strolling in Bourton (with ice cream in hand). I prefer the less touristed, quieter villages like Guiting  Power.

Leave a comment

Filed under England and U.K.

Tagged as ,

July 4, 2017 · 10:10 am

Old Sheepcoate cottage, Broadway, Russell’s – The Cotswolds!

We are all happily ensconced in a spacious cottage outside of the classic northern cotswolds village of Broadway, after a lovely day that began for me when I met Marion at Paddington station. We took a two hour train ride to Evesham. Merida came running towards us with outstretched arms on the platform and whisked us off in a spacious car driven by her husband Chip, who is unexpectedly joining our girls weekend which is just fine. He’s an Anglophile like us and good company and a good driver. Our original plan not to have a car was not wise. Tonight we drove on narrow lanes lined with trees or dry stone walls into one gorgeous little village after another with creamy yellow limestone homes with thatched roofs and lavender, roses, and hollyhocks climbing up the walls. (Stanton, Buckland,  Snowshill!) I forgot how completely charming the English countryside is.  In Broadway, we ate outside on a picnic table at a lovely place called Russell’s, eating fish and chips and drinking cider. Chip and I wandered around the famous Lygon Arms Hotel which dates back to the 1400s, with old timber beamed ceilings, dark stone floors, beveled glass in casement windows.

At one point, we pulled off a dirt road by a farm and parked beside a pasture where sheep were grazing, high above a valley with the sun setting over gentle hills and we just stood silent listening to the sheep and the birds and the wind and I felt incredibly lucky to be alive and to have England and these friends as a near constant for the past 35 years.

Leave a comment

Filed under England and U.K.

Tagged as

July 2, 2017 · 6:28 am

Trump react, Barnes Farmers Market and Sun Inn – London

With franine and una, Mortlake/east sheen

I knew it would happen but it caught me by surprise when it did. The first caustic comment about Trump from a Brit. My friend Francine and I were walking on a little path in Mortlake having one of our many heart to hearts when a man passing by suddenly finished my sentence. “One thing you might need to worry about…” I was saying to Francine when the man passed by and said “Trump.” We exchanged a smile and I said “I’ve been worried about that for a long time.” Francine said the guy is her neighbor and a police officer.

We walked further to the posh village of Barnes where we shopped at the little farmers market, ate pub grub at the Sun Inn, outside at a picnic table with a lovely view of the Barnes pond, lined with willow trees, swans gliding by. After a visit to Fulham to see Francine’s mum, we walked along the tow path from Barnes to Mortlake past the old brewery that is now the site of a controversial redevelopment that Francine is monitoring as part of a citizens action group. Lovely Dinner tonight at our friend Una’s in nearby east sheen. Must sleep.

Leave a comment

Filed under England and U.K., London

Tagged as ,

June 30, 2017 · 10:07 pm

Shoreditch, Brick Lane, Spitalfields, Lauristen Road: London’s happening Hackney Borough/East London

It occurred to me as I was taking an “overground” train this morning across London, from the southwest (where I am bunking in lovely Mortlake in the London Borough of Richmond) to the northeast in several neighborhoods in the borough of Hackney that I had no idea what I was riding. Was it light rail? New? How does it connect with or supplement the London Underground that I used in the 1980s and British Rail which I use from Mortlake? Turns out that this whole new system of rail (possibly light) has evolved in the last 10 or so years to connect the ever expanding and gentrifying neighborhoods of this city of 8.8 million residents.

The minute I stepped out of Shoreditch High Street  station, I could see and almost feel the energy on the streets – bustling ethnic food stands and trucks, young people in all kinds of getups and many ethnicities sharing streets sometimes adorned with graffiti or lovely renovated brick apartment complexes, Middle Eastern and African Muslims and the occasional Orthodox Jew, pop-up shops selling handmade shoes, clothing, highly -curated home goods or kids stuff,  cafes with gorgeous breads, salads, arancini (at Franze & Evans on Redchurch Street) cakes and small batch ice cream. So many entrepreneurs and independent shopkeepers trying to make a go of it. Lots of Allen and Carole Rubiners, my parents who dared to start an art gallery in a then-unfashionable suburb  of Detroit in the 1960s. Is it any wonder that I’m drawn to these neighborhoods on the brink of change, to these people pursuing their passions often against the odds? (Story of my life actually…) Anyway, I walked myself silly, exploring quiet residential back streets and colonized commercial hip pockets in and around streets including Redchurch (near shoreditch station) and Columbia Road and Lauriston road near Victoria park. Along the way there were little surprises including an urban farm in Hackney and colorful houseboats along an industrial looking canal. I ended up all the way at Mile End Station and somehow got back to Mortlake via bus, underground, bus and aching swollen feet, to have Brazilian food at The Tapestry Restaurant near the house in Mortlake. Shoreditch/Hackney sure  beats Covent Garden  (today’s version….not the less discovered 1980s version) and glad to see London continuing to grow in interesting corners and ways.

