It was a good day, but a tiring one, and I had A LOT of duh moments.
But let us begin the day with breakfast. As long-time readers recall, we used to have a daily "barb." We now will have a daily "jewel." Today, as I ate my newly purchased Cheerios, J says, "I'm shocked that you could get actual Cheerios here. I mean, I can't believe they aren't called 'Float-ee-o's.'" Yeah, makes you want to eat more, doesn't it?
We went to Windsor. It is about an hour out of London by train, which is kind of fun in this country (as opposed to the pain of Amtrak in the States).
I was there once with the family, years ago. I remembered a steep climb up the hill to the castle (I won't bother with the poorly composed shot from a distance to prove this point) -- a climb I warned my companions I was not willing to do it to start the day. They agreed. So, we got in the taxi rank and jumped in. I said "take us to the castle" and the driver said "it's right there!" We said, yes, but we didn't want to walk that far. He said, "but it's just right there." We said okay but...he said, "okay, but it'll cost you ten pounds." We said fine. As he drove us, he asked where we came from and suggested he drive us all the way back to London. As M repeated often during the rest of the day, he thought we had more money than we knew what to do with and he wanted some of it.
Here's the kicker: although uphill fairly steeply, from the taxi rank to the gate to get tickets might have been...200 steps? If that...yes, duh. Yes...well, as M said, maybe you came out a different side and up the hill. Or maybe I'm old and senile.
The castle is a great place. The vista to the north, towards Eton and over the Thames, is magnificent. Here's my shot from there.
Then there are the State Apartments. It's unbelievable to an American to see such opulence, even decadence in rooms. Here's a quick rundown: one room has like 20 van Dycks (all priceless) on the walls; another room, the Order of the Garter hall with a 50-foot high vaulted ceiling with chandeliers, has almost that many Sir Thomas Lawrence's (the premier portrait painter of early 19th c Britain); another room has several HUGE Rubens (I'm sure you can get them 2 for 1 someplace); another room has half dozen Holbein portraits. I'm just talking the paintings. Several rooms have HUGE tapestries (like 10' x 25') from like the middle ages or early renaissance.
And those aren't the rooms the Queen lives in when she's there (J spent time with a warder trying to figure out where the hell she was) and remember there was a fire in the early 90s that destroyed a big portion of that part of the building. Seems the Windsors have some stuff laying around.
It should also be noted that J seemed to convert, or something, in the St. George Chapel. She talked for like ten minutes to the warder in the choir there, with M and I pacing around outside, wondering. I said "it only takes like two minutes to convert to Episcopalianism." But, it turned out she is still some kind of Druid, Reformed, and was just talking about blah blah blah blah blah.
We came back, ate dinner at the much used if not quite famed Nando's, which is not quite the nearest restaurant to the flat (we actually passed an Italian place -- mon dieu!), where we all had charcoal grilled chicken.
Then M & I went to the National, on the other side of the Thames, for those of you lost geographically, and saw Caryll Churchill's Light Shines on Buckinghamshire. Which is about the English Civil War. And the theological debates and social reforms that were argued, then discarded, in the rebellion. Lots of speeches. Long speeches. About how God is inside you, which made M bored (he said). But they started with this huge table on stage with people standing on it (so huge, in fact, it was bigger than anything at Windsor!), and at the beginning of act 2 they tore the table apart, to reveal dirt! See part of the plot was about the Diggers in Surrey in 1649...nevermind. There was a lot of dirt and kicking around. But then! yes! the final scene it rained! Yes, they showered water from the ceiling onto the dirt! M and I wondered what the grounds crew did with that...blow dried it after each performance?
And now home. Tomorrow will be a lighter day, physically. Class and a play, again at the National. And maybe, gentle Reader, a nap (much beloved), in between.
Till then...eat your Float-ee-s and keep your nitro close by. #
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