June re-cap

Written June 30, 2010

Despite my best intentions, poor blog suffers…alas it probably won’t be the last time.

Since early June Claire and I have had the opportunity to view London from the infamous London Eye! We had a good day for it – warm and breezy, a few clouds, thin lines.

The best part, we both decided, was the 4-minute 4-D (yes 4-D) film clip before the ride. It sets a nice stage for the view with a seagull up close and personal.

About the Eye:

Since opening in March 2000 The Merlin Entertainments London Eye has become an iconic landmark and a symbol of modern Britain. The London Eye is the UK’s most popular paid for visitor attraction, visited by over 3.5 million people a year.

A breathtaking feat of design and engineering, passengers in the London Eye's capsules can see up to 40 kilometres in all directions.

The London Eye is the vision of David Marks and Julia Barfield, a husband and wife architect team. The wheel design was used as a metaphor for the end of the 20th century, and time turning into the new millennium. It’s the tallest cantilevered observation wheel in the world, rising high above the London skyline at 135 metres.
The London eye has 32 capsules, representing the 32 boroughs of London.
It took seven years and the skills of hundreds of people from five countries to make the London Eye a reality.
The London Eye can carry 800 passengers per revolution - equivalent to 11 London red doubled-decker buses.
Each rotation takes about 30 minutes, meaning a capsule travels at a stately 26cm per second, or 0.9km (0.6 miles) per hour - twice as fast as a tortoise sprinting; allowing passengers to step on and off without the wheel having to stop.

After our Eye experience we had a picnic lunch, hit the playground and library and retrieved Ava.

The next day wasn’t quite so lovely; I caught a short-lived but mean virus, was able to get kids off to school and then hugged the couch as fever raged. Great reminder of how nice it is to be healthy.

A few days later found me and a number of other ladies at Sofra (great middle Eastern food) for our first St Johns Wood Women’s Club board meeting. (Say that 3 times fast.) Lovely group and I look forward to being part of the board in 2010-11.

Later in the day I had the opportunity to hear Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, speak. She came to ASL for a brief discussion of her book. Lovely woman who had 62 rejection letters before being published...how’s that for persistence. Well-timed as our book group met to discuss The Help the following day.

Following Kathryn’s brief appearance, a few of us collected at a nearby pub for pimm’s while kids enjoyed pizza and playtime at Szerina’s house. She and I then rolled into dinner at Vineria, our local Italian favorite.

Friday: more Italian with our friends the Sloans, who will soon be off to the U.S. This time we hit a lovely Italian restaurant in Primrose Hill, their neck of the woods. Great food and a great outdoor dining space.

Saturday began the First Holy Communion weekend. Claire and I went down to Marylebone – gorgeous old church – Church of Our Lady – for the Sporre kids’ First Holy Communion. Very nice ceremony. Claire and I also went to the Sporre celebration at their home afterward, first getting our nails painted in preparation for Claire’s big event! (This was her first nail salon experience, just a nice polish.)

Sunday found us at St. Thomas More, our parish, for noon Mass, wherein Claire and 14 others made their First Holy Communion. Miss Ewa, our babysitter, joined us. It was truly a lovely ceremony, with Father Gerard gearing his homily perfectly for the kids. Afterward we had a barrage of photos, treats with members of the Congregation, then were off to Cafe Med, Claire’s choice, for lunch.

June 14 was zoo day! Claire’s school wrapped up that week and celebrated end of school at the zoo. I served as chaperone so followed her and two classmates as they navigated their way via map to the exhibits each had chosen to visit. The weather was lovely, we picnicked outside, everyone seemed to enjoy the day and no children were lost!

The following day I got to hit the Italian Renaissance drawings exhibit at the British Museum w/ some of my Italian group. We enjoyed it very much, had a quick Thai lunch afterward. Wednesday was the last official school day for Claire; classes broke at noon so we met a bunch of ASL families at Violet Hill for such a nice picnic! Again the weather ended up being fantastic after a threatening morning. Eventually I peeled myself off my sunny spot on the lawn and we retrieved Ava and hit Gelato Mio per her request.

Later in the week Claire and I checked out London’s oldest book store (fabulous place that goes up and up and up – kids’ books on top floor), had a lovely Italian lunch out in Mayfair, hit Fortnum and Mason for tea gifts, picked up some other bits and had an all around lovely day out!

I also got to meet with Ava’s teacher for our final parent/teacher conference. I’m pleased to say she got great accolades, has been a good student, interacts well with others and, from Miss Waters’ perspective, seems to enjoy school very much. She’ll continue with Abercorn in the fall as a year one student (aka Kindergarten).

