posted by Savanah on May 12
If you’ve left for the British Isles from Los Angeles, barring any volcanic activity from Icelandic volcanoes, the trip will take about ten to twelve hours, and you’ll arrive a bit jet-lagged in a time zone that’s nine hours off from where you began, but this will hardly matter if you’re a true Anglophile; you’ll be happy just to be back in a city where humanity has lived for nearly two thousand years: London.
Flying into the area, you’ll have a choice of arriving at Heathrow or Gatwick Airports. Both have their advantages: From Gatwick, after passing through customs, you’ll be able to board a train that takes you directly into the heart of London and Victoria Station; from Heathrow, you can take the famous London Transport’s Underground and the Piccadilly Line which will lead you on a diagonal path through the city, allowing stops along the way from Earl’s Court to Russell Square. If you’ve already made your choice of hotel, London Transport can usually get you within easy walking distance of your accommodations. In either case, whether you’re at Victoria Station or the hotel, stow your luggage, and head for the Embankment where you’ll find a number of ways to cross the Thames, by Hungerfoot Foot Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, or the latest addition, the Millennium Bridge.
Once on the South Bank, it’s a short walk up to the National Theatre , a building that some critics found so architecturally bland that they remarked the best view of London could be seen from the National Theatre because it wasn’t in it.
While there may be truth to that opinion, the National Theatre, like the West End or the Royal Shakespeare Company , delivers some of the best theatrical artists and productions in the world, and it’s a perfect place to book tickets for the evening, but also to sit a moment with a cup of tea and take in quietly that you’re in London, with the rolling Thames, the Parliament and Clock Tower of Big Ben all a short distance away.
posted by Savanah on May 10
One of the best ways to see Paris is by bike and Fat Tire Bike Tours is the best bike tour in the city. Their tours are designed with English speaking tourists in mind, plus, it’s American owned and operated since 1999. Fat Tire Bike Tours not only specializes in bike tours, in 2003, they began offering Segway Tours and in 2005, they began the Classic Walks of Paris tours. Additionally, they offer bicycle rentals, private tours and high-speed Internet access.
If You’re staying at a Paris hotel , and wondering why on earth should you do a bike tour, consider this; the Monet’s Garden Bike Tour, which is an excellent bike excursion outside of Paris. You’ll get to experience Claude Monet’s exquisite gardens in Normandy, visit his unique home, ride through the quaint villages of Vernon and Geverny, and pedal along the Seine. This tour is geared to remove you from the hustle and bustle of Paris, which you’ll find a welcome change and a most enjoyable out-of-town trip. The tour first, will take you by rail through the breathtaking sunflower and wheat fields of Normandy, all the way to the village of Vernon, where you’ll collect your bikes, ride to the market for picnic supplies for lunch along the river in a picture perfect park. After lunch, you’ll pedal down Fat Tire’s private bike path to Monet’s gardens and spend the afternoon amongst the most splendid landscape in Normandy. The tour lasts 7 hours and you’ll pedal for 6.6 miles.
If Monet is not your thing, Fat Tire Tours also offers a Night Bike Tour. This is the best way to see the ‘City of Lights’ at its best. You’ll cruise through town right as the city lights up and get to see Paris not only from your bike, but from a boat cruise, where the wine is included! This tour isn’t as comprehensive as Fat Tires’ Day Bike Tour, but is a great complement and a unique way to spend an evening in Paris. The tour lasts 4 hours. Keep in mind that there is no dinner served, so either eat before hand, or as most Parisians do, eat later in the evening.
posted by Savanah on Mar 8
For many people there a just a few selections of words or phrases that will come to mind immediately when asked to name something associated with the city of Rome. I actually tried this on a few different people, in different places and from different demographic backgrounds and aside from my brother, who said, pizza, they all responded by saying the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Pope , the Catholic Church or architecture. Okay, a few more people said pizza than my brother. In fact quite a few said pasta, pizza, Italian food or wine. I was just anticipating that they would all say something from the above-mentioned list. And while many, maybe even most did, there was actually a much larger percentage that first thought of the food and drink of this historic city than what I expected.
So, it turns out that Italian food isn’t just popular in the United States, it even has quite a following right there in Rome. And there are plenty of cafes and restaurants that serve the finest of local cuisine as well as great food from around the world. However, for my brother and other individuals in my study, not to mention the many guests in some of the historic suites in a Rome hotel , pizza, pasta and dessert and wine are on their minds.
Da Baffetto is one of the local pizzeria’s that is perfect for eager tourists who want to enjoy some of Rome’s best pizza as well as take in the city’s ambiance. This is also an inexpensive and affordable place to enjoy a delicious pizza and there is seating both indoors and out on the sidewalk. It is covered and heated during the colder winter months, but is open and a great place to sit and enjoy the passersby as you eat your pizza. Trattoria Monti is a great option for a wider variety of pastas and foods and most of its selections are based on the regional offerings of the Marches, which is located just northeast of Rome. And while so many people are interested in the great food of the city I’m sure that as soon as they’re finished eating, they’re planning on running straight over to view Michelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel.
posted by Savanah on Feb 27
It is rather refreshing and even a bit delightful, although it feels a bit contrary, to think that there’s another Churchill that immediately comes to mind when we think of London now. Perhaps it shoud be a bit contrary, when the other person is Caryl Churchill. She’s been writing plays for a few decades now, and the idea that she’s still writing new work is reason enough to go to check into a hotel in London and start waiting right now.
When she comes out with a new work, it is a very big deal, and she’s been so very prolific all her life that there are lots of opportunities to enjoy these big deals. Maybe enjoy isn’t the perfect word, because although her plays do offer a certain pleasure, but they can also be very tough. One of the last productions I saw by her was a version of the Skriker, and it was an astounding and riveting evening of theatre. But it was also incredibly disorienting, being about mad faeries that haunt two women in London. This was her most fantastical work, in the pure sense of the term, but by no means unexpected.
She has had quite a career. Her first writings that got attention were radio plays in the 1960s, and even in these first works, we see a profoundly developed sensitivity to the forms of drama, coupled with an enormously astute critique of the world at large, but London social norms in particular. She moved into plays, working with the Royal Court Theatre, and then the Monstrous Regiment, where she developed a collaborative way of constructing her remarkable works. They continue to serve the audiences with an enormous wit, deep intellect, and a profound sadness that makes her the logical successor to Bertolt Brecht.
