sassy_cat

You seem to be settling in very well GTG.

I'm sure there will be more custard tarts and palaces cropping up soon for you, meanwhile, I'm also catching up on laundry and grocery shopping but reading about your adventures somehow make it less of a chore.

goddesstogo

The weather here is strange. That's the best way to describe it. Today it looked cold and blustery out our window but when we got outside, the air was quite balmy. I was wearing jeans and a thin long-sleeved turtleneck with a blazer over it and most of the day I was just roasting. I expect it will turn chilly some day soon. At least, I hope so. I brought sweaters and long-sleeved shirts.

We never did get around to doing the laundry and grocery shopping today but we did visit the Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre/Library which is quite lovely. My SO needs a local gym -- he's required to speedwalk 3 miles 5 times a week for his cardio rehab plan and soon it will be too chilly (maybe) to do it outdoors. The leisure centre is very nice and well-outfitted and also very inexpensive especially since there's no joining fee till the end of September plus we got the over-50 rate.

Then we hopped on the tube and went down to Knightsbridge because SO had to go to Barclays International for some business. Remember how I told you that we keep meeting people with a Canadian connection? Well, the young man helping us at Barclay's introduced us to 'their Canadian', a very nice young man from Toronto. Not only that, he lived in our neighbourhood and graduated high school and keeps in close touch with our friend's son, the very young man who is living in our house while we're here!

Well, Barclays International is right next to Harrods. Hmmm...shall I go in? Are you kidding? SO wisely chose to go to a nearby pub with his new library book (Men Who Stare At Goats, which is making him laugh out loud even as I write this) and I browsed Harrods for an hour. What a beautiful store and the Food Hall -- gorgeous! I'll definitely go back when I have more time. An hour in Harrod's doesn't do it justice.

Here's something I've noticed. At home, everyone seems to be walking around with a drink in their hand, either a bottle of water or a coffee. I haven't noticed that here. I've always thought that if aliens landed on a North American street corner, they'd think we lived in a desert environment, where everyone had to carry their liquids with them.

Have a good evening, my friends.
gtg

annhig

hi gtg,

you're right about the temperatures at the moment - there is very little difference between day time and night-time temps. but don't worry, this won't last long.

for a reasonably accurate weather forecast, you have BBC radio 4 at 7.55, 8.55, 12.55 and 5.55, or the TV after the main news broadcasts. or the BBC website does a 5 day one which is usually ok for the first 2-3 days.

Here's something I've noticed. At home, everyone seems to be walking around with a drink in their hand, either a bottle of water or a coffee.>>

LOL, gtg, what with a water-bottle in one hand and a mobile in the other, they'll be needing another hand.

Mathieu

Wow, isn't that something about meeting the Canadian at Barclays and your friend's son house sitting for you ? Amazing. What if the person helping you at the bank hadn't bothered to think of introducing you to 'their Canadian', or he was unavailable at the time. You might never have met to make the connection ! I like reading about things like that as much as I'm enjoying your reporting. Open, honest and without fluff. Its a very good journal/blog.

Annhig, I'd invited Bookchick to our Toronto get-together (have to be careful using 'GTG' in this thread ) in a couple of weeks and you'd be the other I'd invite if I didn't already know how far away you were. We still have to slurp back some oysters someday.

taconictraveler

Loving this report,GTG. Reminiscing about Lisbon, and Tasquinha d"Adelaide.... such good food - we too chatted with neighbors,how could you not?? tight, fun, delicious lamb and red wine!

Now I'll happily follow you around London. keep it up and thanks

goddesstogo

taconic,
the whole place smelled deliciously of lamb as we walked in the door but by the time we got there, they'd served the last portion. And it looked delicious too!

travelgirl2

It sounds like you are having such a nice time. How long will you be in London?

goddesstogo

We're having a wonderful time. It's a nice mix of resident and tourist. Today, for example, the big event was a trip to the laundromat down the street and lunch in a nice little cafe while our laundry was in the tub.

Tomorrow we're going to the British Library so SO can check out the facilities. What else should we do around there?