Leave a comment

Filed under England and U.K., London

Tagged as , ,

June 30, 2017 · 7:58 am

Petersham Nurseries/Richmond, National Portrait Portrait Gallery, problems with Verizon international plan – London

 

Pam

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under England and U.K., London, TECHNOLOGY/GEAR

Tagged as , ,

June 29, 2017 · 8:04 am

Busy Heathrow, Francine pick up!, gloomy weather, Iowa in Mortlake — Hello London!

img_1294I’ve never seen such a long line at Heathrow’s arrival passport control. It started even before we got to the main waiting area, with a long line in the long hall leading to the waiting area. Fortunately, the maze of a line in the waiting area moved fairly quickly so after an hour or so, I was with my dear pal Francine, whisking our way under a very gloomy sky to Mortlake where where we had a nice little catch-up and lunch, then walk to Mortake where Francine took the train to work and I wandered for another hour or so, jet-lagged but trying desperately to keep going. I stopped in at the new location of the sweet little cafe Pickle & Rye which I was pleased to see has retained its Yank decor (including such Iowa knickknacks as a UI Hawkeye cap and a mug from Marshalltown’s Maidrite outpost, an Iowa-born fastfood chain serving “loose-meat” sandwiches.) The owners, one of whom is from Iowa, are visiting Iowa right now, as it turns out but hope to catch sight of them later in the trip. NOw comfortably ensconced at Francine and Russ’s lovely flat on Shalstone Road and will attempt to stay await until late evening British time.

Leave a comment

Filed under England and U.K., London, Uncategorized

Tagged as ,

January 20, 2014 · 5:18 pm

Wow and Norwegian airlines flights to london – cheaper?

This from airfarewatchdog on cheaper flight options to london:

How to Save: The big trick that will help in 2014 is finding affordable airfare; other than accommodations, this is going to be your largest expense. With new low-cost transatlantic airlines like Norwegian and WOW promising to undercut major carriers’ prices in the coming year, it will likely be easier to pick up an affordable plane ticket to the British capital this spring and summer.

WOW Air, the new Icelandic low-fare airline, announced it would start flying between Boston and London/Gatwick this spring. Similar to Icelandair’s long-term flying pattern, flights will be via Reykjavik: leaving Boston in the evening and arriving in London the following morning, with the morning departure, afternoon arrival reverse pattern.

So far, WOW hasn’t announced anything about Iceland stopovers, but I’ll be very surprised if the line doesn’t offer stopover packages.

Advertisement

 

Flights will be in A320s, at a slightly below-average 30- to 31-inch pitch but average or better width. Although the airline is single class, you can reserve the extra-room exit-row seats and even guarantee an empty middle seat by paying extra.

Fares aren’t available yet, but the fare pattern will almost surely continue the carrier’s policy of offering very low fares to early buyers on at least some dates. Currently, for example, fares from London to Reykjavik are as low as £98 each way (about $157), including the onerous British passenger duty and a £6 “payment fee.” The only surprise is a very stiff charge of £19 for one checked bag.

Whether WOW flights will appeal to U.S. and Canadian travelers depends on one main factor: Will the fares be low enough to offset the increased flight time (compared to nonstops) and the hassle of an overnight stop? Back in the regulated days, low fares on Loftledir, the precursor to Icelandic, got a lot of budget travelers to accept those conditions, and many of them opted for a quick Iceland stopover. WOW seems to be hoping to replicate that formula.

You Might Also Like:

Leave a comment

Filed under airline fees, England and U.K.

Tagged as , ,

January 5, 2014 · 4:49 pm

Check out the Drake University Chamber Choir – in Des Moines and England!

The Drake University Chamber Choir performs at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 2010.

The Drake University Chamber Choir performs at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 2010.

For my music-loving friends in London, here’s a treat from Des Moines – Drake University’s Chamber Choir will perform free concerts at St. Paul’s Cathedral at 5 p.m. Jan. 20 and at St. Martin-in-the-fields (Trafalgar Square) at 1 p.m. Jan. 21,  as well as at Oxford and Cambridge during a 12-day concert tour January 10-22. These are some of the talented vocal students that my choir, the Drake University Community Chorus, sings with during our semester concerts. Closer to home (in Des Moines) the chamber choir will perform a free concert on Thursday Jan. 9 at 7:30 at Grace United Methodist Church. Here’s the scoop on the England tour from the Register: Drake choir to kick off series

While in England, the choir will to sing in the cathedrals of Gloucester, Coventry, and Ely, at both Cambridge and Oxford (St. John’s College Chapel, Cambridge; Merton College Chapel, Oxford), St. Martin-in-the-Fields and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, and St. Nicholas Church in Witham.  The Chamber Choir was selected by the American Embassy in London to inaugurate its new series at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

Leave a comment

Filed under Des Moines, England and U.K., music

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,