Today was a day to make plans and see a little bit of London, as well as catching up on tape logging – which I still have to do tonight. I'm afraid today's post is a bit lame - apologies for the self indulgence. The end may redeem an otherwise banal travelogue - sorry again.... I spent the morning on the phone and on email and achieved a little but not nearly as much as one might hope. After that I went for a run to Holland Park, which is quite near the hotel. To my delight I discovered that Holland Park is full of squirrels. I’m sure they’re probably the London equivalent of possums to the locals but heck they’re cute. No wonder the squirrel has starred in so many movies and children’s storybooks. They way they look and scurry about is hilarious. I took some photos (you should all be aware that the only still camera I have with me is my iphone so the technology is basic – no zoom just take a few steps closer which doesn’t really work with squirrels as they tend to scurry). So after being entertained by the squirrels for a while I ran back to the hotel via the shops and post office.
Posting things seems to be a mammothly complicated business in other countries. The woman behind the six inch security glass took ages to locate the correct stamps for my simple local parcel – she seemed to be counting her superannuation increase between the beginning and end of my transaction – do they even have superannuation here? I’m sure the postal workers have some sort of generous pension that she was clinging on for. I remember in France I had to order in the correct stamps to send postcards to Australia and wait 2 days just for the stamps to come in – that’s before they were even posted. Sorry I digress.
So after a bit more time back at the Hotel I finally headed out mid afternoon for a bit of a wander. I began in Covent Garden, which was one of my favourite places when I was here 20 years ago. Needless to say it’s changed a lot but I noticed that my favourite café 20 years ago was still there – sadly I wasn’t tempted. I then needed to visit the hotel we’re staying at next week to see if they could mind my camera gear over the weekend so I don’t have to take it on the train to Watford WITH my suitcase. “Oh it’s fashion week and we’re very busy but yes, I’m sure we can take care of it for you just bring it by on Friday.” Nothing seemed to be too much trouble – what a relief. It’s the kind of hotel where being fashion week is actually relevant. This could be fun – stay tuned.
After that some aimless strolling lead me through a couple of small art galleries and then to the Getty Images Gallery which has an exhibition of fabulous black and white photos of stars in London – Audrey Hepburn, Warren Beatty, Judy Garland, Alfred Hitchcock, Groucho Marx (“I’m leaving London because the weather’s too good. I only like London when it’s raining.”).
Speaking of good quotes Melanie told me one last night to love “if you don’t go over the top you’ll never see what’s on the other side” – now there’s a motto to live by – and maybe to make a film by. Things are starting to come together in my mind about how to bring this film together thanks to some tips and lively discussion last night – thanks Mel.
A funny day with a touristy centre but I've spent tonight surfing You Tube and seen some great stuff which goes to show you that you don't need to leave home to see the world but maybe you need to leave home to have the time to spend hours on You Tube seeing the world.
If you can cope with a bit of coarse language check this out - it's GOLD. From Sweden
No comments:
Post a Comment