Strolling Piccadilly

During my last week in London, friends and I headed out to play, as we often did on any given day. It was rare during my stay in London that we weren't gathering almost every day for some adventure, and this early summer day was no exception. Taking the double decker bus towards Piccadilly, we were forced to stop for the Queen's troops who were headed to Green Park for a 41 gun salute for the 60th anniversary of the Queen's Coronation.

Seeing the Queen's troops around town was not an unusual sighting--putting life on a short pause to take it all in.

The city was decked out on Piccadilly Street with banners for the commemoration.

Our destination was off Carnaby Street

for burgers, Hawaiian style, at Kua 'Aina, a London outpost of the famous hamburger restaurant where Obama always eats when he's in Hawaii.

Just down the street from Kua 'Aina is an unassuming corner store, called Choccywoccydoodah,

which as you might assume from the name is not so ordinary of a spot. Tucked inside is a decadent wonderland of over-the-top handmade cakes and

delicious chocolate delights. To make it even more special, there's a little coffee shop inside and a "secret room" upstairs for private events when you can have your own chocolate feast. Sounds divine!

I love stumbling on surprises like this one walking around London!

We carried on and joined a London Walk group for a new tour of the Piccadilly area, that took us in and around the area seeing both some familiar spots and some that were new to us.

We spotted several of the private gentlemen's clubs, like The Athenaeum started in 1824 

as well as others, which are often still private clubs today.

We stopped by the St. James Church, a Christopher Wren church on Piccadilly Street,

and stepped off into its quiet garden space unknown to many, just steps from the hectic traffic of Piccadilly Street.

From there we could look down upon Jermyn Street, which for centuries has been known as the best place to find gentlemen's clothing. Floris is the oldest English retailer of toiletries and accessories, where men have shopped since 1730.

We made our way through several of the covered shopping arcades which date from the 19th century, the Royal Opera Arcade,

the Prince's Arcade

and the Royal Arcade

where we stopped in at Charbonnel et Walker

and got samples of one of my favorite treats, Pink Marc de Champagne Truffles.

After the walk, I enjoyed a stroll through Mayfair and stumbled upon this very pleasant garden with school children 

enjoying the nice weather while it lasted. Nothing cuter than the British schoolchildren in their uniforms  celebrating at the end of the school day.

Which reminds me, there's a very special child on the way this month!

The future King or Queen of Britain--be anticipating an announcement from Buckingham Palace soon!

A Concert to Remember

Earlier this month, we headed out with friends to a concert in London.

Gathering at the foot of the London Eye,

we were able to board the Thames Clipper to take us upstream

under the Tower of London,

to the O2 concert arena,

where we were able to see the amazing Barbra Streisand in concert!

Grabbing an early dinner at Chiquito, where they serve Mexican food--London style,

we then entered the arena,

where Mr. Steve had booked us into the Sky Lounge for the pre-concert fun.

Although each of the three couples had purchased separate tickets, through a fortuitous sequence of events, we were all able to watch Lady Barbra together in box seats, with a great angle for viewing and singing along.

Streisand photos courtesy of her website

Kicking off a mini European tour, she opened in London, her first time back there in 6 years, where the 71 year old diva amazed us with her incredible voice, still so rich and full of range, after all these years.

During the evening, she was joined onstage by her sister, Roslyn Kind, and her son, Jason Gould, who both performed solos and sang alongside Barbra as well.

She was quite gracious with her time, answering audience questions in an Ask Barbra session, and then knocked our socks off with her music. 

Opening with On a Clear Day, and moving on to both new music and some of the audience favorites like Woman in Love, Evergreen, People and Don't Rain on My Parade, she charmed us and surprised us, I might say, with the clarity and timbre of her voice after all these years. 

And since the concert took place on one of our very last weeks in London, the lyrics of The Way We Were held a special meaning to me.

Memories

Light the corner of my mind....

So it's the laughter,

We will remember

Whenever we remember

The way we were.

Thinking of you, London, and the people who made it so memorable!

Fallen in Love

On one of my last weeks in London, I enjoyed spending time with friends and retracing some of the steps I've taken through the city so many times. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon when a couple of friends and I

headed to the Tower of London for a stroll and to see a play we had heard was playing inside the Tower Green.

With a little time to spare, we headed to St. Katharine's Docks to get a peek of the boats, and were pleased to see that the Gloriana was there.

The Gloriana was commissioned to carry the Queen as the lead barge

in last year's Diamond Jubilee

celebrations for the Queen's anniversary of 60 years on the throne.

Such beautiful gilding shining on the sun filled day.

There are many historic boats docked there as well, making for an interesting stroll, especially being so close to the Tower of London.

No outing is complete without lunch, so we opted to eat at The Dickens Inn with its waterside views of the docks. The Dickens Inn is a reconstructed warehouse building which existed at the turn of the 18th century. The grandson of Charles Dickens later opened the former warehouse as an inn in 1976.

Rushing from lunch to the main event, we entered the Tower of London

for the play Fallen In Love, which focuses on the relationship of Anne Boleyn and her brother, George, who was convicted of incest with his sister during her trial for high treason.

Just a quick photo before the show began shows you how intimate the setting was. 

The characters gave fascinating portrayals of two complex characters and gave you food for thought about their culpability.

