In early December Mike and I had a magical two day, one night getaway to London. Babette very generously offered to entertain the boys and we thrilled to bits left her to it.
We left as early as we could manage and took the train into town. So exciting!
The morning was glorious, as you can see from the photos. The weather in general has been so much warmer and sunnier than last year, we can hardly believe it's the same country.
Our first order of business was getting tickets to the Da Vinci exhibit at the National Gallery! I watched a program about the recently restored and authenticated Salvator Mundi, but when I tried to buy tickets online, they had already sold out. So we opted to wait in line. For three and a half HOURS! Fortunately, we had a fun queue-mate to while away the frosty morning.
And the sky looked like this, lovely to behold.
We lucked into the 8:30 pm viewing, the last of the day. Many people behind us didn't get tickets.
At the suggestion of our queue-mate, we had lunch at Joe Allen in the West End. It was so much fun, the ambience is warm and lively and the food was crazy good. I ordered the tagliatelle with truffles, despite the price tag because I thought, what the heck! Soooo yummy, worth every pence. Also, they have secret burgers that aren't on the menu but are yummers!
We arrived right on time to see the Da Vinci exhibit, after seeing a movie, which was a huge mistake. What a waste of 2 hours, we should have walked around town instead. Oh well.
Seeing the collection of Da Vinci's work was thrilling, it felt like a gift. Included in the exhibit was a life size photo of The Last Supper painted by Da Vinci, and a near contemporary copy which hangs at Magdalen College, Oxford. The copy is painted on canvas and is hardly deteriorated, giving a good idea about the detail and color of the original.
The next morning we went our for a walk/run.
And discovered a German style Christmas market on the Southbank by the London Eye. Crepes!! And mushrooms! And sausages!
Later that day we went to see Billy Elliot, and we both agreed we could understand 75% more than we would have if we had never lived here.
After we had dinner at a restaurant in Covent Garden Market, serenaded sweetly by a guy with a guitar.
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| A view from Waterloo Bridge. |
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| View from Waterloo Bridge. |
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| View from Waterloo Bridge. |
And the sky looked like this, lovely to behold.
We lucked into the 8:30 pm viewing, the last of the day. Many people behind us didn't get tickets.
At the suggestion of our queue-mate, we had lunch at Joe Allen in the West End. It was so much fun, the ambience is warm and lively and the food was crazy good. I ordered the tagliatelle with truffles, despite the price tag because I thought, what the heck! Soooo yummy, worth every pence. Also, they have secret burgers that aren't on the menu but are yummers!
We arrived right on time to see the Da Vinci exhibit, after seeing a movie, which was a huge mistake. What a waste of 2 hours, we should have walked around town instead. Oh well.
The next morning we went our for a walk/run.
And discovered a German style Christmas market on the Southbank by the London Eye. Crepes!! And mushrooms! And sausages!
Later that day we went to see Billy Elliot, and we both agreed we could understand 75% more than we would have if we had never lived here.
After we had dinner at a restaurant in Covent Garden Market, serenaded sweetly by a guy with a guitar.
Missing your smiles like crazy! I hope you are well and happy and full! xoxo
ReplyDeleteThank you my sweet Felicia!! Can't wait to see you soon...xoxox
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