London, quite possibly the final part

So, there we were in London...workingworkingworking and then done on Thursday evening.
We had a lovely dinner here with a friend. Really good dinner. Delicious dinner.
Then, on Friday our day was our own - no work!
K had a long list of things he wanted to see and I agreed and we set off.
I no longer remember the order of things but I know we walked through parks and I used the loo at Kensington Palace. We rented bikes and rode around a bit looking at parks and monuments, I tried on beautiful things at COS, where I could spend a serious amount of time and money, we visited Toast, which MEH (surprisingly). We had amazing take-away Lebanese food, ate macarons from a tiny flea market and had an elegant lunch at the Tate. We took the tube so many times that I accidentally tried to tap out (as I did with my Oyster card) of the subway when I got back to New York. We battled the marathon crowds and learned about the football playoffs in a pub over pints with the locals. We drank too much and saw as much as we could see in two and a half days.
But you'll want pictures...and, if flickr will cooperate...




K very much wanted to go to Abbey Road and I must admit that I had no feelings either way about it.
But it's all about compromise and he sat whilst I tried on dresses so we went and I have to say it may well be one of my favorite parts of the trip. One takes the tube to a residential neighborhood, one finds the webcam and waves at it and then, amidst dozens of other tourists, one ATTEMPTS to cross the street in proper Beatle formation. The problems are myriad. Traffic! Buses! Bad angles! Above is me photobombing a German couple I decided needed a third. That might be K in the middle of the street taking the picture - I cannot remember. If you note the time you are there you can go online and see your crossing as they hold the video for a day or two.
I loved it.





Any and all places that can be written on are...some of it is quite moving.





I am not so easily moved - then I saw someone had written for my dad and realized the specialness of the place.

I wrote this -




while K was writing this.




So, crying ensued at Abbey Road.




So many beautiful streets. So many lovely houses and shops.
So much walking and tubing!

On Sunday, before our flight, we went to the Tate Modern. I loved it too.




I like to call this one: I Left My Cell Phone Near What I Was Painting because I'm cheeky like that.





I love Turner.


 And this.

 

And Harry Callahan.




And stones, of course!

 


And then we had a beautiful lunch.

 

 Me and my beautiful boyfriend.

 And then we flew home.

Comments

Anonymous said…
bb, my father in law was in London while you were there. He went to root for his niece, a lovely young mother of twins, who was running the marathon to honor her mother who recently passed away. I thought that was beautiful, until you showed us what K wrote about you at Abbey Road. Tears!

welcome home, and thanks for the tour. Your Friday day sounds just about perfect.

jbhat
kmkat said…
Those rocks may give me nightmares. They are fabulous... and weird.
Susie Sunshine said…
I got teary at "Kensington Palace loo".

(Well, that and that K didn't leave any tribute (even in wee, fine print that I could see)about the sister wife. Gutted, I am.)


Welcome back, sunshine!
Paola said…
How can you not LOVE London.
Or K.
Anonymous said…
You did it right.
Romantically and right.
Sinda said…
I had to laugh at all the pictures from Harrod's - we were just as taken with the bling and toys there. And I note that Susan Orlean just posted an eerily similar picture of that black glossy infant on the white motorbike.

Sweet K, sweet bb. I'm a little teary now myself.

And I *love* Turner.
Crazy Mom! said…
Just got back from a week long business trip to London - stayed near St Paul's, took a side trip to Stratford-upon-Avon, had a grand time!