Overcast day today with a forecast of possible rain. It doesn't rain the entire day, yet I carry around our umbrella in the backpack. My sunglasses aren't needed today either. :-( Our plan is to get to The Museum of Brands, Packaging, Advertising located in a Kensington neighbourhood. Very difficult to get there using our usual Tube lines. We have walking directions to Goldhawk Road station for the Circle Line. On this occasion, the directions actually work so we are successful! Very different demographic in this part of London with many cultures on the street. Even the tube stations look a little different.
When we arrive at the Museum of Branding (short title version) there is a huge group of French students standing at the entrance and we're not sure if it is even open? One of the teachers tells us its OK but we can't get past the gaggle of teenagers blocking the front entrance until the teacher tells them all to move. Seriously?? Lana says that was a fire hazard!!!
We finally enter and get our admission ticket. At that time the whole group then entered into the museum ahead us us :( So we decided to wait at the gift shop while they all passed through--I think Lana just wanted some extra time shopping. But she found a 1000 piece puzzle titled "1980s Memories" which is a picture of food boxes and household item packages all from the 80's which we would both remember and we decided we would purchase this on our way out. Part of the exhibit is the evolution of jigsaw puzzles over 250 years. In the past, any brands would give away puzzles to help promote their items. You enter the "Time Tunnel" which begins with displays of items from the Victorian Age and then the Edwardian Age etc. Glass display cases with several shelves of items are chronologically arranged in narrow aisles that wind around. In 1930s Deco Style comes into vogue and high unemployment.
I made the following notes as we walked through the display maze:
- huge section on early Mickey Mouse & Walt Disney movies
- big section on Queen Elizabeth II early years and her marriage to Philipp
- early Lego, games like Twister, Mouse Trap and Etch a Sketch
- many jigsaws of tv shows and popular shows
- collection of old transistor radios in awesome condition
- in the 1970s great collection of Beatles memorabilia
- many old LPs, platform shoes, cereal boxes, pop cans
- section of Star Trek and Star Wars
- 1980s Princess Diana and personal computers, magazine covers and LP covers
- 1990s food products, cleaning products, movie memorabilia
- Lana remarks that the product sizes seem to grow larger over the decades!
Then we walked over to their open exhibit of Brand Histories inclusive of videos and tv commercials. A huge Johnnie Walker booze section. Brand origins and developments and their marketing. We spend about one hour in total at the museum. We only took one picture as pictures were not allowed.
Example of some of the exhibits
Poster for Guinness beer (branding)
One of the food places we wanted to try was the Princess Victoria Pub located on Uxbridge Road in Kensington. Anthony Bourdain had eaten there with Nigella Lawson and then the show "You Gotta Eat Here" showcased their food. It is a gastropub and located about 15 minute walk from Shepherd's Bush Market station so not easy to get to. When we are on the street out of the station, the even side of the street is already in the 200 # range and across the street the odd side was around #7! This really traumatizes me. We cross to the odd side and then make it to 217 Uxbridge Road. We ask our server and the owner about the numbering system and they hadn't thought about it and had zero explanation. Oh well, give it up... ;-)
Despite our very high expectations the food and ambience did not disappoint! We loved each of the plates. The servers and the owner/manager were very friendly, personable and engaging. In fact, the manager brought over a pint of beer that he had made for me to sample and provide feedback. Very high ceilings, wide open spaces and a long counter. Despite all this there were hardly any other diners. We sat right beside the gas fireplace.
As mentioned earlier, I did order a Guinness beer to celebrate this special Irish day. In addition, the pub provided Irish soda bread as a freebie. The beer was awesome and my first time eating Irish soda bread. Wow, the bread thick and tasty and full of oats with a really crunchy crust and the slightly sweet taste of molasses. A fantastic start already.
Randy's celebration of St. Patrick's day at the pub
Guinness Beer and Irish soda bread
Menu at Princess Victoria Pub
Menu at Princess Victoria Pub
White Bait (baby herring). Saw this on Bourdain's show. Easy to eat, very tasty, some saltiness. Lana thought the fish was a little too fishy.
Pork terrine with toasted bread. Rustic style with different cuts of pork and prunes.
Pub "instructions" on how to infuse gin. I think Lana is going to be trying this when we get home.
Pub "wisdom"
OK, the number one reason for us making the trek to this gastropub was the opportunity to eat a first class scotch egg. This version was crispy bread crumbs and a soft egg with pork. Brilliant! I have never had a scotch egg before and will try to have as many as possible. Not the mass produced kind though. The tip was included on the bill and the total was 33.05 Pounds.