We're here till mid-December with a few trips hither and yon (mostly yon).

When we go to Golder's Green for lunch or dinner and a walkaround, where exactly are we going (i.e. which cross streets for the best choice of casual restaurants and interest)?

goddesstogo

Wait! A question has come up. As it turns out, we're going to the British Library in the morning and then to Sloane Square for a matinee of Cybourne Park at the Royal Court Theatre (a friend's daughter is in it). The theatre is right on Sloane Square.

If we want to have lunch someplace nice but not heart-clutchingly expensive, where would you suggest? We'll go early and meander around the area so what should we see?

I feel so lucky to get the tickets! It said 'sold out' on the website but when we phoned, two tickets had just been returned for tomorrow afternoon's performance. Has anyone seen it?

goddesstogo

oops...that's Clybourne Park.

PatrickLondon

Around the BL - it has its own gallery of treasures, an almost hidden collection of postage stamps the general public can see, and the current temporary exhibition about maps is interesting. As a library, it is intended as the library of last resort: you can't get into the reading rooms, let alone order up materials, without some sort of research justification.

That may all take up your morning, but if you do have time available, the Wellcome Collection is just along the Euston Road:
http://www.wellcomecollection.org/

goddesstogo

Thanks, Patrick. The Wellcome Collection looks fascinating and the posters for the map exhibit have caught my eye too.

The 'research justification' is the reason why we're going in the first place. My SO hopes to do some work there on a paper he's writing. I know my brother-in-law, a Hume scholar, has worked there. Do you know what my SO might need to bring along to support his request for access to the reading rooms, etc?

janisj

May not be what you are thinking of but Peter Jones department store is practically across from the Royal Court and they have a nice cafe on the top floor. It is cafeteria style-- but quite good, nice wine and large windows w/ views over Chelsea

http://www.peterjones.co.uk/ShopInfo...bId=1314#15310

They also have a Brasserie but I haven't eaten there.

goddesstogo

Thanks, janis -- that sounds like it would do just fine.

annhig

Annhig, I'd invited Bookchick to our Toronto get-together (have to be careful using 'GTG' in this thread ) in a couple of weeks and you'd be the other I'd invite if I didn't already know how far away you were. We still have to slurp back some oysters someday.>>

GTG - I'll go a long way for some oysters, but in fact I'll be in seville then. not sure whether they have them there.

there is of course the famous Falmouth oyster Festival in a month's time:

http://www.falmouthoysterfestival.co.uk/prog_index.html

How about a long weekend in Cornwall???

PatrickLondon

Sorry, I missed that point earlier. I believe they may be a bit less restrictive now than when I was entitled to a reader's ticket, but here's what they say:

http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/inrrooms/st...pregister.html

As I read it, passport, documentary evidence of address (I'd take something showing your home address and a copy of your current rental agreement) and of the research affiliation (university ID card, for example), plus some of the relevant catalogue entries.

goddesstogo

Patrick -- you're a great help. Thanks.

flanneruk

"As a library, it is intended as the library of last resort: you can't get into the reading rooms, let alone order up materials, without some sort of research justification."

Is a bit out of date these days. You need the ID documents listed at http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/inrrooms/st.../identify.html, and in my experience they're 100% inflexible about this.

As far your/his needs to use the library are concerned, they really don't interrogate MUCH. They expect you to know why need the BL, and that's about all. If they think you'd be better off somewhere else (the BL's got most books published in Britain in the past few centuries, but it's close to hopeless for some essential journals published elsewhere) they'll tell you. But as long as you're over 18, you've got the right ID, and you say you need something they're one of the few institutions in Greater Greater London to have, you'll get a pass instantly.

Outside the pass-controlled area they've got good free wifi, a range of eateries and I endorse Patrick's minirave about the current map show.

You'll just miss me, BTW.

goddesstogo

Just miss you? Why? Where are you? We're just leaving the house to go to the BL.

lizziea06

I'm probably too late to help you with lunch, but Tom's Kitchen is a go to place for me to lunch in Sloane Square:

http://www.tomskitchen.co.uk/chelsea/