London 2017

Much as I love our beautiful Island, I felt a desperate need to leave it behind for a few days, so the teenager and I packed our bags and headed to the big smoke. After a straightforward journey (despite misreading the red jet timetable) we arrived in Camberwell, ambled to my sister's house through big piles of London Plane leaves (of course we kicked through them!) and spent a pleasant evening eating lovely food and watching 'Keeping Mum' on DVD (recommended).

Next day the sister had to go to work, so the teenager and I bravely jumped on a bus on our own (not sure where we had to get off), and beaded for the Horniman Museum. It was somewhere we had wanted to visit for ages, and we imagined it would be less crowded than the Kensington museums. It was, but was still full of shrieking toddlers; we couldn't really work out why you would take a toddler to a museum as they don't stand still long enough to take anything in! Maybe we're just old farts. However, the main galleries of the museum were fascinating, and full of Victorian examples of taxidermy showing creatures from all around the world. There were also fossils and skeletons. The centrepiece was a huge walrus which had been stuffed by a taxidermist who had never seen one, and thus got rid of all the wrinkles and bumps! Spectacular nonetheless. A major curiosity was an example of a 'merman', brought home by a gullible sailor, and made up from wood, paper and fish scales. The stuff of nightmares! We didn't go to see any of the extra exhibitions as the card machine wasn't working and we had no cash. We bought baguettes at the café (tasty) and afterwards we mooched around the gardens, also full of screaming children. Pleasant though. Worth a visit.

On day 2 we hopped on the number 40 bus and hopped off again at London Bridge. We headed towards St Paul's Cathedral, and found Cafe 101 at the Salvation Army International HQ in Great Victoria Street, next to the Millennium Bridge. After a cheap and tasty lunch we crossed the Millennium Bridge, pausing to admire the views up and down the river and also to admire the teeny tiny pieces of art painted on the floor, on chewing gum. Sweet! We turned left at the end and mooched along the south bank of the Thames, passing the Globe Theatre and, later, the replica of the Golden Hinde, through Hay's Galleria, before coming to Tower Bridge, opposite the Tower of London. Here we decided to do the tourist thing properly and bought tickets for the 'Tower Bridge Experience' (student discount too!). We got in a lift to the top of the north tower, watched a short film about the construction of the bridge, then proceeded along the walkway and stood on the reinforced glass floor gazing at the traffic and river below. Thrilling! After completing both walkways we descended to street level, found the gift shop and then explored the Engineering exhibit (lots of engines). Once finished we bimbled back along the river to London Bridge and caught the bus home. Lovely, bimbly day!

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Engine at Tower Bridge

Globe Theatre 

Wild Nights out..... April

April Fool's Day ended with an enthusiastic and tuneful performance of Dvorak's 'Stabat Mater' at Medina Theatre. The members of Isle of Wight Cantata choir sang their hearts out, and were ably accompanied by a selection of musicians from the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra, as well as four choral soloists. Rachel Tweddle conducted everybody with great skill, as ever.

 

To bookend the month, I took the teenager to see 'The Queer Bash' at The Apollo Theatre; this was written and performed by members of Red Tie Theatre, and was performed with a great deal of skill. The theme was to explore issues surrounding the LGBTQ community and society as a whole, and had the audience running the full gamut of emotions throughout. I cried and laughed throughout. This was an extremely thought provoking production by young actors who had a lot to say, and a lot of talent to say it with. Coincidentally, one of the cast members had made the national headlines that day by calling out the local MP's views on homosexuality while he was visiting her politics class at school. He resigned. #whatesthersays

 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/28/tory-mp-steps-down-after-telling-pupils-homosexuality-is-wrong

Wild Nights Out.... March

One of my challenges this year is to go out more of an evening. So far this month I have had two such expeditions. The first was to Shanklin Theatre to watch the hilarious Omid Djalili and his equally funny warm up man, Boothby Graffoe. The theatre was lovely and old fashioned, and the show was a hoot! The only downside was the lack of parking in Shanklin, but we found a side street with a parking space eventually.

Yesterday I attended the spring concert of the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra. This was sold out, as usual. The programme was music from Poulenc, Ravel, Franck, and Saint-Saens; the Ravel piece was 'Piano Concerto in G', with the soloist Viv McLean. This was performed beautifully, and Viv McLean's solo in the second part moved me to tears. Yes. Really. Wow, he was superb! I could see his face throughout and he was clearly enjoying every moment - a joy to watch and listen to. The concert ended with Saint-Saens 'Bacchanale from 'Samson and Delila'', which was played with skill and enthusiasm by the orchestra. Absolutely glorious.

Garlic and Shakespeare

No hiking involved today, but as we had such a lovely day I thought I'd blog about it. I asked my Mum out for lunch with me and the teenager, and we headed for the Garlic Farm near Newchurch. This, as the name implies, is a farm that grows garlic! On site is a lovely restaurant, and a shop selling all things garlicky. Lunch was impressive; teenager had a hotdog with fried potatoes and salad, Mum had a beef bourguignon pie with new potatoes and carrots, and I had a huge burger with mozzarella, fries and salad, and garlic mayo to dip the fries into. Lush. We were all stuffed by the end of the meal, and could barely waddle out. However, we managed, and pottered round the shop, then over to the neighbouring field where there was a chance to take a ferret for a walk or hold a bird of prey, for a cost. We declined to pay, but admired the animals. Then we wandered over to the designated walk round the farm, looked at some garlic trial beds, admired the Highland cattle, then decided to go home as we were too full of food to walk round the farm. Another time.

 

In the evening, teenager and I headed for Trinity Theatre in Cowes and watched the Isle of Wight Shakespeare Company's production of Henry IV. This was an abridged version of parts 1and 2, but was jolly good. There was fighting with swords, pikes, maces, and other mediaeval weaponry, and the acting was good quality. Well worth watching this company. Henry V will be on in the summer I believe. 

The Table

My friend took me to the Quay Arts Centre last night to watch 'The Table' as a birthday treat.  This was a production by a company called Blind Summit and consisted of a trio of puppeteers operating a two foot high puppet called Moses.  He had a rag doll body and an intricately crafted cardboard head.  I spent much time pondering how to create it using mathematical nets! Moses performed on, and sometimes above or under, the table. The purpose of the show was apparently to tell the story of the last few hours in the life of the biblical Moses; this was interspersed with much improvisation and general hilarity. I laughed until I cried at points! The puppetry was superb and the puppeteers clearly knew their craft. One disappeared for a while and was temporarily replaced by a very able young man from the audience. An old man sat next to my friend, and as far as we coined tell he didn't crack a smile all the way through the show.

After the main performance the audience were invited back to view a performance that was in the early stages of production; this was a life-sized puppet of a man called Patrick. Patrick was a failed bass guitarist and somewhat dilapidated and .... odd. Yes. He started off as a young man giving au monologue about cancer being caused and cured by water and gradually aged.  This became gradually evident as the monologue progressed (increasing age was mentioned), and then his hand went back to rub his head and his hair fell back revealing a sparsely thatched scalp. Patrick's position on his chair became more upright and less lounge, but stooped like a tired old man.  I thought it was good, but rather disturbing. Not sure I would pay to see it.

After the theatre we headed for the pub, imbibed some booze and had a jolly good catch up! A good night out.