Anticipation... Tube meowing... Theatre silence

There is a lot to happen today! Let's see if it will!:-)

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Yes, most of did take place!

The most exciting part of the day was going to the theatre with my dear actress friend Emma to see her friend Tessa in a play that's on at The White Bear Theatre in Kennington.

 I saw both of the actresses in 'The Supper Party' at The Tabard Inn Theatre before Christmas and thought highly of the play and the acting.There was no disappointment this time either. It was quite an expedition across London  in rush hours, but well worth it. Earlier I had thought of visiting Cuming Museum nearby, but couldn't quite fit it in and, frankly, wasn't trying my hardest since I found out the new temporary exhibition opens next week.  When changing trains at Tottenham Court Road, walking through the tunnels between Central and Northern Line, I was puzzled by the meowing resembling that of the cartoon character called Simon's Cat (you can YouTube it, I did!). The thing is that a friend who introduced me to this  feline, likes imitating its meowing so I was not sure whether it was a cat or a human! As the sound was coming from behind me, I slowed down and then the truth got revealed: it was a cat in the trolley. That's the proof:

My above mentioned friend wouldn't fit in this taxi!:-)

Let me go back to tonight performance titled 'A KIND OF SILENCE'. It is an adaptation of a  play by Shelagh Stevenson which tells about the drastic impact of family abuse on its members to leave the audience deeply moved by the power of the evil and the fact that the horror they live in goes on  unnoticed, or rather ignored, for decades. Dear Wikipedia provides some info about the play: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Kinds_of_Silence
I am really glad I had an opportunity to see this play and, like Emma rightly said preparing me for the experience, leaving the performance we were happy to return to our wonderful lives! :-)

The theatre itself is a cosy venue at the back of the pub near Kennington Station. Emma was waiting for me in a little room between the pub and the stage and on entering my eyes just registered some ceiling paintings, but I didn't really have the time to stare. In each corner of the ceiling, I only caught a glimpse of something colourful in the style which made me think of Sarastro or now gone Papageno restaurants in The West End. When we were leaving after the performance, forgoing the drinks with the cast and friends, as Emma was kindly giving me a lift, we stopped so I could take pictures of the said ceiling. Here they are:

My favourite colourful ceiling corner:

There was one more polar bear we encountered on the way and I would like to thank Emma for the lap of honour around Sloane Square in order to get this picture:


Please, if you know anything about this bear, do share with me in the comments below this post!

Good night!

Just like in Eire!

It's been very, very moist this morning, typical English weather. The BBC weather page promises some sunshine in the afternoon, isn't that good? :-)

Incredible! Maybe ten minutes went by and there IS sunshine, the last little clouds are being chased away. Oh, that's like a holiday by the sea in Ireland: you've had breakfast, it got sunny, you pack up and drive to the beach, park the car, take the stuff to the sand and by the time you settle there, clouds bring the rain, so you gather your bundles, run to the car, drive back and... by the time you are home it's sunny again, and so on and so forth....

The rest of the day was free from 'sky water', but very windy. At one moment the wind blew from the side so strongly that it nearly pushed me off the park path.

Here are the pictures of  Ealing Broadway today:

  

.....

Memories... Some more, of a person from another country I had visited before the war hit it. A few months ago I received an e-mail from my dear friend Zoran and forwarded it to my friends, being quite proud of him. He wrote me about a book of his haiku about to be published:  

Without Keys

haiku poems with love

Zoran Mimica

We've known each other since we were at university and that was...  well, in the previous century! Of so many humanities students from all over the world attending the Young Philosophers' Congress met there, I have been in touch only with Zoki all these years. The following summer we stayed with him and his family in Croatia, sightseeing in Zagreb and relaxing by the sea near Split. During the Balkan conflict I sent him a big parcel with food and domestic items, but it was of no use, as after all the security checks, the content was a mess: packets and packages open and food mixed with washing powder etc... (Just like when our relations sent us parcels from the USA during the 'empty shelves' era...) He came to stay with me when after the summer holidays Finnish authorities did not admit him into their country so he could continue work at Turku University. Eventually, his family decided to leave their war-tormented country and settled in Vienna. Things were not easy for them. I remember on one of guided tours I went to see Zoran at work: he was a waiter in Vienna... However, he was also doing some academic work. He invited my to a lecture he gave in London two or three years ago. It's a pleasure to count him as one of my friends! I know he's been publishing many of his haiku for a long time. Now they come as a book and I have no doubt that the Mia who did the cover painting is one of his daughters! Well done, Zoki and Katka! :-)))

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A few vintage posters I hurriedly captured on the way home today:





Good night!

Good Palestinian falafel in West Ealing!

