London calling!

Yes, I had just been in September, but London…. I never tire of London!

Some time ago Hubertine and I talked about not being able to make the Houston Quilt Festival this year and wanting to do something else instead.  And London is always fun!

So here we were Friday lunchtime:

 

Did you notice the small dog in the lower right hand corner…. he made me laugh, he and his friend were soooo sweet and calm, waiting for their boss to finish his lunch… but the way he sat with his leg straight….

 



The absolute highlight of our trip already came on Friday evening, we had tickets for this:

 



You may know I am a Rolling Stones fan and have seen them many times (all but twice standing right at the front), so I have also seen Ron Wood many times in his role as guitarist of the Stones (and to be honest, because of his health issues in various conditions….) , but this was a first for me, Ron Wood with his own band. Also a first for me to see Mick Taylor, ex-Rolling Stone, who joined the Ronnie Wood Band for this occasion (he left the Rolling Stones before I went to their concerts, he was replaced in The Rolling Stones by none other than…… yes, Ron Wood!).

The ‘gig’ was in the beautiful Royal Albert Hall (another first for me), within walking distance of our hotel

 





And we had great seats!

Then the fun started………….

 



A fabulous evening of blues (love the blues anyway)……… what can I say, it was such a memorable night, Ron Wood was at his best (being one of a group with the Rolling Stones he gets much less chance to shine when playing with them), such sharp guitar play and wow, …. I had no idea he was such a good harmonica player……. Mick Taylor was great too, wonderful to see them both playing together…. And with their guests this evening, like Bobby Womack and Paul Weller.
And Ron’s fun personality made that big, elegant concert hall feel like more being in at club concert….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S29BEsRcyKE&list=UU696-kuDzUMAMTkMJeZyjkw

Saturday morning a change of pace… the Victoria & Albert museum, also within walking distance of our hotel:

It was difficult taking pictures, everything being behind shiny glass and the light reflecting in it…

Inspiration in the tiles on the floor

 

 



As for the rest of the weekend, we were lucky with the weather, Saturday and Sunday mostly no rain but sunshine, which called for morning coffee on the terraces

Visiting fun shops in Soho

 

 

How about this: the floor of a travelbook shop ….. a map of London!

For me London is also about foooooooooood (of course)!

Like Indian food

Another this was another highlight for me: a farmer’s market (ok, a rather posh one ;-)  ) with oysters, can’t resist oysters, and another first: English Maldon oysters, never had those before, they were fresh and tasty! 

Ha! Not my best picture, this is my ‘slurp’ face enjoying the oysters, but love the double decker there! (Great shot, Hubertine!)

Gone! That was for starters, the oysters were followed by duck confit in a bun

London already showed the first signs of the Xmas period : in our hotel lobby

At Covent Garden

The WhiteCompany

It was a wonderful visit to London, we had a fantastic time & what a great way to get into the mood for the Xmas season!

 

Phyllis