Thursday, we boated down the Thames to Greenwich, and had lunch in a good old pub. A very interesting afternoon at the Royal Observatory, including pictures standing on the 0.0.0 meridian. Must read ‘Longitude’. Boat back in the dark, though only 4.30pm. The tube from Westminster to Oxford Circus, two stops, cost four pounds each. Found Liberty’s and eventually found the floor with needle craft stuffs, as I wanted to buy a cross stitch. I had good memories of Liberty’s from when I was living in London quite some years ago. But today’s experience was quite underwhelming. The lifts did not work, no escalators, five floors of stairs to the top. Found my cross stitch, went to a cash point, where a young woman was trying to purchase a coat. The coat was marked £120, with a 20% discount. The cashier wanted to charge her £127. She said that could not be right. He rang it all up again, came to the same conclusion. She objected again, explained why it could not be right. He asked to borrow her iPhone to use as a calculator…… At that point I went off to another cash point, where, when I proffered my Visa card to pay, I was asked for ID. I produced my passport, which the woman scanned, (very slowly) and wrote down the number. I asked why this was, and she said the Banks required it. I said I had been in Europe for months using the card and had never been asked for ID. She came back saying that she really should have been calling the bank to authorise my expenditure of over 50 pounds. I was speechless at that. I’ve decided she must have been former staff called back to cope with the Christmas rush.
We had very little time, and so had a snack at MacDonalds. MacDonalds Oxford Street = Bedlam. Nothing more to say.
Finally found our way to the London Palladium where we saw The Wizard of Oz – Christmas present from Flyspring No 3. We enjoyed it very much, it was an energetic and colourful production. But there also seemed to me to be an influence in the staging that was post -“Wicked”. It had a flavour that lacked the innocence of the original Wizard film and book. Cowardly Lion is portrayed as gay, and the scenes in the Wicked Witch’s castle/dungeon had a strong homosexual bondage character. Children would not (maybe?) pick up on that, but it does jar with the overall feel of the show. It is an Andrew Lloyd Webber production, and he and Tim Rice wrote a couple of extra numbers. They fit in pretty well, musically. Apparently there was a talent quest for the girl to play Dorothy. We saw the runner-up a Welsh girl of seventeen, and she was really wonderful. Michael Crawford as the Wizard did not really have much to do. It is Dorothy’s story of course, and a huge role – she is on stage the whole time.
Friday
Tube Day. Discovered there is a day ticket, which makes tube-usage not quite so astronomically expensive. First to the Embankment and a walk along to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Jeremy Irons does a very sexy commentary on the audio guides. These are handed out “free”, but after you have paid £16 to go into the Abbey. I found all my musicians and poets and novelists, and Flyspring found her scientists. We noted on the tomb of David Livingstone that he was born in Blantyre, Lanarkshire. Family interest there for us. There were vergers everywhere, in red and green academic-looking gowns, and a couple of priests in the full soutane and clerical collar, leading tours. The place looks somewhat overcrowded to me. How many more tombs can they really fit in? The most recentt I saw was Ted Hughes, 1997. I think it is not really surprising that Charles chose St Paul’s for his wedding, preferring its architecture. And of course the big disadvantage of the Abbey is that the nave is completely screened off from the high altar and the quire where all the action is, so that members of the congregation cannot see anything. For The Wedding, you would have been better off at home watching on TV. One thing – if anyone remembers when Catherine walked up the aisle, she went around one spot on the floor – that was the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The bridal procession then proceeded to walk right over Sir Winston Churchill.
We ate lunch in the cloisters (freezing). But the hot spiced tomato soup and ham and piccalilli sandwich was very good.
The Palace. You can only stand outside the gates. Queenie had left, for Sandringham for Christmas probably; her standard had been taken down and the Union Jack was flying. We saw one set of frozen soldiers replaced by another set. They do have warm coats, but their feet must freeze just standing complete still for an hour.
On through Green Park, along the Princess Diana Memorial Walk, fed a squirrel who fought off four pigeons to keep his bounty, and then took the tube to South Kensington to ‘do’ the museums. Flyspring went into the Museum of Natural History (in front of which was another of the many ice skating rinks spotted around London for the Season) and Fly went to the V&A. There were only a couple of hours left before closing, and after a bit of a wander, Fly felt overwhelmed, decided a week was needed not a couple of hours, and sat down with a glass of pinot gris instead. This was a good idea, as fortification was needed to tackle Harrods later on. We bought a star (50% off) for the Christmas tree back in Eichhoffen.
At the Tower
Skating outside the Museum of Natural History
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