Oh stoke, you are reconciling me with London...

I’ll be at the Orange Tree next week! It is definitely worth it to sign up for promotions (which happens automatically if you ever use the WiFi) as I got three nights for 210 GBP. One night was free.

I love Richmond. Not all Ted Lasso tours are so expensive. I went on one and it was not expensive. Maybe 30 GBP. I really enjoyed it. Learned not to buy the biscuits in the window of the shop on Ted’s street because they might be coming from Tesco and repacked!

I didn’t know one could order a child’s portion of a Sunday roast - thank you for mentioning this!

That photo of the night sky, the car lights and street light, and the red hat is absolutely fabulous. One of the best photos I've ever seen on Fodors, and that's saying something considering the many great photographers on here.

Oh, kerouac!

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The promotion didn't work the nights I was there, rialto, but I was glad it drew me there. Maybe you must appear to be a sweet little old lady to be offered the child's plate?

Coquelicot, thank you! I liked the way that one turned out. Happy accident.

I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Kyoto last night at @sohoplace. Devastating, hilarious, tragic.

I had almost decided I didn't have the energy, then rechecked a couple of reviews online: NYT called it 'thrilling,' and the Guardian said 'gripping.' What kind of fool wouldn't rouse herself for that? Especially since it's an easy #14 bus from Russell Square to Tottenham Tube station, practically next door.

It was thrilling and gripping. I can't discuss the politics of it here, but it's set in the distant past starting 1987 when global climate change talks began.

Monday I took a bus down to BFI South Bank for the 18:00 showing of Hard Truths. I like Mike Leigh, wanted to see something British.. The theater was mostly full, except around the edges. I've been to the Mediatique before, enjoyed bits of old films, and used to really like the movie star postcards you could get at the shop. Somehow those are gone, replaced by a smaller, more artsy selection.

The protagonist is an angry middle-aged black woman. Perplexingly angry. It's not a movie I liked in the usual, satisfying sense, but it has stuck with me.

Speaking of perplexing: getting out of the BFI building then back up to the bridge and bus stop. Once there, it is a cinch.

Getting around:
Southeastern Express train took 19 minutes from Richmond station to Waterloo, including one stop at Clapham.
490 bus, per schedules posted near a bus stop, seems to go between Heathrow to Richmond station,. The tfl app also mentioned a two buses option including the Superloop. I like to stay above ground when possible.

Playing Mozart outside Tottenham tube stop, a hard way to make a buck.

The Kyoto set. Second balcony seat , just fine.

Loving your report. Thanks for taking the time while you’re on your trip!

Thank you, Yanky.

I find the Celtic Hotel's old fashioned atmosphere comforting. Most of the staff has been there for several years.

​​​​ For a small town person at heart, feels good to be recognized. The woman serving breakfast, for instance, has been there since before my time. When Hannah was getting her Masters at KCL, her dorm was just down the street, and she would sometimes come have breakfast with me. It's a student area, with UCL across the Square.


The lounge.

You can get a full English breakfast to order.


I stopped in at SKOOB bookstore, downstairs on the north side of Brunswick Center. They have a fine selection of used and new books, including lightweight Penguin paperbacks good for traveling. The Tesco across from Russell Square tube stop fills with students searching for the best meal deal. Sometimes me. Handiest place to get the Guardian newspaper, too.



SKOOB


The excellent Fortitude Bakehouse is in the alley just behind the Celtic, in the old Horse Hospital building.

Enjoying your TR, stokebailey !

Splendid TR, stokebailey. That was a huge Yorkshire pudding! And thanks for a new word, pollarding.

Aw, thanks, yk and TDud.

Duplicate

Traveling alone has benefits. You can do what you feel like doing, or bail out if things prove not as much fun as you thought. A disadvantage comes if you don't quite know what you feel like doing, and don't have anyone to nudge you.

The day I saw Kyoto, I felt at loose ends. Started to go to the Royal Maritime Museum, changed my mind. Regrouped, walked over to the British Museum in the afternoon. I love that museum and all it offers, and I love seeing masses of people from around the world. What I don't love is massed humanity between me and the art.

I wondered for a while, looking for a folding stool, then wandered another while looking for something to sketch. Indecisive and overwhelmed. I made a bad sketch of an Assyrian lion, then I
​​​​​ made the mad decision, still carrying the stool, to buy an Egyptian cat postcard for a friend's birthday. The jostling, the seekers after souvenirs. Soon it was closing time, and we were herded to the exits.

I still had a couple of hours until curtain time, wasn't hungry, didn't want to go to a pub. Luckily, the wonderful L.Cornelissen art store down the block was still open. It restored my soul, mostly.

Speaking of crisps:



They sell these in Rome. Called crinkle chips in the Italian ingredients, made in Milan, they are above average. Amusing packaging a plus.

I had too few full days in London this time, and trying to optimize them might have made me more scatterbrained the previous day.

First stop, Arôme Bakery in Covent Garden.


This was not my day to try something new, though their honey French toast is said to be the thing.

They make an almond croissant that you can take away and eat all day.


I have been rereading Patrick O'Brien's most excellent Aubrey/Maturing series, full of 19th century British warships, so I devoted my last day to a Thames Clipper to Greenwich and the Royal Maritime Museum. I like to relax and see London from the river, and it is a fine Museum.




So-called Traitors Gate. Queen Elizabeth I passed through here, and so probably did a few of my ancestors who backed the wrong sides.

The front of the Maritime Museum is undergoing construction, so I tried walking up along a drive on the right side. That didn't lead to an entrance, but it did go past a RN burying ground. Near the fence, there was memorial to a man who would have served during the Napoleonic wars, then died a lieutenant in middle age. The Master and Commander books tell you what a melancholy position that was, never to be made a commander or a captain.

I'm still live, but in Thessaloniki on the tail end.

In London, it was impossible to get away from this former footballer, advertising underwear and his abs in different poses. He's justifiably proud of them, of course.

Even in Paris, there was a massive photo along the Left Bank of the Seine.

Echoed here at the excellent Archaeological Museum in Thessaloniki. This represented a breastplate, not tattooed flesh, and shows the enduring appeal of a toned belly.

The Aubrey sagas are interesting and based mainly on the true life story of the amazingly named Captain Courageous.

Patrick ( not his real name) born and raised English decided, late in life, that he was Irish. Which you can see sort if happening in the books.

Thanks, bilbo. I'll have to look into Captain Courageous.

This time through the books, I kind of skim the sea battles.

The evening after Maritime Museum, I headed down to the London Coliseum for ENO production of Marriage of Figaro, my favorite. Lucky to get first row balcony seat and admire the ornate upper decorations. An unusually dressed young couple made their own dramatic entrance to a box.





Delightful and creative production. The set is a white wall with four white doors; during the overture the players fling them open, then closed, at dramatic beats, Just clever, surprising, played for farce. Same set throughout, except when it elevates to be walked under.




. Modern-ish costumes. A fun evening, culminating in the touching finale.

Down a short hill to the Strand, good old 91 bus,
and back to Russell Square.