To the Tate, mate

Syl and I skipped the trip to the Crown Jewels with the rest of the group and followed Magritte across the Millennium pedestrian bridge to the Tate Modern Art Gallery. It's housed in a former power plant right on the Thames. Fantastically enormous galleries--Christo would have room for an installation inside! We weren't sure if the air ducts on the floor were an exhibit or building repairs. Note to MFF peeps: I especially enjoyed the experimental films of Oskar Fischinger. Transfixing!

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5 Golden Rings

With a month to go until the Olympics begin here, the signs are not subtle! The rings have to be raised each time the bridge lifts for tall ships...and for the arrival of the basketball teams.

We saw a bridge exhibit on the walkway between the towers above the rings.

This rose is an extra

We took a quiet morning stroll toward Regent's Park and knew we were getting close when we could smell the roses before we had even entered the gate. What a sight to see a collection of hundreds of English roses all in full bloom. No weeds allowed. Even the topiary was tending to the flowers. And a coot with lobed toes came after me when I tried to photograph her cootlings. 

Interesting that I just ran across this quote from Arthur Conan Doyle about roses. Since he was nearby at Baker St. writing Sherlock Holmes, I wonder if this line was inspired by these very Regent's Park roses? 

"What a lovely thing a rose is!... Our highest assurance of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers." 
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Naval Treaty

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Elementary, my dear Watson

We decided to spend our first morning at Regent Park but all signs from the Baker Street tube stop (including the tile on the walls) indicated we should visit the Sherlock Holmes museum at 221B Baker Street first. We had fun mugging it up. The deerstalker hat fit me so well that after I put it on for a photo I forgot I was still wearing it and a docent had to come after me and retrieve it.

London calling

After the Portsmouth concert autograph hounds were done with Chris we packed up the rental van (tux on top) and headed back to Heathrow to return the van. Our London flat is on the 4th floor with no elevator so my Alps training has begun!

Great Expectations

Portsmouth is the birthplace of Charles Dickens and Chris performed as part of the summer "Great Expectations" music and literary festival here. A small but happy crowd lunched on cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches and were treated to beautiful music from Chris in the organ loft. Laura expertly turned the pages for him.

E ticket rides

After our fish & chips dinner at a Portsmouth wharf pub last night Carol
and I hoofed it over to the Spinnaker. Tower in the hopes of going up the highest accessible structure in England. Alas, it had already closed for the day. So when "Out of this World Tours" (Laura's name for her excellent travel planning service) gave us a few free hours before today's concert, Carol and I were off like a whirlwind. First was a hovercraft ride to the Isle of Wight and a walk through the seaside town of Ryde. Then back to scale the tower and visit the three viewing platforms including one with a glass floor, which takes your breath away when you take that first step and walk on air. Though we strive to break through the glass ceiling, we were very happy the glass floor held firm!

Fish feeding frenzy

Our visit to the oldest inn in England "Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem" in Nottingham set the benchmark for fish & chips and we've tried to top it ever since. No luck yet but it sure is delicious trying! We are hooked!

Newspaper isn't used due to health concerns about lead in the ink. (No apparent worry over the dripping fat content.) Instead they use a thin wax paper that is printed to look like newspaper which is a jolly good nod to tradition.

On the London Underground I was sitting by a window between the cars and could swear I smelled fish & chips. I hope the Brits are using all the vats of fats for biodiesel!

God Save the Queen

After our picnic lunch in Salisbury we walked the same path that the Queen took for her Diamond Jubilee visit to the cathedral and Colm pointed out how they secure the water and gas covers to verify nobody has tampered with them and hidden bombs. God save the Queen!

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Apple Tech Support

This Brit kept taking photos of herself at Stonehenge ("it's turned into a mirror!") so I politely explained that mobile international Apple tech support was by her side to help. She found me to be the greatest miracle at Stonehenge!

A Salisbury picnic

An open air market tempted us so we collected cheese, bread, olives, tomatoes and strawberries for our lunch in a Salisbury park.

Lord of the Rings

Turns out JRR Tolkien frequented  Moreton, and the town and our inn were inspiration for Bree and "The Prancing Pony." Every turn in the road has some literary connection, or so they claim for the convenience of us bloggers. I will say that the headroom in the pub and rooms was better matched to Hobbits than to me. 

We reluctantly left the picturesque Moreton for another ancient ring...

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Moreton-in-Marsh

One of the first things we noticed about Moreton was a cafe menu item named "Pigs in Duvets." Tonight as we climb to our room in the rafters of the old carriage house of The Bell Inn and crawl under our crisp white comforters I can't help but say...Pigs in Duvets!

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Cycling the Cotswolds

Today we departed Nottingham to head south for the next concert in Portsmouth. But we have time to stay a night en route and tour about. Laura reserved bikes for us at a Disney-esque town in the Cotswolds called Bourton-on-the-Water. After we all got outfitted and on our way down the backroads my bike blew a tire and I had to retreat back for a replacement bike. I sent the others on with the map, convinced I could catch up before I needed directions. Of course after the first three turns every picturesque hamlet looked like the last and I had no idea where to find them. I had to sheepishly return to the bike shop yet again for a map. Then I was on my way (third time's a charm) along a pretty path over rolling hills, along creeks, past rose-covered stone houses, and horses in neon green meadows. Eventually I did find my cousins but there was a moment when I recalled how mean Carol & Laura were to me when we were little and I thought they were up to their old tricks.

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Wizard of Oz Tree

The ghost town feel of the town, while everyone watched the game, inspired us to walk home via the Nottingham cemetery. On our own ghost walk we ran across this tree that must have inspired the Haunted Forest trees from Wizard of Oz. Fortunately his bark was worse than his bite...

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Robin Hood: Men In Tights

The town of Nottingham has been alive with crowds of folks on the streets including many grown men dressed in tights. I thought it charming that they'd re-enact Robin Hood for us so often. But when we started seeing Tele Tubbie  and Rooster costumes as well, I realized this wasn't Sherwood Forest any longer. We learned that men in Nottingham have a charming tradition of donning stupid costumes for stag parties, cricket matches, and big football games. Tonight England challenged Italy in a quarterfinal football match for the European Cup and packs of wild men prowled the streets looking for the right pub to park themselves. We found ourselves in a pub before the match started and when I took a photo of these crazed boys through the window, I was noticed and the Red Rooster boy came inside to explain the finer points of the English flag to us (it is not the Union Jack). The town turned into a ghost town when the game began. Only mounted bobbies and taxi drivers stirred--everyone else was in a pub with a pint. (England lost but we departed before riots ensued.)

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Standing ovation

Chris performed magnificently to a crowd of about 150. The 3500 pipes of the Binn's organ sounded spectacular! Bravo, Chris!

Here is a panorama before the crowd arrived and Chris with the Custodian of the organ, David Butterworth.