goddesstogo

Oops. Checked the internet. Yes, sukkot is over but this is the start of simchat torah.

goddesstogo

We had such an interesting day today. First off, we went to a talk at the Wellcome Collection. The speaker was Kevin Marsh and the talk was on solving the problem of malaria in Africa. The moderator was A.C. Grayling who is a Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, and whom my SO is familiar with through CBC Radio. It was a fairly decent crowd for Saturday morning (about 70, I'd guess) and many were obviously working in the same area. I'm in love with the Wellcome Collection. We've signed up for a few more talks and a dinner on 'Science and Comedy' with Robin Ince. I'm not familiar with him but it sounded like fun.

If you lived in London and were lucky enough to not have to work, you could go to a talk or other event every day of the week, most of them for free. It's made me feel guilty that I don't even know what's going on of a similar nature in my own city, especially since I work at the biggest university in the country. I really must get better at finding these things out and taking advantage of them at home.

After that, lest we get too intellectual for our own good, we went to Portobello Market and had a great walk. It's so long! We managed to get through the antiques, the food market, the vintage clothes, the cds and dvds, and the souvenirs without me buying a thing, though I was keeping an eye out for a few gifts. I was also tempted by some boots in the vintage clothes market but didn't buy. We had a very nice lunch at a place called the Wine Factory and then later in the afternoon I had to stop for a sugar and lemon crepe (disappointing but did I eat it all anyway? what do you think?)

Tomorrow we're meeting Jamie and Bikerscott and we're really looking forward to that!

emily71

Yes, London has some wonderful free talks. Last time I went to a free breakfast lecture given by New London Architecture about the Underground in London. Very informative and free. The British Library also has free lectures at night.

goddesstogo

I'm signed up for emails at the British Library, the British Museum, the National Gallery and the Wellcome Collection. I understand that LSE has some good talks too, so I'm going to look into that. Of course, we'll only get to go to a handful of them but it's such a wonderful selection!

Have I told you how much I love the London Underground? Our subway system at home is so poor. We should have a much better system and a much broader one for a city our size.

Mathieu

Yep, doesn't our subway network seem downright paltry compared to those of London, Paris, New York and a whole lot of others ? Granted, Toronto is a lot smaller than any of those cities (we're not as large as we think !), but when it takes so long to even entertain the thought of the Downsview extension, or the airport rail link, let alone build them, sadly not much is about to change soon.

Have you noticed how some Tube stops are the meeting place for 3 or 4 lines ? And what about the long and steep escalators, taking you deep down or bringing you up from the the bowels of the earth, seemingly ? Hampstead Stn. is said to be the deepest, at 210+ ft, but its also built on a hill apparently. The London Underground is a remarkable feat of engineering and planning.

Mathieu

Sorry, should read : "..but its also built UNDER a hill.."

goddesstogo

Mathieu,
The only subway that I think is as bad as Toronto's is Rome's.
I can't believe we're still just talking about a subway to the airport. Honestly!

Yes, it's amazing to me that there are so many transfer points here. It's so easy to get from place to place and so easy to figure out, if you're the new kid in town. Today two lines were closed so the crowds on the open lines were dense and backing up in the narrow 'hallways' but even then, things moved pretty quickly. The depth? I try not to think about it. I'm a little claustrophobic.

Best subway system I've ever been on was Tokyo. A million lines going everywhere and then all of it surrounded by a ring railroad. It's amazing.

WHampstead

You'll love Robin Ince - he's the champion of marrying rational thinking/humanism with comedy. For the past two years he's held a series of "Godless Christmas Carols", with a dozen or so big name comedians and scientists (incl. the ubiquitous Richard Dawkins) doing 5-10 minute talks/routines.

jamikins

Just got home from our brunch and we had such a great time! It was wonderful to meet you both, and its so exciting that we have so much in common!! We will definitely have to meet up again!

Looking forward to Thursday night's meet-up!

TDudette

Really enjoying this!

goddesstogo

We had a great afternoon with Jamie and Bikerscott. They met us at the Blackheath station and took us to a lovely place for lunch (I'd tell you the name but I was so busy gabbing away with Jamie, I forgot to look). It was one of those meetings with strangers where you have instant rapport and so much to talk about! We chatted our way through a delicious lunch. I had Eggs Florentine and I thought I was being pretty good on my diet until I realized the reason it was so good -- it wasn't just plain old spinach on my English muffin. It was creamed spinach. Delish.

After lunch we walked back to the little farmers' market next to the train station and then Jamie and Scott had to leave so we shopped around there on our own a bit and bought some nice leeks, apples and plums and then some artichokes in a nearby shop. Oh, and also some peppers which we hope will be nice and hot.

After that, we walked around Blackheath for a while, going in and out of the shops. It's such a charming place. It looks like a little village scene in one of those glass balls you shake and snow flies all around. It must be very pretty at Christmastime.

We're really looking forward to seeing Jamie and Scott again on the 7ths and to meeting the rest of you!

jamikins

We had such a great time, so glad you liked Blackheath, its a cute place! The restaurant is called Chapters and it serves the best eggs bennie we've had!!!

They also have a jospur to cook meat - YUM
http://www.chaptersrestaurants.com/s...all_day_dining

The next place we will take you is Bodeans for the best ribs in town!
http://www.bodeansbbq.com/

See you again on Thurs!

RM67

Goddess - did you know that the V&A has a lot of evening talks and events too? Definitely sign up for their newsletters.

(Apologies if you already have, but I've just quickly skimmed the bottom dozen or so posts so far).

goddesstogo

No, I didn't think of that one, RM -- will do it right now, thanks!

goddesstogo

Done!

I also found out that every Wednesday night there's music in the Crypt at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Jazz, swing (even dancing!) and a nice restaurant. We'll be away in Germany on swing night which is too bad but we'll go another time. I'm going to go to SMITF for brass rubbing one day.

jent103

GTG, do you know about the free lunchtime concerts at St Martin-in-the-Fields? It's quite likely you do, but I wanted to make sure. I spent a semester in London during university and loved going there in the middle of the day. Went to one when I was back last year and it felt just the same!

goddesstogo

hi jent,
I didn't know about any of it until I was looking for brass rubbing information at Westminster Abbey. They don't do that anymore but they directed to St. Martin-in-the-Field (where they do have it) and I checked their website. There's so much there! I think what I might do is go and do a brass rubbing and time it so I'm there for a concert. We'll certainly go again on a Wednesday night for dinner and music.

lizziea06

Jamikins - While I will grant you that Bodeans is good when they have burnt ends on the menu, The Big Easy is really where it's at! I know this because I'm secretly a fat
kid ;-) Don't miss lobster bake night!

http://www.bigeasy.co.uk/v1/index.aspx

goddesstogo

Hello there.

I have two (completely unrelated) questions:

1) tomorrow I'm going to the hairdresser for a colour. What's the custom about tipping hairdressers? Also, if someone else besides the colourist washes my hair, do I tip her as well and if so, how much?

and

b) quite a few years ago, someone I know brought some British candies to my volunteer session and I've been trying, without luck, to find them here. I'm no longer in touch with the person or I'd just ask her. They looked just like licorice allsorts but instead of being made out of licorice and that coloured fondant stuff, they were made out of brightly-coloured fruit leathers. I think they were made by Rowntrees but I'm not at all sure of that. Does anyone know what I'm talking about and where I can get them?

Thanks for your help.
gtg

goddesstogo

Wait! I've found the candies (almost). They're called Bassetts Fruit Allsorts. So far I've only been able to find them on a website called candysweetstore.com but that's only on-line shopping. Does anyone know where I can buy them in a shop or supermarket?

Thanks