A Pint of Cider at The Prince of Wales Pub

When we left the Hampton Court Palace we found the Prince of Wales Pub a couple of blocks from the train station and relaxed with a pint of cider before taking the train back to Hammersmith. We met Harvey, the Foxhound-Greyhound mix. He's a regular here. Very nice dog. He and Robin hit it off right away. Should have gotten his pmail address. He's actually the third dog we saw come in during our short visit. I think I'd like this place.

A street in Hampton Court.

Hampton Court Palace

We got a too-late start for our Hampton Court trip, but took off anyway. Several Tube transfers, a train trip, mad dash from the Hampton Court train depot across the river bridge to the front gate and... missed the last entrance time by about ten minutes.

They let us in so we were able to wander around the grounds for about an hour, but we couldn't go inside. It's amazing how uncrowded this place is. When it's closed. And it's raining. And getting dark.   

The Hampton Court Palace entrance. The Gatehouse to the inner court is adorned with an astronomical clock that shows the time, phases of the moon, the month, the quarter of the year, the date, the sun and star sign, and high water at London Bridge measurements -- important information for visitors who came by barge on the Thames River. At low water London Bridge created dangerous rapids. The clock was kind of an early Tudor app.

I didn't get to see the kitchens, but they're famously huge and were capable of feeding King Henry VIII's court of 1000 people. Robin, above, enjoys the solitude.

A fountain in the center of the garden. The shaped trees are Yew trees.

The front of Hampton Court. I can picture Henry saying "Anne, honey, we're home. I mean Catherine... no, make that Jane. No no, Catherine that's right... not the Aragon or Howard Catherine, Parr for God's sake!"

I'll bet I can tell what she's thinking: "We could do this with those Pinon trees in our yard."

Being Here

The Movie. Two minutes of video. A week of memories.

The Scrabble Battle

Robin and her mother are playing Scrabble tonight. No, Pat is not here visiting us. She's at home in California. They're both using a Scrabble app on their iPads, Word for Friends.

When one player has made their play, the other player gets a notification.

Both players can see the same game board, but can see only their own un-played letter tiles.

Thames Path

We worked at our computers all day, then took a late afternoon walk to explore the neighborhood some more. The Thames River is about 10 minutes from here and the Thames Path is a nice pathway for joggers, bikers, and pedestrians. Facing the river are upscale apartments and offices. Even though it was getting dark, there were several rowing teams on the river practicing whatever they do, escorted by a motor boat with someone onboard shouting instructions with a megaphone.

This is either an architect's office or an architecture school. We saw lots of people sitting at computers with architechy-looking stuff on the screens. One of the windows has a nice display of architectural models. This looks like a model for a stadium design.

A smaller pathway that cuts between buildings and leads to the Thames Path contains signs that warn dogs not to start campfires, or something like that. It's not exactly clear.

A jogger. He started running a lot faster when I started chasing him so I could snap this photo.

The River Cafe, on the Thames Path. It's famous, we're told. It's cafeteria style (see all the servers standing at the food stations). They weren't open for another hour, so we put them on the list for lunch some other day. 

Tomorrow we take the Tube to Wimbledon Station, then catch a train to Hampton Court Palace, one of only two remaining palaces that belonged to King Henry VIII (he owned 60 homes/palaces). 

Today's American Dialect Society News

From the Associated Press: The tech slang word “app” was voted the 2010 “Word of the Year” Friday by the American Dialect Society.


I actually know some people that were using that word extensively way back before 2005. And of course it was being used long before that by some people.


In case you wonder what the strange app icon is on the bottom row, it's Rendezvous, the first version of what is now called Bonjour (automatic local network detection and connecting).

Wicked

We spent the entire day in our B&B room, working on real projects with deadlines. But that’s not the only Wicked part. 

This evening we took a bus to the West End Theatre District and the Apollo Victoria Theatre, to see Wicked, the story of a friendship between two girls who first meet as sorcery students and end up in Oz to fulfill their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West. 

It was a fun plot, great singing, music, and staging, plus fabulous lighting, fascinating set design, and cramped seating that makes coach seating on an international flight look roomy. But that didn’t detract from the fun.

Robin says it was good but doesn’t compare to The Lion King, so she has to add that one to the list. Wicked!

Wicked has been playing here since 2006. I thought maybe I'd seen it at the Yucca Drive-In, but I guess I'm getting it confused with an X-rated movie.

The stage with curtain down and some of the stage-right set showing.

On the face of the balcony, both left and right sides, monitors were mounted that could be seen by actors on the stage. The monitor showed a closeup of the conductor in the orchestra pit, directing the music.

Another theatre in the next block, with another long-running production, Billy Elliot.