Vacation

Since I began blogging, I have written about our vacation while we were on vacation. I decided to do it this time when we got back and stick to the highlights. There were many moving parts around Gotham, and still are, and I needed to take it down a notch. It was a great trip, one much-needed. Nothing is better than going away, putting a new head on, seeing things differently, and taking a break. This ale was one of several daily indulgences.

The terrorist attack on Israel this week is something that I am not going to write about. I am scared, angry, and disgusted at the state of the world right now. I will never understand hatred. I will never understand not having compassion towards each other. I will never understand evil. That’s all I got on this.

We started our journey in London, a city we have been to so many times that I couldn’t count. We went to the National Portrait Gallery, one of my fave museums, to see the tail end of the photographs taken by Paul McCartney from December 1963 through February 1964.

The start of these photos was just as the Beatles were becoming a British sensation, and they ended as the Beatles came to America and performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. I felt like we were going through a family photo album. In many of these photographs, these four young men had such a look of awe on their faces, capturing how they were just as amazed as the rest of the world that their music made such an impact.

We spend some time strolling and shopping before hitting up Browns’ renovated bar for a cocktail. Extremely civilized before heading over to J. Sheeky for dinner. It is a classic 125-year-old London establishment now located amid an overwhelming tourist area.

The following morning, we made our way to Shoreditch. An area that has gone through tremendous transformation in the past two decades. We had lunch at Rochelle Canteen, a charming restaurant on the edge of a garden behind closed walls—delicious food with a changing menu.

Down the street is Jolene, a cute and delicious bakery where we topped off our lunch.

Thanks to Instagram, I saw a post from Violet Cakes in August selling oversized bags that say Eat Cake. I bought one for me and one for our daughter before realizing that I had to pick them up. They held them for me until I got there.

We went to see a play that evening, The Father and the Assassin, at The National Theatre, which is about Ghandi’s murderer: excellent acting, a fabulous set, and an interesting story. Before, we had an early meal at Ladsun, a new restaurant inside the National Theatre that is perfect for a pre-theater dinner.

That morning, we made a trip to the Tate. Gerhard Richter is one of my favorite artists in the world. This particular piece came across our path almost twenty years ago. This exhibit is a journey through painting and photography. Richter says, “the most banal amateur photograph is more beautiful than the most beautiful painting by Cezanne.”

The highlight of the trip was Sunday lunch at Hide. We were traveling with another couple, and one of their best friends live outside London. We have known them all for years. We had been to Hide five years ago for dinner. The architecture is beautiful, and the food was far and away, one of the best meals we had on the trip. The softshell crab was lightly fried with a spicy Asian sauce, and the mushroom ricotta tart covered with nasturtium was beautiful in execution and outstanding flavors.

Off to the Cotswolds next.