Walking on Hampstead Heath

Sunday. A lovely autumn day,a day for relaxing and indulgence or a stiff walk to favourite places.
Lou and I opted for the latter and after organizing a meal for the evening with Clare, hanging the curtains and dispatching the rubbish we set out by bus for Hampstead Heath and a walk up to Parliament Hill, the highest point in London. From this vantage point you can see many of the landmarks on the London horizon.
Lou has lots of anecdotes  to share of consents she has been involved with on some of these elegant homes.We walked passed the home of Liz Taylor and a Richard Burton plus the home of Katherine Mansfield.
We spent a pleasant hour walking along tracks through the heath,climbing Parliament Hill and walking past the bathing ponds.The skies were lovely too although I think they probably signal a change of weather rather than a conclusion to a lovely day,
We caught an overland train back to Crouch Hill station which saved us a walk back from the heath and climbed the hill home in good spirits to find Jonathon had fixed up the curtain rails and they were hanging perfectly.A job well done.
We watched Ireland play Italy in an unconvincing fashion before dining together with Clare over a lovely chicken dish created by Lou and a NZ trifle.
Another memorable day.

Art,theatre and culture

Friday was an amazing day.It started with a key that worked!!!Yes after four days I have a key cut that works so we can all come and go as required.
The rest of the day that followed was far more interesting.
First I met up with friends Wendy and Rod at Piccadilly Circus for a trip to see the  Ai Weiwei Exhibition at the Royal Academy.

It was lovely to see them come off the tube and we spent some time catching up over a coffee at Pret a Manger nearby.This stop over is an important part of the ritual of coming into town for exhibitions Wendy explained, so Rod had porridge and sandwiches to get his day underway before we walked along to the exhibition.

This exhibition really excited me as Ai Weiwei is such a powerful visionary.I remember seeing a film about him at the film festival and this exhibition added to the sense of who he is.

The art he creates is rich in symbolism and has layers of meaning to those who are part of the expression of life, liberty and hope.He has been so badly treated by Chinese authorities because he is seen as a voice against China and many of his installations are witness to that imprisonment era.One room had big cubes which when you looked inside them you saw scenes of his incarceration and surveillance by two prison guards 24/7.
From the moment we walked into the courtyard and saw these huge ancient trees from China that had decayed and died in the mountains but which he had  recovered and reconstructed into new shapes,bolted them together and grouped as a grove, I knew we were in for a treat visually.
The rest of the exhibition did not disappoint and when my photos are downloaded I will be able to post them as evidence of the true scope of his work on display.

I was very taken with one called, 'Straight'.This took up an entire room and it was a response to the Sichuan earthquake.

He took truckloads of twisted metal rods which are used as reinforcing in concrete buildings and over years he and his workers straightened them and then they were fashioned into a sculpture to show the ground layers and how the earth formed new layers but the political message was around the rods because they were in memory of the children who died in schools poorly constructed from concrete and these rods.

So much to see and comment on in this exhibition.Well worth seeing if you get an opportunity.

Later that night I went to see the play, 'Jane Eyre' at the National Theatre.I was lucky to get a ticket.It was magical.Such a strong performance of a classic story yet bought to life in a modern production.I had to start rereading the novel, lucky Louise has a copy.

It was a late night by the time I travelled home by the tube,bus etc so slept soundly in anticipation of my curtain making assignation the following day.......

London sojorn

My week in London has been very pleasant,the sun shines every day and I have enjoyed the company of Lou and Jonathon in their new home and walked Lou's surrogate puppy,Coco a couple of times.

Initially I had a rest and recover day as I think I have been on the go since I left Dunedin in August and it was nice to chill out and restore some order to my packing.Not much need for the light gear I have been wearing on the Costa Brava. I have dug out the jeans and warmer gear.

So far I have revisited some of my favourite places in London and been lucky enough to see some art exhibitions and plays at the National Theatre and tomorrow morningI am going to meet Wendy and Rod in the city to see the Ai Wiewei exhibition at the Royal Academy and then have lunch together.

Yesterday I went down to the South Bank for a wander in the sun but I was lucky enough to get tickets for a play, 'The Red Lion' at the National Theatre later in the afternoon which was a bonus as it was the final performance after a very successful season.A brilliant play set in a football changing room - not initially captivating stuff but it was a powerful look at relationships between new and old blood,power and corruption and a very sad end to an emotionally complex play.

Today I was lucky to see another play by the same playwright.This was called,'Three days in the Country' and again followed a complex set of relationships between the inhabitants of the country house.This play had a big cast,about twenty people and the staging was effective for how they brought characters on and off the set.
While there I was able to get a ticket for Jane Eyre tomorrow night so that will be my quota done.I would have liked to see Nicole Kidman's in a West End play which is getting very good reviews but very hard to get seats,only ones available you have to be in the queue by six am!!!

I also went to see an exhibition of Doris Day photos at the National Portrait Gallery which was great.Very nostalgia, to see all those beautiful hats,gowns and elegant attire of the era.
So much to see in this place but I am enjoying the vibe of the place and just being in the moment.Walking along the Thames and watching the boats plying tourists back and forth,listening to the buskers and watching the antics of young skate boarders demonstrating their skills is all good fun.Lunch at Gabriels Wharf in the sun and a browse amongst the book shops kept me entertained for the afternoon.
The trip back home was not so much fun as there was a huge traffic jam which forced people onto the tube and you could hardly move.Not much fun.Not sure how people do it years on end.We are lucky in the space we enjoy.