I'm going to be perfectly honest. I had a lovely day, a wonderful meal, drank a little too much wine, and I'd love nothing better than to go to bed right now because it's 12:40AM and I'm tired and I have a full day tomorrow. But there's this darn blog. . . ! So instead I'm going to spend at least an hour cranking out an entry. (Do you sense that I'll be happy to be done with it?!)

Anyway, today I took a train out to West Dulwich and then walked to the Dulwich Picture Gallery, which has been on my list from the beginning. I was excited to see it because The Hyde loaned a Winslow Homer painting for an exhibition here a couple of years ago (I mistakenly thought it was Hassam's Geraniums when I mentioned it in an earlier blog entry), and also because Sir John Soane designed the building, and also because they have some Rubens and Rembrandts and van Dycks and Gainsboroughs and many, many more artists' paintings in their permanent collection. They also had a special exhibition, The Age of Enchantment: Beardsley, Dulac and their Contemporaries 1890-1930 about the Golden Age of illustration. Did you know that Aubrey Beardsley died at the age of 25? Just think of how much more he could have produced had he lived longer. This exhibition had 145 pieces by artists with whom I was familiar as well as new artists, and it was much more interesting than I was expecting. The works were displayed in such a way that you could get up very close to most of them, many of them very detailed pen and ink drawings, or watercolours. In addition to Beardsley, the artists who were represented here included Kay Nielsen, Laurence Housman, Charles Ricketts, Edmund Dulac, Sidney Sime, Harry Clarke, Jessie King, Annie French, Arthur Rackham, Charles Robinson, Willy Pogany, Alastair, Daisy Makeig-Jones, and the twins Charles Maurice Detmold and Edward Julius Detmold.

I met my friend Jen in their nice little cafe where we had a leisurely lunch. Among other things, we talked through my need to complete my list, my fears that I won't have the opportunity to get back here very soon, and Jen convinced me that of course I'll get back and that I should just enjoy my last week here, and do fun things. I suddenly got what she was saying! With the visit to Dulwich, I've basically covered all of the most important items on my list. I'm not going to finish and IT'S OKAY. It was very liberating. Thank you, Jen, for that. I needed someone to point the obvious out to me.

When I went to get my coat to leave, I discovered a little chapel attached to the museum that hadn't been open earlier. It was called Christ's Chapel and I just had to go in and have a look. We then walked to the North Dulwich train station, stopping in some little shops along the way, and parted company. What a nice little village...so different from London and yet so close. Jen also mentioned how nice York is, and I think I may just do a day trip there next week.

Home at 5:30. Phyllis, visiting from Skidmore, came over for wine and cheese and the three of us went to dinner at a wonderful little Italian restaurant, Timo, down 3/4 of a mile on the High Street. I only wish we had discovered it sooner. (I think we might even have closed the place!)

Tomorrow we had planned to go to Hampton Court Palace, but after talking to Jen I decided it could wait. Then at dinner we found out that Phyllis was headed out of town in the morning to visit Darwin's house and decided she needed company. We made plans to meet her at King's Cross station. And so it goes.

It's after 1:30, and I'm off to bed. 'Night all. Sweet dreams.

And wedding congratulations to Thomas and Annie!

Went to the Benjamin Franklin House and booked the next tour. I had about forty minutes to kill so I walked over to St. Martin-in-the- Fields. The outside, of course, is still covered in scaffolding, but the inside is beautifully restored. It was designed by James Gibbs and completed in 1726, but the first church on the site was built in the middle ages over 700 years ago. I had been in the crypt many times, but walked through it again on my way out.

Benjamin Franklin House was restored and opened to the public in January 2006, on the 300th anniversary of Franklin's birth. It was built in 1730, and Franklin lived there between 1757 and 1775. The Benjamin Franklin Historical Experience, as the 45-minute tour is called, combines a live actor with state-of-the-art sound and visual aids, bringing history to life in a unique and enjoyable way. Interspersed throughout the rooms were some of his famous quotes. An introductory piece talked about Franklin as scientist and inventor, but the main focus was his time in London, the Stamp Act, and his role as mediator between Britain and America.

I then walked over to Leicester Square to see about getting some discount tickets for a play tonight, but they were not offering tickets for any shows that I felt compelled to see. (I suppose the really good plays aren't discounted.)

