July 26, 2003

BACK IN LONDON TOWN

KEW GARDENS
Kristin and I started the day with a run/bike ride to Camden Garden Centre, along the canal, briefly into Camden Market, back along the canal, up into Regents Park to use the loo then back to Hungerford Road.

After a hot cereal breakfast prepared by Mom, we headed out to Kew Gardens. It was already 3 by the time we arrived, so our visit was somewhat rushed, especially for the botanical duo that is Kristin and Carolyn Munn. We visited most of the glasshouses, snuffled through the scented garden, trotted through the order beds and took many photos along the way.

SUMMER PROMS
Back in happy Holloway, Brian went shopping for our favorite picnic foods and prepared a moveable feast for us to dine on whilst attending the Kenwood Lakeside Summer Proms, an outdoor classical music concert on Hampstead Heath. The setting was absolutely ideal for a sunny summer evening.

But this is England. It was raining steadily by the time we met Brian in our assigned deckchairs (1/2 hour late, sorry Brian). By the third movement of Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik it was absolutely chucking it down. Many people in the audience hardly seemed to notice, hunkered down under their umbrellas and keeping the ol' stiff upper lip. Not this gal. I love my Mozart and Beethoven but after finishing the sandwich I was outta there. The music was brilliant but we couldn't enjoy it in the sopping wet atmosphere.


Whilst waiting for the second bus near Archway, Mom noticed a Whittington sign with a cat on it. Thanks to Brian's sleuthing and Mom's knowledge of literature, we learned that it is Dick Whittington's Cat. Richard Whittington was thrice the Lord Mayor of London in the late 1300s. The gifts left in Whittington’s will originally made him famous. Stories began about how a poor boy became rich with the help of his cat. There is no evidence that Whittington kept a cat, and as the son of a Lord he was never very poor. But the play produced in 1606 titled Dick Whittington's Cat tells the story of a poor boy coming to London and how his cat helped gun become wealthy.

When we got home, I opened the door and found birthday balloons all over the flat and a big chocolate birthday cake with candles and a cute card that says, "Every day with you is a picnic". Brian had been busy! We all ate cake and watched Waiting for Guffman. It was a perfect evening after all.