When the play was over, it was almost closing time at the Tower, so we decided to take a quick swing to see the Jewels

before heading back outside to view the memorial to those whose executions were associated with the Tower. It is located on the approximate site of the scaffolding and chopping block of the executions. A somber place for contemplation.

More details and a video trailer of Fallen In Love can be found here.

A Visit to Downton Abbey

Just last week, I was able to visit the stunning Highclere Castle, known to many as Downton Abbey, when we made the short trip there from London on a beautiful summer day. As you can imagine, driving up and seeing the vista that is so familiar to fans of the show was thrilling.

Currently the home of the 8th Earl and Countess Carnavon, the home has experienced in the past a much needed "face-lift" after  going through a worrisome season of disrepair, which required millions to repair. Thanks to the arrangement of filming Downton Abbey there, the home is undergoing the some of the renovations needed to keep it the majestic and beautiful stately home it was created to be.

The writer of Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, is a longtime friend of the current

Earl and his family, and has revealed that he had Highclere Castle in mind when he wrote the story of Downton Abbey.

The current mansion was largely rebuilt in 1838 by the 3rd earl when it was transformed to a classical Georgian mansion by Sir Charles Barry, after he finished building the Palace of Westminster.

Situated in a 1000 acre estate, the scene is bucolic. Sheep grazing on the hillsides,

and cedars of Lebanon from the 18th century shading the benches where it's easy to sit for a spell and imagine the characters of Downton Abbey strolling by.

The Queen has been known to visit from time to time. She is the godmother to the current earl, and she loves checking in with her horse racing advisor who is on the property at Highclere Stud.

Of course, in addition to the real life history of the estate, we were there to learn more about Downton Abbey, and indeed we did. The home is the residence of Lord and Lady Carnovan, so it is only open on a very limited basis for tours. When the crew of Downton Abbey decided to give up three days of filming on site last week, the Countess opened up her home for three days of private tours.

The show uses the home's furnishings for its scenes. Only slight changes are made. One example mentioned was that any portraits of this century's earls since the 1920's have to be replaced to be true to the early 20th century. 

Typically, the show films from February until July, this year finishing on July 12. The scenes with the servants downstairs are all filmed on a stage set in London. Even though the scenes may only involve 4-5 characters, there will be 70-80 crew members on hand.  A typical day of filming can take up to 12 hours, with maybe only 4-5 minutes of footage they actually use. They will typically work on a couple of episodes at a time. The director and lighting chiefs sit in adjacent rooms to the rooms being filmed to screen what they are getting, while the assistant director remains in the room.  

You might recognize this door from many of the scenes when guests are coming and going. Photos were not allowed indoors, regrettably, but I can tell you the interiors are amazing, and yet not so formal that you couldn't imagine someone still living there. Many family photos are sitting around, no one cared if you walked on the carpets, or touched the furniture--it's a home, and not a museum.

The more characters there are in a scene, the longer it takes, because they will film the same scene over and over again from different angles and varying perspectives of the characters. The dining room scenes can take the longest. Maggie Smith is the only character that will use a stand-in, on takes when her face is not directly filmed in part of a scene.

The butler awaited our entrance into that grand Gothic hall you've seen many times, and he welcomed us into the home where we gathered in the grand saloon.  The walls there are covered with leather from Cordoba, Spain, that were hung in 1862. Soon after our small group was collected, Lady Carnovan greeted us so warmly and graciously on the great oak staircase. She seems quite down to earth and was open to answering a few of our questions before we were divided into groups of a dozen with some of the guides. We were fortunate to have the head guide, who has been a friend of the family for 22 years, and  I found myself hanging on to her every word.

She works with all the actors and crew, trying to accommodate and anticipate their needs. She did tell us that Maggie Smith, perhaps because of her "life experience," requires a little more attention than the others. The morning room of the house is not used for filming, but it is a lovely and feminine sitting room, decorated with shades of soft green and chintz, designated as Maggie Smith's own private waiting room, until she is needed to film some of those choice one-liners for which she is known.

Today there are still over 50 bedrooms in the home, most of which are not used as bedrooms any longer. Some are currently offices on the top floors--many are no longer in use.

A visit to Highclere Castle also includes a tour of the Egyptian exhibit in the underground, which draws many students on field trips. The 5th earl, along with Howard Carter, discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun back in 1922 and the exhibit chronicles their discovery.

After finishing the tour, we retreated to the tea room for tea and biscuits, but not before being given 

goodie bags

containing a signed copy of Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, the story of the 5th earl's wife, who is the inspiration for some of the story line of Downton Abbey. The book is written by the current Countess of Carnavon.

One of the things the Countess shared with me personally is that she has a new book coming out this fall, titled Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey. Lady Catherine was the wife of the 6th earl, and an American heiress, so pick up both books if you are a fan of the era. She assured me it will be interesting to learn about the American heiress and the impression she made on Highclere Castle.

Sadly, I have no hints to share with you from the Highclere Castle family or friends about the new upcoming season, but really, we wouldn't want any spoilers now, would we?

I imagine we'll all be tuned in with an eager anticipation when the new season starts--in the fall for the UK, and January for those in the States. Until then, we can only imagine what happens next....