London report - Wednesday
Three cheers for British Airways, delivering me to London 20 minutes before schedule, offering free snacks and drinks during the flights and having my suitcase ready for collection when I had passed the passport control. Gave me almost a whole afternoon and evening on my first day in London. First day of this visit that is.
There was a new boy who gave me the keys at Morgan Guest House. He asked if I had been there before. I did not dare tell him that I had probably spent more days in the guest house than he had.
Selfridge's self checkouts are good. You do not need to be registered like the self checkout at Coop Forum and Ica Maxi. You can pay with cash and get the right change. And of course it is quick. But I must admit that I sometimes go to the cashiers to be able to exchange a few words with a human being.
I must say that Kentucky Fried Chicken has the best and juciest chicken in the world. It is just so sad their French fries is absolutely awful.
And where should you enjoy a glass of London Pride if not in London? I had my first on this trip in The Henry Holland pub off Oxford Street, close to Selfridges. But I must admit that the "Old Golden Hen" I had in the Travellers Tavern near my guest house is not as good as "Old Speckled Hen".
Spen the evening in Royal Festival Hall, one of my favourite concert halls. Apart from a good view from every seat it has the advantage of being situated close to the Thames. The interval yesterday was marvellous. A (plastic) glass of French red wine on the terrace. Fresh air and a lovely view of the lit-up buildings of London by night. What more can you ask for? Well ,music of course.
Mozart's Jupiter symphony (no 41) started off the evening. Music that just flows right through you, created by a master craftsman and a genious.
Mark Anthony Burbage's "On opened ground", concerto for viola and orchestra, was a strange piece. The first half was super modern, more sounds than melody lines and rythms. The second part was more enjoyable, especially the bit laballed "Interrupted song" which contained a kind of battle between the soloist and the orchestra. The composer himself entered the stage afterwards to thank the audience. Looked a little like Elvis Costello's younger brother.
And if you think Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is just that bombastic short piece you here when big stars enter the stage think again. It is actually more than 30 minutes of varied music. The beginning is bombastic, the end is the very opposite. It just fades away somehow. Must listen to it again sometime, when I am not as tired.
There was a new boy who gave me the keys at Morgan Guest House. He asked if I had been there before. I did not dare tell him that I had probably spent more days in the guest house than he had.
Selfridge's self checkouts are good. You do not need to be registered like the self checkout at Coop Forum and Ica Maxi. You can pay with cash and get the right change. And of course it is quick. But I must admit that I sometimes go to the cashiers to be able to exchange a few words with a human being.
I must say that Kentucky Fried Chicken has the best and juciest chicken in the world. It is just so sad their French fries is absolutely awful.
And where should you enjoy a glass of London Pride if not in London? I had my first on this trip in The Henry Holland pub off Oxford Street, close to Selfridges. But I must admit that the "Old Golden Hen" I had in the Travellers Tavern near my guest house is not as good as "Old Speckled Hen".
Spen the evening in Royal Festival Hall, one of my favourite concert halls. Apart from a good view from every seat it has the advantage of being situated close to the Thames. The interval yesterday was marvellous. A (plastic) glass of French red wine on the terrace. Fresh air and a lovely view of the lit-up buildings of London by night. What more can you ask for? Well ,music of course.
Mozart's Jupiter symphony (no 41) started off the evening. Music that just flows right through you, created by a master craftsman and a genious.
Mark Anthony Burbage's "On opened ground", concerto for viola and orchestra, was a strange piece. The first half was super modern, more sounds than melody lines and rythms. The second part was more enjoyable, especially the bit laballed "Interrupted song" which contained a kind of battle between the soloist and the orchestra. The composer himself entered the stage afterwards to thank the audience. Looked a little like Elvis Costello's younger brother.
And if you think Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is just that bombastic short piece you here when big stars enter the stage think again. It is actually more than 30 minutes of varied music. The beginning is bombastic, the end is the very opposite. It just fades away somehow. Must listen to it again sometime, when I am not as tired.
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