Our personal breakfast chef is on the job
This is the basic platter....eggs how you like 'em. I think that after a week of this succulent beginning to our day, we are committed to adding tomatoes and 'shrooms to our morning fare! We had a lazy morning....after our LONG day at Wimbledon, we were due for a break! David has been getting up early every morning to go work out, preparing for a weight lifting competition. The other 3 slugs slept till 9:30 am! We lazed through the morning and gradually made our 1:45 appointment at HintHunt....certain that this time we would beat the clock
This picture should suggest that we did not, in fact, beat the clock! Actually, the Zen room was much more difficult than the first one. We were close, but no prize!!! Kenz is trying to blame it on David... not so much, we think the old folks didn't carry their weight...which is considerable weight!!
On our way to lunch...electric car charger
Sticks n sushi is a restaurant which McKenzie discovered on a trip to Copenhagen with a classmate.
They just opened in London within this year.
Perhaps the waitresses' tshirts tell the story better than i can. It is McKenzie's favorite London restaurant.
The menu tells even more of the story....yum
The tap water is filtered with a stick of charcoal. The food was prettier than the menu....and tastes unique to each platter. Nothing tasted the "same"....each platter, each fish, each meat had its own presentation, seasoning and flavor. We agreed that we could stay here all afternoon!
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The National Portrait Gallery is part of the National Gallery....somehow the portraits seemed more appealing at this time.
Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon
Anne Boleyn before she became Queen....
and after.....
Queen Elizabeth I. The frames were nearly as spectacular as the portraits.
Queen Elizabeth I again
The Tudors aside, we went to another floor where we might recognize more contemporary figures.
No bio needed
Back on the street again. Warning: do not feed the pigeons. The Brits are serious about this. One man was finally arrested after three warnings about doing so. He is in jail, no bond.
A repeat visit to Trafalgar Square minus the festival crowds. The monument is in honor of Admiral Lord Nelson who defeated the combined French/Spanish fleet during the Napoleonic Wars in 1805. 27 ships under the command of Admiral Nelson defeated 33 enemy ships off the coast of Spain, west of Cape Trafalgar. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost 22 vessels during the battle....the British Navy lost none; however, they lost their Commander Nelson who died in the conflict.
Not to be outdone by all the "little" kids who climbed up on the lion, these big kids were determined to do something they had not yet done in their three years here.....(but they were ALMOST outdone)
We are a bit early for our feature presentation of the week: Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" which opened last night at the Old Vic Theatre.
The Old Vic was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre. It changed ownership in 1880 and became known as The Royal Victoria Hall. The building was damaged during WWII and reopened in 1951. The theatre was home to the artistic direction of Laurence Olivier for a period during the 60's. New ownership and new revenue created significant renovation during the 80's. In 2004, Kevin Spacey was named the new artistic director and the last decade has seen an upturn in The Old Vic's popularity. Spacey retired just a few weeks ago. The Crucible is only the second play to be on stage since Spacey's retirement.
Richard Armitage portrays the lead role of John Proctor in Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. Some of you may remember him as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit. The Crucible is an intense drama, reliving the Salem Witch Trials. This parable attacks the evils of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures. The Old Vic was very recently converted to a "theatre in the round"...we were on the second row, level with the actors; we could see their eyelashes, their tears, their breath. When David told us, just before the performance, that it was 3.5 hours long, Tom and I groaned. I knew T would fall asleep and I was even worried about myself (and I LOVE live theatre). No one dozed, no one moved, no one flinched nor hardly batted an eye....the drama was riveting. When we stood to cheer at the end (and everyone in the theatre was standing, yelling, cheering for at least 3-4 minutes), the tears were involuntary. Later we discussed why we were crying: Yes, the story is sad. Innocent people were executed. However, the tears were in deep gratitude to the men and women who gave their heart and soul to tell the story with such passion, intensity and realism.
