Extremes

I went to two performances tonight, one super-hyped event with a huge budget, enormous crowd, and plenty of security, and the other a small, quirky event that often felt like a children's show on public television. I think you can guess which one this first photo is from:

Adam Bohman and Patrizio Paolini make music and do spoken word using some pre-recorded samples and what could be the contents of an offbeat daycare: paper-towel tubes, glasses filled with water, toys used to sing babies to sleep, wind-up animals that jump with a percussive beat, and lyrics sheets seemingly written in crayon. Between pieces, Adam told "jokes." Sample joke: "What did the printer technician hope to get for Christmas? A cartridge in a pear tree." You get the idea. This is what event number two looked like:
Tonight was the first of three free live-feed broadcasts from London's Royal Opera House shown at outdoor venues all over the UK. Swan Lake graced the screen this evening: Although this past week has been full of weather that basically made fun of the title of this series, "Summer Big Screens," today finally decided that it did indeed want to be summery, and it was a perfect night for an outdoor event. Not too hot, and nowhere close to cold, Trafalgar Square was filled with people happy to picnic on the pavement, enjoying pitchers of their favourite beverages free from the confines of the concert hall. In fact, most people seemed to be paying more attention to their food and drink than to the ballet!

Good Dog

Sights like this are fairly common around London,

so much so that it can be easy to forget what they represent. Built by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association (established in the mid-nineteenth century), these present-day flower-beds are reminders of a time when safe water wasn't widely available to the public, so people (and their animals) sought out these welcome sources of free, clean water. On a less historic and more frivolous note, I like the way that the troughs look like giant dachshunds when viewed from the side, as above.

Around the Serpentine

Although I wasn't sure what today's weather would bring (the sky seemed to change every time I looked up), I decided to head down to Hyde Park and wander toward the Serpentine Gallery in neighbouring Kensington Gardens. Even though this Hyde-Park scene looks rather idyllic,

the deckchairs are empty for a reason: the chilly wind and unpredictable clouds didn't make for good deckchair weather. This swan and cygnet enjoyed the sun while it lasted, and I couldn't figure out just where this parade was headed, but the birds all swam in the same direction, seemingly toward nothing.
The solar shuttle cruised along the Serpentine,
and these men got very close to this tall swan.
Somehow, whenever Bob and I walk along the Serpentine, we always walk along the north bank--I don't really know why, but it always works out that way. Today I walked along the southern side instead, and came across the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain for the first time. I didn't really know what to expect, and I was quite impressed with the lovely fountain, whose water changed speed (and acoustics) as it flowed from two directions down to the tranquil pool at the bottom.



After a walk through the Serpentine Gallery's eerie Paul Chan exhibit, I had some coffee at a waterside table at the Lido Café, where this rude passerby wouldn't stop staring at me!
Suddenly, the sky turned ominous
and seconds later, it started to pour. Even though I had an umbrella, the lower half of my body still got soaked. People huddled under trees, with looks of horror on their faces as they considered how they were going to make it out of the park, and the cold wind sliced through the water and my damp calves with equal force. Then, as quickly as it began, it was over: the sun came out, and I swear I could hear my jeans hissing as all that water began to evaporate.
The birds didn't even seem to notice what had happened. This great bird (which I've found out is a moorhen) posed for the camera, and the cygnet I saw earlier was still on the water, as cute as ever.
I think that Bob and I have walked past Hyde Park's rose garden before, but it must have been back in winter, when the garden was fully asleep and certainly didn't look (or smell) as glorious as it did today.



Two fountains are incorporated into the garden: Huntress,
and this rather bizarre one, called Boy and Dolphin.
My last stop for the day was at the National Theatre for a free performance by the Luca Luciano Duo. An extremely laid-back group of people lounged on couches and chairs while the sounds of clarinet and piano filled the huge space.
On my way out, I noticed this man watering the lawn growing on the side of the National Theatre. I liked how the Antony Gormley sculpture looked like the gardener's lazy co-worker, staring off into the distance while his friend did all the back-breaking work!

Escaping the Rain

Well, May is continuing to enjoy pretending it's January or February, and many a bank-holiday-Monday plan was dashed due to poor weather. I sought refuge in the warm galleries of Tate Britain, and depending on which gallery I was in, it felt like all of London had the same rainy-day backup plan. I barely managed a glimpse of the new How We Are: Photographing Britain exhibit, due to the crushing crowds, but saw enough to know that Bob and I have to go back to linger over the fascinating range of photos. Moving away from the crowds, I thoroughly enjoyed the Prunella Clough exhibit; the exhibition introduction describes her as critically lauded, but basically unknown to the general public, a condition that was mimicked by the gallery space in which I happened to be the only person during my visit. After wandering through the twentieth-century galleries (as with the National Gallery, there is still so much in Tate Britain's collection that I've not yet seen), I decided to brave the rain again. On my way back to the tube, I noticed this sad sight of forgotten, soggy laundry getting heavier by the minute in the cold, rainy day, which made me walk even faster toward the welcome warmth of the tube.

