Lovely London

Happy Friday! I don't know about you guys, but these last few weeks of summer are flying by! The summer weather seems to be disappearing as well, and I am eager for my sweaters and jackets to arrive in the shipment today! To escape the pre-autumn chill, I visited the Tate Modern to see the Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs exhibit before it closed. It was a retrospective of the artist's late works, when he used scissors to cut out painted shapes to create designs. He employed an assistant because he was too frail to hang the cut-outs on the walls himself. My favorite thing about them is the size - the designs are huge! Check out the Tate's blog post to see photos of the exhibition installation. I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside, boo. But the show was fantastic! It's heading to MoMA in New York this fall, and it's worth a visit if you're in the area.

The following day B and I visited The Shard. The building is supposed to have the best view of London from the top of its tower (tallest structure in Western Europe.) We took a tip from one of his co-workers, and instead of paying $55 per person to stand at the top, we grabbed a drink at the swanky bar halfway up the tower. Pretty good view, I'd say! I have no desire to stand on an open-air platform any higher than this!

View of the Tower of London and Canary Wharf

Artsy shot trying to get the egg in the background

After sufficient drinks before noon, we walked next door to the Borough Market to fill our tummies. The market is enormous! There were so many things I wanted to try. B had his eyes on a German-style frankfurter, and I went with a rosemary-roasted pork sammie. They had macaroons as big as your head and every type of english muffin you could imagine. I recommend going very early, as it got crazy in the afternoon!

That's all for this weekend. Thanks again to B for most of the photos. He's getting really good, right? I'm heading to Turkey next week for a highly-anticipated beach vacation with a friend, so I'll post when I return. Cleo says, "Have a good week, woof!"

Postman's Park and St. Bartholomew the Great

I'm back! We moved into the new flat last week, and we don't have internet yet. So it's taken me a while to connect! Our sea shipment of items from the states is arriving tomorrow (wahoo!), so I will do a big post about the new flat and the move-in process soon. B's working full-time now, and Cleo and I have been keeping busy exploring the city. We found a neat little park called Postman's Park (it's across the street from an old Post Office), and inside the perfectly-manicured landscaping is a memorial to "Heroic Self Service" - people who lost their lives trying to save others. The earliest one I saw was mid 1800s, and the most recent was 2007.

Many of them drowned in the Thames!

There were also sunken tombstones scattered in odd places around the park. I think it used to be a cemetery for the little church that's in the middle.

Cleo's not even a little creeped out

I love little hidden spots like Postman's Park! Another great spot I found, although not hidden, is St. Bartholomew the Great Catholic church. It's the oldest surviving church in London: the standing structure is from 1123 AD. The employees of the church were extremely friendly and helpful (winked and told me I could pay the student rate.) One chap even gave me a brief history and took me around the choir stalls. He said the surviving structure used to be the monks quarters. The main nave was destroyed by King Henry VIII during the dissolution of the Catholic Church.

Choir stalls were beautiful!

The church has a star-studded resume. Some of the movies filmed here include Shakespeare in Love, The Other Boleyn Girl, Elizabeth the Golden Age and the 2009 Sherlock Holmes. I have to admit that one of the best parts of St. Barts is its cloister cafe, complete with beautiful, vaulted archways, stained-glass windows to the courtyard and delicious treats!

Just because I'm in love with them, here's a photo of my first London purchase - a pair of oxfords! Or as they call them here, "brogues." I feel really British now! Cheers!

Regent's Canal and Primrose Hill

We recently went on a walk around the central part of London near Regent's Park. The park, which also contains the London Zoo, used to be King Henry VIII's hunting grounds. Now it's a huge public park with sports pitches (fields), gardens and pathways. Along the north and west borders of the park runs a waterway called Regent's Canal. To start, we woke up early to beat the crowds and took the tube to the center of the city…

Jumped onto a path that runs along "Little Venice," a neighborhood of houseboats…

Watching the boats form the path

And followed the canal to the northernmost point of Regent's Park, Primrose Hill. Dogs are allowed off-lead in most of London's parks, and Cleo had the best day of her UK life (Warning: Cleo overload ahead!)

She finally joined us at the lookout point, where we took in the view.

Poet and artist William Blake frequently composed drafts at the top of Primrose Hill.

As B aptly put it, Cleo was the obnoxious American tourist at this park. First, she's a rescue/mutt/mystery breed. Almost all London dogs are pure-bred, and the owners are very confused by Cleo. Second, she likes to roll around in piles of dirt, dead animals, and leftover charcoal from bonfires, all of which she found in the park. Third, she was running around like a 5-year-old kid at Chuck-E-Cheese, while all the other dogs trotted obediently alongside their masters. One child spied Cleo and said in an adorable British accent, "Mum, that cow dog is so dirty!" We pretended we didn't know her…

You can't even see the wet, crusty-ness on her other side

Just kidding, Cleo! We love you! Even if you smell like rotten milk on the way home. 

I can't wait to live closer to this park! Moving this week, wahoo! Photo credit to the talented B!

'With bated breath' - The Globe Theatre

I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend! B and I started the weekend by seeing the play, Antony and Cleopatra at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Friday night. It was excellent! The current Globe Theatre is a reconstruction of the original theater, which was built and used by Shakespeare from 1599 until it burned down in 1613 (from a prop cannon spark during Henry VIII.) American actor Sam Wanamaker spearheaded the project to rebuild the Globe from archaeological excavations, historical reports, and drawings, and the current theater opened in 1997.

Polygonal building with three tiers of bench seating plus the yard - the standing area in front of the stage

Check out the stage ceiling!

So, I'm kind of a Shakespeare nerd. My favorite class at Michigan was Shakespeare's Plays taught by literature professor Ralph Williams. You know he's good when he can bring Early Modern English to life for a lecture hall of college kids. He was instrumental in forging a partnership with the university and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), the elite troupe that performs at the Globe and Stratford-Upon-Avon theaters (Shakespeare's birthplace and current theater mecca.) Professor Williams brought the RSC to Ann Arbor where they performed three plays - Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, and The Tempest - each featuring Sir Patrick Stewart (of Star Trek, X-Men and RSC fame!) Professor Williams created a course around the RSC performances, which I obviously took and still brag about. In addition to last Friday's play, I bought a solo ticket to see King Lear this Thursday! Hence my giddiness in this photo:

We had yard tickets, but standing was not bad at all! Especially for 5 pounds! So close to the stage, ah!

The show ran about 3 hours with a 15-minute intermission. We were too tired to get dinner after the play, so we opted for an overzealous brunch the next morning at Caravan in the Shoreditch neighborhood of London. Complete with Buck's Fizzes (mimosas) and plenty of bacon!

We wrapped up the afternoon with a visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum of art and design. It was huge! After 2 hours, we had only gotten through the first floor. I'll be coming back for sure!

And as requested, here's a preview of the next post featuring Cleo's adventures on the Tube!

Want more Shakespeare? Check out this article about common words and phrases he invented!