I walked next to Covent Garden and the newly reopened London Transport Museum. They have a beautiful building, some wonderful trains, buses, and carriages on display, and a lot of information in the form of wall text and flat screen televisions and computers, but all in all it was very disappointing. The layout of the museum was very confusing, one did not know which way to move throughout the displays, and many hands-on activities were difficult and sometimes impossible to figure out. It wasn't just me, either. I struggled with a game wherein you try to beat the computer as you both drive an underground train to the next station. I could not figure out how to get it to work. I thought I was driving the train but the screen indicated I hadn't even left the station! A young fellow came by and, thinking he would know how to operate it, I quietly stood back and watched him. He couldn't figure it out either. At another area, an older visitor showed me how to make the controls work, but there were no instructions posted anywhere. You could tell that they had spent a ton of money, so it was doubly sad that the design was so poor. I happened to run into Jill and Tom and they were equally disappointed. There were a lot of displays that were not operational. I think they must be working out some very major kinks, since they've only been open two weeks. But I would not recommend rushing to see it. It's really a shame, because it has the potential to be very good. If they simply improved the trail guide/map it would help immensely. And the museum shop was horrible too!

Dinner at home with Gord.

Two plaques today:

The goods news is that I've managed to visit twenty-one sites from my list of November 8. The bad news is that there are fifty-four places left on that list! (I admit that I added a few since the original list.)

So I'm officially removing the following: National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Chelsea, Oratory Catholic Church, Bethnal Green Museum of Children, Science Museum, Museum in Docklands, Kensal Green Cemetery, Florence Nightingale Museum, HMS Belfast, Museum of Garden History, Bramah Museum of Coffee and Tea, Royal Albert Hall tour, Winston Churchill's Britain at War Experience, Bank of England Museum, Dr. Johnson's House, St. Bartholomew-the-Great, Hunterian Museum, Museum and Library of the Order of St. John, Cartoon Museum, St. Pancras New Church, Theatre Museum, St. Margaret's Church, Westminster Cathedral (as opposed to the Abbey), Highgate Cemetery, Keats House, Vinopolis, Clowns Museum, Old Bailey, Sherlock Holmes Museum, The British Postal Museum & Archive.

That leaves twenty-four, but only nine days in which to do it. Still not looking possible. I'll just have to whittle it down some more. And I suppose I'll have to spend some time packing. . .

It took me an hour to get there by a combination of tube and bus, but I finally made it to the Geffrye Museum in Shoreditch this morning (and it was well worth it). Founded in 1714 by Sir Robert Geffrye, the museum buildings were originally almshouses for about fifty pensioners, each of whom lived in one room. Shoreditch became one of the most densely populated areas of London and in 1912 the pensioners were moved to a new location. The museum then opened in 1914, with a focus on furniture and woodwork. It evolved to its current focus on interiors and gardens of the urban middle classes from 1600 through the 1990s. There are about ten beautifully presented period rooms, taking you through the main living room/parlor/drawing room of a typical middle class family beginning in the early seventeenth century through to the present day. It was very well done. Unfortunately this was not the time of year to see the gardens. But there was a very nice special exhibition, Home and Garden Part 4 (1960-2004), of about 60 paintings of twentieth century urban interiors and gardens. It really was a very lovely museum, with a nice shop and what appeared to be a very nice little restaurant, as well as lots of special activities, talks, and workshops for adults, teenagers, children, and families. And what a bargain! Admission is free and the audio guide is only one pound. They also have a restored almshouse that is open about three times a month.

From there I went to Hyde Park Corner to Apsley House, the home of the first Duke of Wellington (and his successors). The house, designed by Robert Adam in the 1770s with additions by Benjamin Wyatt fifty years later, was pretty amazing, as was Wellington's illustrious military career, but I was most interested in the paintings by Goya, Rubens, Steen, Brueghel, Correggio, Lawrence, de Hooch, Velazquez, Maes, Tenniers, van Dyck, et al. The only unfortunate thing was that there were scores of schoolchildren visiting today and nobody seemed to have told them about good museum manners. The very informative audio guide was difficult to hear over the cacophony of voices. I went in the opposite direction to avoid one group only to come upon another group! But I got through it.

I then went across to the Wellington Arch and took some pictures from the top (not great ones, but that's okay). There were three levels inside, one with a history of the arch, another devoted to an exhibition on the nearby New Zealand War Memorial, and the last was an exhibition on the blue plaques.