Temptation Too Close to Home

I've been looking forward to visiting 19 Princelet Street ever since I found out about it back in the spring of 2005. Unfortunately, it has extremely limited opening days (it was only open on a total of eighteen days in 2006) and I was very excited to find out that today was one of them. 19 Princelet Street is an unrestored eighteenth-century house whose fragility is the main reason its opening days are so limited--they are actively raising funds and support for restoring the building and reopening it as an immigration museum, but until then, limited openings or prearranged group visits are the only ways for the public to see this incredible place. The building contains many immigrant histories, courtesy of the numerous generations of people from a range of origins who have had their residence traced to the address, and even houses a small synagogue, under the dramatic cracked stained-glass ceiling that runs the length of the large room. While the building (the one with the cream-coloured ground floor) has a fairly ordinary exterior by London standards, the interior is absolutely amazing, especially in its unrestored state. Unfortunately, photographs are not allowed, so I don't have anything else to show you, but the house is one of the most interesting places I've visited in London, and I highly recommend you visit it if you can. (They are open for a week in June and then usually have the remainder of the year's openings in September.) The house is very close to Spitalfields Market, so after I left Princelet Street, I decided to get out of the rain and venture into the market, at the left of this photo (I always love the way the beautiful Christ Church Spitalfields looks when approaching the market from this direction):
As with yesterday's visit to Borough, it's been a long time since I've been to Spitalfields Market on its busiest day, Sunday. With the rainy, cold weather (is this really May? it feels like January!), crowds that might otherwise have been lounging in a park were enjoying the covered enticements of the market.
On Sundays, Spitalfields has the widest variety of goods on offer, including clothes,
crafts,
and food.
I also saw this fascinating sight at Spitalfields: Part of the current exhibit, Soundwaves, at Kinetica Museum, whose previous exhibit we thoroughly enjoyed, these shadows were cast by Pierre Bastien's wonderful Mecanologie installation of everyday objects (including a teapot, saw, toothbrushes, and scissors)
furiously alive with motor-propelled movement as they performed their "household orchestra." Just as I was leaving the market, I noticed some magic words on this shop window, did a double-take, and rushed inside to investigate, barely allowing myself to believe what I was seeing: PIERRE MARCOLINI. In London. So close to home. At London prices. Ouch. When I looked online to see what I could find out about the shop (which was very lovely inside, with a beautiful range of items stocking its few shelves), I was surprised to learn that it's owned by Jeanette Winterson, author of the brilliant, wonderful, fantastic novel The Passion. Winterson's account of how Verde's came to be mentions how "everything on sale at Verde's comes from small co-operatives or family-run firms, except for the Pierre Marcolini chocolates, which are the finest in the world" (her superlative, not mine, although I do agree). If everything else is as well-chosen as the chocolates, then this must be a shop of treasures. If you are in Spitalfields, please say hello to my beloved Pierre for me . . .

Competition Standard

Tate Modern is hosting an array of free and ticketed events this long weekend, and I thought I would go down and check out at least a bit of it. I had a quick peek at The Artist's Dining Room exhibit before heading into the Turbine Hall to watch families in funny hats take on The Great Turbine Challenge, a giant gameboard populated by unusual game pieces. Next up was a sound installation that filled the enormous hall:

I had planned on sticking around for a performance piece later in the day, but I was too hungry to wait around, so I walked along the Thames to Borough Market to have Bob's and my favourite sandwich: roast pork, stuffing, and applesauce in a lovely, squishy baguette. Mmm! It's been a long time since I've been to the market on a Saturday, and it seemed bigger and even more crowded than on previous Saturdays. After my tummy was full, I enjoyed wandering (very slowly) in the market throng, taking in all the sights and smells.Present-day vendors pay a lot more to sell their wares at Borough than this Schedule of Rents indicates their predecessors once paid, but of course, prices at Borough also reflect the market's status as London's most-loved foodie market.
Bob and I tried this sold-out paté before--I loved it, but Bob thought it was too oniony (but those of you who have ever eaten with Bob may know that he has a bias against all things allium, with the exception of garlic, so I don't think he's a fair critic).
I didn't buy any of this "competition standard" asparagus,
but it sure smelled great. I'm not sure I'm crazy about the name of this tomato,
but they did look nice, as did this mountain of fragrant fruit. I love oyster mushrooms--we cooked them quite regularly in Vancouver, but somehow haven't been doing so in London.
These figs were picture-perfect with their lovely bloom,
whereas this spice kiosk was a bit over-the-top. One thing I'm definitely learning is that I need to brush up on (or in some cases, learn from scratch) my vegetable varieties. In Vancouver, when you buy potatoes, they're usually just labelled by colour (white, red), function (baking), or season (new). The only potato commonly known by variety is the Yukon Gold (oh so good). Here, they all seem to have names
and I need to find out what's what! This stall had my favourite display of the day and when I saw this paella on my way out of the market, I almost regretted not waiting longer to have lunch. (Almost. We've never regretted eating anything at Borough Market!)