Wrapping up September

No I haven’t given up blogging, just took a long break. Let me see if I can start to catch up…

Since I last wrote, we’ve been busy w/ school, school friends, fun mom stuff (though Ava is convinced I spend all my non-kid time shopping) and fighting w/ the refrigerator (it hates me, I’ve decided).

On September 17 I was lucky enough to take a tour of Clarence House, the official residence of Prince Charles, Camilla (the Duchess of Cornwall) and Princes William and Henry.

Built between 1825 and 1827 – and designed by John Nash – it was commissioned by William IV, who was known as the Duke of Clarence, before he inherited the throne in 1830. He preferred it to nearby St. James’ Palace, which apparently he felt was too cramped. It was then passed to his sister Princess Augusta Sophia, then to Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (say that three times fast). She was the mother of Queen Victoria.

In 1866 it became the home of Queen Victoria’s sons at different times. Then it was used by the Red Cross and St. John Ambulance Brigade during WWII.

And finally then to Princess Elizabeth and hubby. After George VI died the Queen Mother and Princess Anne moved in. (Anne later moved to Kensington.)

In 2003 Charles moved in after a “massive refurbishment” following the death of the Queen Mother.

Clarence House has four stories, is pale stucco and lovely. The rooms we saw – a handful and none of the private quarters of the family – were warm and felt lived in.

Our guide, who was a delightful English chap, regaled us with stories of how the Queen Mother (when in residence) fed her dogs at 4:00 every day. She served tea to heads of state throughout the world in her library, and we got to take a peak at the fancy sofa where her pooches rested regularly. (Charles had it re-upholstered when he moved in.)

After our tour we had a glass of champagne as we meandered around the gift shop.

Friday evening Joe and I caught up w/ friends from his Dell days, which was great fun. They live in London now – and have for the past several years (after a stint in Ireland and then in France).

Odds and ends

Claire started her First Holy Communion preparation course, which she seemed to enjoy.

I snuck in a quick visit to the V&A’s fashion exhibit (the V&A is immense, and free, and one of those places I hope to return to numerous times throughout our stay here).

I also caught up w/ friends over coffee at my favorite café, Maison Blanc in St. Johns Wood (best pastries and hot chocolate this side of France).

And we had dinner w/ a friend from our subdivision in North Carolina, who was in town on business. Great fun to catch up w/ her.

Margaret's visit

On Sept. 24 our friend Margaret showed up on our doorstep, having mastered the Gatwick Express and tube. She and I made our way to Harrods, then on to Buckingham Palace, where she explored for a couple of hours.

The kids and I took her to St. Johns Wood and our favorite kid-friendly spot (Carluccio’s) for dinner. (It has pasta on the menu, need I say more?)

Friday found Margaret and me on one of the famed “London Walks,” wherein a tour guide takes you around parts of the city and provides insight.

We did the Westminster Walk (Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Guard, Royal Park, 500-year-old St. James's Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Admiralty Arch…). And we had the perfect day for it – sunny and warm – with a great tour guide who let us meander our way through, stopping here and there to enjoy the views and hear anecdotes about London’s history, royalty, shops, etc.

From there we tubed it to the Borough Market, wandered through and picked up a small bottle of champagne to eat with grilled sausages (who wouldn’t pair those together).

Margaret headed off to the Tower of London for some Henry VIII insight and a look at the Crown Jewels, and we re-convened later, after playdates and ballet, to get ready for dinner. We met Joe at the National Portrait Gallery restaurant, which is on the rooftop and affords a lovely view of London. Good food, too!

Margaret and I continued our evening out at the Clifton Pub (and can you believe we shut the place down – and it was only 11:15). What’s wrong w/ these Londoners?
On Saturday she and I headed off to Notting Hill’s Portobello market, which seemed quite flea market-ish. Quite popular too; the crowd just kept growing and we kept wondering what we were missing?!?

From there we stopped at the British Museum for a wander around, then off to watch War Horse at a theatre on Drury Lane. I enjoyed my second time watching it as much as the first; this time I was intent on watching more of the puppetry involved in the horses’ movements. Quite complex.

From the play we headed home for dinner, then went to the Warrington for after dinner drinks. Very cool old English style pub.

And on Sunday Margaret went to St. Paul’s for services while we made it to Mass. We made our way to St. Pauls as her service was letting out, then wandered across the Thames for lunch at a pub. It was such a gorgeous day we sat outside, drank beers, ate sausages and fish and chips and enjoyed a quartet singing on one side of us, views of the Thames on the other.

From there Claire, Margaret and I caught a ferry to Greenwich while Joe and Ava headed home.

Greenwich is delightful, a lovely little village with charming shops and café and cool artsy market. We tooled around for a bit, then caught a bus back to Canary Wharf. Or at least the driver tried to take us to Canary but apparently had it all wrong and was soon corrected by an Australian passenger. (Australian? How did he know his way around?!?).

Anyway, after going in a big circle, we headed in supposedly the right direction, then the poor shmuck took another wrong turn, and was loudly informed he was in the wrong. At this point two men in the back got in a heated discussion. VERY heated. I would have hated to be the woman in between them.

Eventually, with a loud round of applause, we did get to Canary Wharf, then caught the DLR to the tube to home. Bit of a long winded journey.

Hopefully Margaret had fun; we certainly packed in as much as we could in 4 days!

Other news:

Late September found us checking out Westway Stables, which was recommended to us by a friend whose daughter has experienced Hyde Park stables and other riding resources in the area. They’ve been impressed with the one-on-one attention and value for money at Westway, which is bizarrely located under a busy motorway, behind a sport complex and near a trailerpark.

It clearly isn’t what you imagine when you think London English riding stable.
However, I was impressed with the lesson we observed – Mason, the instructor, was patient and thorough and appeared to have a nice rapport with Bouncer (short white child friendly horse) and pupil alike.

The stable owner, a woman, apparently has 44 horses and an office full of ribbons from equestrian events.

We signed up and Claire has enjoyed two lessons, will embark on her third Wed.

Also as Sept. ended I was able to snag a few minutes at the Wallace Collection, a national museum which displays works of art collected in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, the son of the 4th Marquess. It was bequeathed to the British nation by Sir Richard's widow, Lady Wallace, in 1897.

I then met up w/ a friend for a lovely quiche lunch in the courtyard of the Wallace. (Doesn’t quiche just scream lady’s lunch?)

And for fun I took the kids to Selfridges’ Icecreamists, the “ultimate ice cream boutique, which offers a wide array of unique-flavoured ice cream, fresh frozen yogurt and sorbettos.” The ice cream was fabulous, décor of the room great fun – black and hot pink w/ a cool old car parked inside, big silver throne chairs here and there.

Selfridges schedules bands, catwalk, other entertainment periodically at the Icecreamists, which closes sometime in November. If we have another urge for ice cream we’ll head that way again, though it’s getting rather chilly here so hot chocolate sounds a bit more inviting.

Next post...October stuff!