I raced home to get ready for tonight's reception. The London-based parents of a freshman at Skidmore hosted a party for the Skidmore students who are studying in London (along with the Skidmore faculty and spouses). They very generously opened up their beautiful home to all of us and it was a lovely catered affair.

So I may steal an idea from a relative-in-law of Belle (who reads and sometimes comments on my blog). This relative lives in London and for Thanksgiving started an ABC list of things to be thankful for in this fair city. This was her list.

• Albacore tuna in cans for 99p at Whole Foods on Ken High Street.
• Borough Market
  
• Camden Passage Antique Markets
• Diana memorial in the summer
• Eaton Square
• and so on and so on.....

I'd love to do my own, if I can find the time. It may have to wait until I get home. Hmmm, something to do on the plane!

I can't believe we leave in 1-1/2 weeks! Not enough time to do everything.

Today I went to the Foundling Museum located in Brunswick Square. Thank goodness for good souls like Thomas Coram, a retired shipbuilder who was horrified by the plight of young children who were being abandoned on the streets of London. He spent almost twenty years in the first half of the eighteenth century raising money to establish a foundling hospital to house babies. It was approved in 1739, and was opened in 1741, with the support of William Hogarth and George Frideric Handel. It was actually the first public art museum in the country because Hogarth encouraged other artists to donate their artwork. And Handel held annual performances of the Messiah in the hospital's chapel to help raise funds.

On display were record books with entries for the children admitted (with new names assigned), the schedule, meals, photographs and very touching mementos that mothers had left with their babies (and which the babies never received). Only babies under the age of one year were admitted and there was only room enough for about one-third of the applicants. You really got the sense of how difficult life was for many people and how desperate they were.

Upstairs was a collection of paintings by Hogarth, Gainsborough, Reynolds, and other lesser known artists. And the top floor was dedicated to Handel. In the basement was a special exhibition on Handel at the Crystal Palace, and the commemorative concerts held there.

Then I had to rush to the British Library to meet Gord who had been working there all day. We went in to see their wonderful collection of "treasures": illuminated manuscripts, bibles (Gutenberg included), Magna Carta, Beatles' songs, letters from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra, scores by Beethoven, Handel, and Mozart, and so much more. I also had to revisit the very cool Patrick Hughes painting in their basement (by the coat check).

From there we walked and walked, down to Oxford Street and pretty much the length of that street, stopping into three music stores (Gord later found the CD he wanted online) and the Primark--the sweater (that I saw when we stopped in with Carole but I couldn't buy because they were closing) was sold out. It was going to be a gift, but not anymore.

I wondered why my legs were so tired, but realized that I had been walking (or standing) for seven hours straight. How am I going to be able to continue this exercise when I get back? It's going to be a challenge I think.

I don't care if it does block the view of St. Paul's Cathedral from the river, I LIKE the Millenium Bridge. I walked across it to the Louise Bourgeois exhibition (finally!) at the Tate Modern. It was a wonderful exhibition and the audio guide, which included Bourgeois speaking about her work, was especially good. There was also a captivating, 54-minute film of her by Nigel Finch done for the BBC series Arena in 1994. I, of course, sat and watched the whole thing. Bourgeois will be 96 on Christmas Eve. I had two suggestions, which I entered in their comments book. First, the wall text and label text were peeling off in parts, leaving some letters partly or completely missing. It was difficult to decipher some of the words. No excuse, especially from the Tate. The other issue I had was that the film was shown in the foyer outside the exhibition, making it difficult to hear the film above the noise of people talking (bad acoustics in that area didn't help). Anyway, the exhibition was great. I still think Maman (the spider outside) is my favourite, but I also liked her early Personage sculptures done in the 1940s. The cells were also interesting as were her more recent fabric sculptures. What an interesting childhood she had! And she had just a few issues with her father!

I then walked over to Shakespeare's Globe for a tour and a look at their exhibition which was under construction when Gord and I were there in September. The tour was informative, mostly giving a sense of life in the sixteenth century across the Thames from the City of London. We didn't get to go back stage, because there's not really much of one. So I had already been inside the Globe when we went to the Merchant of Venice. It was still interesting and I'm glad I did it. The exhibition was interesting too.

Walked back across the Millenium Bridge. I never tire of seeing London at night. It's just beautiful, especially when it's not raining.