From the conference I went to “Tap Dogs,” a “global dance phenomenon.” Essentially 5 or 6 really fit, really talented men in casual clothes (jeans/t-shirts) and tap boots in an industrial setting dancing for 90 minutes. Loud, fun, high energy and amusing. Similar feel to “Stomp” but not quite as engaging.

To finish out the week, some friends and Claire and I went to Holland Park for playtime and a picnic. What started out as a cloudy/unpredictable day ended up being perfect! FYI…Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants.

Over the weekend we relaxed, with me running my first 10 K in years on Sunday. It was the McMillan race, a fundraiser for cancer, held in Regent’s Park. I was thrilled w/ my time – 52 minutes. (I stink at keeping track of distances, times etc. so was pleasantly surprised at my finish.)

We also spent part of Father’s Day at Ava’s summer fair, where I was recruited to work the cake table. The kids managed to go through plenty of coins for the activities and food, and we left empty-handed from the raffle. Good afternoon activity, though.

This all brings us to last week, wherein Claire enjoyed camp at ASL. She came home tired and sun-kissed; highlights were the swim and water fight, it seems.
While she was camping and Ava was at school, I got to check out the Grace Kelly exhibit at the V&A.

Certain to be a big hit with any fashionistas or fans of the films, the wardrobe on show in the Grace Kelly exhibition London event includes over 50 of the actresses outfits, along with hats, jewellery and the original Hermes Kelly bag that has been coveted by so many for several decades. Also on show are some of her favourite designer dresses, with gowns by Dior, Balenciaga, Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent among them.

Actress, princess, star
Renowned for her effortless elegance and starring in some of the most popular films of the 50s, Grace Kelly became Princess Grace of Monaco in 1965 when she married Prince Rainier. Alongside several garments from her films, her lace wedding gown which she wore in the civil ceremony, features in the Grace Kelly exhibition at Victoria and Albert Museum.

High Society
Famed for her role in the musical High Society in which she starred alongside Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong, Grace Kelly was one of the most famous screen actors of her day. With a style admired and copied by many, the Grace Kelly exhibition gives you an insight into her glamorous Hollywood lifestyle with dresses from several films, posters, film clips and her Oscar statuette all on display. The dress she wore to collect her Oscar for the film Country Girl also features in the exhibition, which is certain to excite fans of her movies as well as fashion fanatics.

I also got to celebrate a friend’s retirement with a very elegant French lunch at Oslo Court restaurant. The establishment is located in a lovely mansion block in St. Johns Wood; the décor very British – think the kind of place you’d take grandmother for tea.

We had lovely food, and copious amounts of it, as tables of elegantly dressed ladies and gents came in. Mixed crowd; apparently it’s a favorite of cabbies. Who knew. Alice was well celebrated, I think.

Also on my calendar for the week – aside from the mundane – was an evening out to a chick flick…”Letters from Juliet.” Lovely views of Italy; it will make you want to go (to Italy, that is. The film is just ok, in my opinion).

Wed. evening Joe and I met a friend of his for dinner – he was in town briefly on business. Very nice meal at Café du Marche, one of our favorite restaurants.

Friday evening saw us at “Enron,” after meeting up w/ our friends Richard and Tim at Joe Allen’s for a wonderful meal. Good American food –organic mushroom burgers as opposed to greasy nachos. Very tasty, great “jazz room” feel to the place. The production was very well done and we all enjoyed it.

Saturday we caught our breath and on Sunday Joe flew out early and the kids and I enjoyed “Brazil Brazil” at the Udder Belly.

The venue: a 400 seat theatre inside an enormous purple cow, staged alongside the Thames.

The show:

Witness capoeira – the rare and beautiful Brazilian fusion of dance and martial
arts, as its masters leap, flip and spin at breathtaking speed. Feel the carnival beats and be swept away on this incredible journey to the pulsating heart of Brazilian passion. Unstoppable rhythm, indescribable feats of acrobatics and a breathless display of football magic from the world champions of the beautiful game.

Great show and nearby was a free onscreen viewing of the World Cup so lots of energy in the area. We capped our Brazil Brazil experience off with ice cream and headed home to enjoy the quiet of the garden.

Last week Claire I went to the Natural History Museum for “The Deep” exhibit and lunch. Nice outing/exhibition:

Plunge into the abyss at The Deep exhibition. Enter a weird and wonderful world, 11,000 metres down in the ocean, less explored than the moon's surface. See bizarre creatures, astonishing images and real specimens, some on display for the first time.

Tuesday we linked up w/ friends for pony day at the London Equestrian Centre. All three kids enjoyed it and we were impressed with the level of organization/instruction provided. (Poor old Westway stables just can’t get it together.)

And next adventure: Scotland!