Irish soda bread starter
Artichoke soup with egg rolled in shredded potatoes (Lana)
Egg now opened up in the soup
Walked along Uxbridge Road all the way to the Shepherd's Bush Central Line station. Back on the Tube to get close to Kensington Palace. Lana has taken the tour about two years ago, but there was a new exhibit "Diana: Her Fashion Story". The tube station took us very close to the huge Kensington Park area. This is gigantic and populated with trees, grass, open areas, pond, walking trails etc. Lana used her Google Maps to find the Palace. Our plan was that I would do the tour and Lana would line up for the Diana exhibit. When we arrived they announced a 30 minute queue to see the Diana exhibit. There was a long lineup to simply get into the Palace and pay for your ticket. Very disorganized and only two cashiers operating. While Lana was in the queue for the Diana exhibit the lady behind her pushed her twice as she was trying to sit down on the benches that lined the walk way Lana asked the lady if she could stop pushing her and the lady accused Lana of being rude. Then the lady said she wasn't going to speak with Lana who smiled and said to her "well, if you'd stop pushing me, then I wouldn't need to talk to you would I??!!!??" Then, the lady's husband wanted to get into it. Lana did made friends with a lady in line who had just come from having tea with the Queen.
Princess Diana dress
Princess Diana dress she wore when she danced with John Travolta at the White House.
My self-guided tour (no audio guide) took me through 300 years of history. Mainly the State Apartments and their exhibitions. Started the tour from the Stone Hall. This area was originally a much smaller construction and it was situated far from central London area so very remote. Lots of history of the British royal family (very German background). Plus, their paintings, art work and period dresses and mens suits. For quite a time, many of the Royal family lived here. As I was finishing my tour Lana was entering the Diana exhibit so I joined her.
After finishing the Diana exhibit we walked into the very busy urban area as there was a store Lana wanted to explore for facial products. No samples available though which was disappointing as there was a cleanser which Lana wanted to try. A fairly good walk to Notting Hill tube station and then back to Shepherd's Bush Central line station. There is the huge Westfield Mall located right next to the Tube station. Lana has some shopping errands and we have the time. This is like all North American malls and very busy with customers. While Lana is shopping in Marks & Spencer and Charlotte Tilbury, I find an area with chairs and almost fall asleep! She finds what she is looking for so that is success!
Given we are both still full from the incredible lunch, we decide to pick up our casual dinner meals in the mall area. Lana grabs a salad at Marks & Spencer. I buy a salad at Leon (upmarket natural fast food). My salad is a healthy combo of kale, nuts and mackerel for 4.50 Pounds. By the time we walk back to our flat I am still very sleepy so doze on the couch. Lana forwards her pictures and I embed them in our blog. We both eat our salads and then it is the long walk to Shepherd's Bush tube station. We are off to the Theatre district in Soho area of central London.
Westfield Mall
Our play at the Gielgud Theatre is "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" that was recommended by our friends Jim and Heather. We didn't do any research as we trusted their recommendation that we would love it. It was an award winning play based on a novel. Basically the premise is about a fifteen year old boy (Christopher) who is a very high functioning autistic. The opening scene is of a dog on the stage with a garden pitch fork in his side and the boy crying beside the dog. The cops show up and the play gains momentum from there. Very well acted and written and interesting use of computer technology as a stage backdrop that resembles a holodeck grid (Lana says this is for all you Star Trek fans that would know what a holodeck is!!). Many insights into the experiences of autism. We loved the play. Our seats were towards the back, but we had a great view. We paid 42.50 Pounds for each seat. Like New York, you can't go wrong with seeing a London play production. Beautiful old theatres. No dress code so it ranged from totally casual to some men in suits and their ladies wearing beautiful dresses. Other individuals were smart casual or just casual.
* when we arrived at our seats there was "Prime Number Seat!" designation. There is a card that indicates Christopher has designated this as a Prime Number Seat. There is a prize if your name is a prime number. You calculate your numbers based on A = 1 and Z = 26. Neither of us had prime number names as it is very rare. But Randy's middle name George is a prime number name!! It was fun to make the calculations though. In the play Christopher has memorized the prime numbers to a very high number. *
At the conclusion of the play and after the applause the main actor came back out to explain how he solved a math question for his A level test. When we were on the street this area was packed with fellow play attendees! Super crowded and busy. So many theatres on the main streets and down the side streets. Lana was hungry for a pastry so we popped into a few places before a Starbucks had a pastry that she would enjoy. The Tottenham tube station was severely packed so there was a queue just to get onto the train that would take us back home. People are pretty orderly though so no bad experiences. It is around 22:30 so pretty late.
My Fitbit shows 16.05 kms of walking today and 80 stairwells measured which means a lot of ascents. Both tired from all the walking. We don't get into bed until minutes before midnight. I do some updating of the blog while Lana is watching the telly. Lana has made plans with Tina via text for us to meet them around 11:30 am for a casual brunch.
No comments:
Post a Comment