I've started compiling a list of the places I've visited, the books I've read, and the plays I've seen during my time here. It's pretty long already, and I'm only a third of the way done.

Carole and family left this morning. Spent a quiet day until mid-afternoon when we left for the Fulham Football Club to see Fulham play the Blackburn Rovers. (Sorry, Ira, I know you wanted us to go see the Queen's Park Rangers.) We didn't need directions. Once we got to the Putney Bridge station, we followed the crowds along the river. The first half of the game was really bad. Even I could tell that neither team was playing well. There was an injury within the first minute of play and they almost had to bring the player off the field in a stretcher, but they bandaged up his leg and he was able to hobble off with the help of two others after about ten minutes. That was the extent of the excitement for that half, however. It was interesting to listen to the comments from the people around us and to the chants from the crowds in general, though. Thankfully the second half was much more exciting. Fulham got the first goal and the roar from the crowds was deafening. Unfortunately the Blackburn Rovers followed with a goal right away. Two more goals and the game ended in a 2-2 tie. I'm glad I got to see a game, but I don't need to see another one anytime soon.

Two weeks from today we'll be home! We'll miss our London neighborhood when we leave.

Gord thinks I should do a blog when I get home and call it Forever Wild in Wilton. It's interesting that he said that, because I very briefly considered starting one about my job search (I canned the idea, though, thinking that it might be too depressing!). And frankly I'll be happy to lay this baby to rest and get back to reading more. Speaking of. . .

Reading: The Radiant Way, by Margaret Drabble

Election Results: Well, maybe not as many people are reading this blog as I thought! I only received three votes for the plaque election and they were all different. A big thank you to those who voted. I received one for Virginia Woolf, one for Jacob Epstein, and one for Winston Churchill. So I say it's a three-way tie for first place.

When you see all that we accomplished in the past two days, I think you'll understand why I haven't been so prompt with my entries.

Friday
We raced over to Dickens House and learned as much as we could about Charles Dickens in an hour. The four floors were crammed with information. He lived in this house from 1837 - 1839, completing The Pickwick Papers here and most of Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby. I think it's time to reread his novels.

We then took a taxi over to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. The traffic was horrible and it took much longer to get there than we thought. We arrived twenty minutes into the ceremony, but fortunately were able to catch the last twenty minutes.

We had lunch near Victoria Station and then took the subway to Tower Hill where we headed down to the Tower Pier and caught a boat to Westminster Pier (these tickets were included in our sightseeing bus package). I enjoy the commentary by the crew, and especially enjoy their cockney accents. Most of us stayed in the heated lower level, but some went up on the open deck. Brrrr.

We then took the subway to the British Museum where we tried to see the highlights in two hours. Andrew followed the children's audio tour and seemed to really enjoy it. Every time I go there I find new things--this must be my sixth visit this trip. Gord met up with us and we walked through countless rooms until 5:15 or so.

We then walked past Gord's office and over to Southampton Row to an Italian restaurant. From there we went to the Victoria Palace Theatre to see Billy Elliott. What an enjoyable play that was! And you would not believe the talent of the kids! There are five boys who play Billy Elliott on alternate nights, and one of them was born in Albany, New York! Apparently his Newcastle accent is right on; too bad we didn't get to see him. Actually I was talking to someone on staff during the interval and he told me that that Billy Elliott was just sent over to Australia to replace one of the Billy Elliotts there who was out due to a car accident. It really was a good family show, aside from the language. My eight-year-old nephew got an earful of new expressions.

Saturday
Portobello Market day. We got to sleep in a little, but once we got out it was non-stop walking. The market was particularly crowded. We spent a couple of hours there and then some of us took a detour several blocks east to the original Miller Harris store on Needham Road. Not being a perfume person (what an understatement!) I didn't know anything about perfumer Lyn Harris or her products. I have to admit that I was not overcome with the smells in her store--I could even breathe in there!--and some of the scents were actually not bad. But I didn't buy any. Carole bought two! You can purchase her products at Saks in NYC, but that is the only place in the US. We walked back to Portobello Market and then headed to Costa's Fish Restaurant for fish and chips. We then walked across Kensington Gardens (it was not raining but it was cold and windy), and then "tubed" it to Harrod's where we spent another two hours shopping. Took a bus home, stopping at Whole Foods for some wine and cheese. Had a light dinner of hummus, raw veggies, a selection of cheeses, and of course wine.

Friday's plaque of the day: Charles Dickens