This weekend, just hours before our friend Greg came to visit, I took a train to London to see Belle and Sebastian perform. They're my favorite band, and I bought the tickets to this sold-out show in April, so I've been anticipating seeing them for quite some time. Sorry I missed a few nights of Greg's visit, but I think he understands. There were anywhere from 7 to 11 people performing at once, since this band uses a lot of strings (cello, violin) and a trumpet in their sweetly sinister Scottish pop music.
The concert was held in the Barbican Center, which is a giant concrete monstrosity that houses hundreds of apartments, two cinemas, two concert halls, and several restauarants. The outside is horribly ugly, but the band played in the symphony hall, which has outstanding acoustics. My friend Johnnie met me in London to see the show. The hook for the concert is that (among other songs) they played one of their albums in its entirety, as it was recorded. This album, "If You're Feeling Sinister" is my favorite, so rather than going to a concert in a huge hall where you can't really see the performers, and being disappointed since they don't play your favorite song, I got to see them in an intimate setting where they played ALL of my favorite songs. It was pretty wonderful. I guess it should have been, given how much the weekend cost.
Johnnie and I ate at a delicious restaurant called Wódka, and also at the Eagle, a gastropub. Wódka, which is in Kensington, has about 20 kinds of house-infused vodkas which were great. For starters I had seared foie gras on blinis, followed by veal and pine-nut meatballs with plum chutney. What a great treat!
Also in Kensington, where I've never been before, we saw Kensington Park, with it's statue of Prince Albert:
And the Builder's Arms, where I'll probably visit next time, just because it looked so warm and welcoming:
The Eagle is one of the pubs that started the gastropub movement, meaning that they have excellent food in a pub atmosphere. The first day we went there we were in between kitchen hours for lunch and dinner. That was unfortunate, since the menu featured middle eastern style food that day. We went back the next day and enjoyed sweet-spicy corn chowder among other things.
One of the best finds was a market on Farringdon called Flâneur. It was A huge, wood-panelled deli, with a large central service area, and a restaurant at the back. On display is a mind-boggling variety of pickles, preserves, sauces and honeys, plus an unusual variety of oils. Cheeses are attractively displayed on straw, many from Neal's Yard. Also on sale are wines, beers, breads and fresh fruit and vegetables. I had an awesome spanish wine there, and I wished I could bring the whole store home with me.
I like London. Shame it's so so so expensive. I did do some shopping, both at the Gap (I know, I know, but I bought some great jeans) and also at Fortnum and Mason (where I purchased some of the great curry my friend Meredith turned me on to) and at Selfridge's, which may be the coolest department store in the whole world.
--Aimee
The concert was held in the Barbican Center, which is a giant concrete monstrosity that houses hundreds of apartments, two cinemas, two concert halls, and several restauarants. The outside is horribly ugly, but the band played in the symphony hall, which has outstanding acoustics. My friend Johnnie met me in London to see the show. The hook for the concert is that (among other songs) they played one of their albums in its entirety, as it was recorded. This album, "If You're Feeling Sinister" is my favorite, so rather than going to a concert in a huge hall where you can't really see the performers, and being disappointed since they don't play your favorite song, I got to see them in an intimate setting where they played ALL of my favorite songs. It was pretty wonderful. I guess it should have been, given how much the weekend cost.
Johnnie and I ate at a delicious restaurant called Wódka, and also at the Eagle, a gastropub. Wódka, which is in Kensington, has about 20 kinds of house-infused vodkas which were great. For starters I had seared foie gras on blinis, followed by veal and pine-nut meatballs with plum chutney. What a great treat!
Also in Kensington, where I've never been before, we saw Kensington Park, with it's statue of Prince Albert:
And the Builder's Arms, where I'll probably visit next time, just because it looked so warm and welcoming:
The Eagle is one of the pubs that started the gastropub movement, meaning that they have excellent food in a pub atmosphere. The first day we went there we were in between kitchen hours for lunch and dinner. That was unfortunate, since the menu featured middle eastern style food that day. We went back the next day and enjoyed sweet-spicy corn chowder among other things.
One of the best finds was a market on Farringdon called Flâneur. It was A huge, wood-panelled deli, with a large central service area, and a restaurant at the back. On display is a mind-boggling variety of pickles, preserves, sauces and honeys, plus an unusual variety of oils. Cheeses are attractively displayed on straw, many from Neal's Yard. Also on sale are wines, beers, breads and fresh fruit and vegetables. I had an awesome spanish wine there, and I wished I could bring the whole store home with me.
I like London. Shame it's so so so expensive. I did do some shopping, both at the Gap (I know, I know, but I bought some great jeans) and also at Fortnum and Mason (where I purchased some of the great curry my friend Meredith turned me on to) and at Selfridge's, which may be the coolest department store in the whole world.
--Aimee
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About me
- I'm off2paris
- From Paris, France
- off2paris at wonky point org
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