Chris loves to travel, and likes nothing more than visiting his friends in London. The city is particularly festive during the holiday season, and perhaps even more so this year due to the early snowfall. Chris, the playful sort that he is, took advantage of the winter wonderland by joining his young friends for an afternoon of sledding and snowball fights in Greenwich Park. While he enjoyed the snow what he could have done without were the below average temperatures; he thus found himself keeping warm with lots of coffee dates.
Of course red wine is another wonderful way to get that oh so warm feeling, so he also partook in long evenings at the pub. His current favorite is the Windsor Castle in Marylebone; he loves the quirky collection of bric-a-brac that covers any and every empty space. The pub is also the base for The Handlebar Club, whose finely moustached members meet there the first Friday of every month.
Chris did brave the cold one evening in order to check out Hyde Park’s rather extensive Winter Wonderland. While he wasn’t too impressed with the Angels Christmas Market (junk and bad crafts), and isn’t really a rides kind of guy (although he did appreciate the multiple penguin themed ones), he did enjoy the large selection of “Continental” treats…and what better way to keep warm with than a glass of mulled wine.
One of the reasons for this particular London visit was to celebrate a friend’s birthday. As usual Chris was given baking duty (a very pleasant winter day activity), and made cookies for the birthday gathering. It was an evening of treats, gossip and of course bubbly (it wouldn’t be a party without), and he had a fabulous time catching up with friends.
Lest you think that all Chris does on his trips is drink, he would like you to know that he is an avid museumgoer, and wouldn’t think of visiting London without catching at least one exhibition. This time he hit the Serpentine Gallery, which is showing Philippe Parreno’s first solo exhibition in a UK public institution. He also made his way to Tate Modern, where he caught the very popular Gaugin show, the Rosa Barba exhibition, and Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds (not quite so exciting now that they have been roped off due to dust issues…but better a rope than the censorship favored in Washington).
His favorite show, however, was the V&A’s Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes. He loved the sets and costumes (especially those by Léon Bakst), and what’s not to like about the drama surrounding the company. Chris also loves the V&A gift shop, where he spent a fair bit of time but managed to exercise some restraint when making his purchases. As a reward he’ll just have to plan a trip to London early in the New Year to hit the sales!