Today I stopped for lunch at a small place in West Ealing near Chapel. Road. A friendly owner emerged from the kitchen and, as requested, prepared me a falafel wrap, served with some olives and some other shredded pickled veggie. All tasted delicious, including my favourite black tea with fresh mint leaves served in a glass, which I do enjoy! Moreover, the meal turned out to be most affordable and I paid before I asked him if I could mention his place in my blog.:-) Pity I didn't take some good pictures, just the one above.You know, it was one of these unassuming places that can be either very good or very bad. I was lucky! :-) I found out from the owner that he came to London at sixteen, in 1968, from the troubled land of Palestine and had a shop in Elephant in Castle, then for some twenty years in King's Cross, until the railway development swallowed the grounds there, next somewhere else I didn't catch and then he settled here in Uxbridge Road, West Ealing, but he does miss his homeland...

That reminded me of another encounter with a Palestinian refugee. It was during our mountain hike in Syria, when it was still a safe place, only a few years back.We met this young couple hanging around there, looking at the distant hills and thinking about their futures. She was from Lebanon, I think. Obviously, we couldn't communicate easily as the shared language - English - posed difficulty for them and we had no command of their tongue. I can't recall much more about them, but I do remember how much I felt for these two who were born in troubled places and times, and how grateful I was for not having to experience such hardship.

Postman's victory and photo memories from Levant!

I must go to the post office to collect a registered letter. The postman rang the door bell downstairs the other day, but by the time I made my way downstairs, he was gone. He won the race again!

I walked back in the rain through Walpole Park:

Then I sought shelter taking a shortcut through the shopping centre where I encountered these two dogs:

In the evening I browsed through some old pictures and found a big folder from a visit to Syria, one of quite a few. It was so amazing to be there, meet the friendly and helpful people, see different religions coexist peacefully, as an outsider would think. There were many thing that surprised us, but truly, we never anticipated what was to happen.... Where are the students who helped us get home by public transport after the performance at the National Cultural Centre? What happened to the wonderful jewellery maker who out of his initiative and to our great astonishment, turned out at the crack of dawn in our hotel to take us to the airport and refused any money for that. He felt offended when we offered him a box of chocolates for his children. We were his friends, he told us! Are his children and wife safe? I remember him telling us that he worked in his little workshop till late, Monday to Saturday, and on Sunday they all go to church and have a family dinner... There were passers-by who, went asked the way, would walk with us until they made sure we were on the right track. So many other encounters which gave this feeling of tactful openness and friendliness, without putting pressure on you to buy something from them. We tried to explore as much as we could in Damascus and we also took a trip to two spectacular places in the mountains. The pictures below are from that trip.

Leaving Damascus:

Some houses on the way out of the city:

Area near the National Cultural Centre:

We never ever thought that things would go so wrong in that country....

Nice to wake up to the blue sky and the sun shining. I've been pottering around for a good while delaying my exercises. So much else to do... Some girl with a dramatic voice is singing to the sharp tunes of an acoustic guitar. I've always liked singing and most of the time have been too shy to do that. When I was a kid, they would tell me at home that an elephant must have stomped on my ear (they meant, I was singing out of tune). Thus, when I went to school and a teacher would tell me to sing a song we had learnt, my voice would freeze, I just wasn't able to sing alone. If another girl or two joined me, I was fine. And then, when the time came the school music teacher was choosing kids to join the compulsory school choir, I was selected! It made me feel much better. :-)

An e-mail that gave me joy!

I received an email from someone I met at a Turnham Green Rd shop last year. He is a drum teacher, often goes to Africa and is a very interesting person. And he said he'd visited and read  my blog! That was nice to hear. Mine has been the first blog he had ever seen. That's an honour! :-)

I don't think Burns' Night celebrated this evening has anything to do with the fact that I was served a huge bowl of  porridge for breakfast. That has been the only celebration of the occasion this time.

Somehow, the second outing was not an option today after a walk in the neighbourhood, doing a few errands and having lunch in an Italian restaurant we thought we knew would be a good choice. Unfortunately, it wasn't. The starters were nice, although slices of mozzarella cheese in my salad were rather soggy, but the main courses and side dishes were a disappointment. We are to blame ourselves, because we order dishes that are not considered Italian specialty, maybe pizza and pasta would satisfy our tastes. Anyway, we thought they wouldn't ruin simple Italian coffee and ordered espresso each. My friend's double was not bad, I was told, but the single one I ordered was simply impossible to drink. Bitter, cold, and the hot milk I asked for arrived lukewarm in a tiny cold metal jug. The service was nice, though. We didn't complain, what's the point? We marked this place as another 'no-go' on our secret map of local eateries.

I'm going to have some mint tea!

In Folkestone and back

The winter cold was even more bitter by the sea. I moved from shop to shop on the morning stroll to keep warm. Many shops in Folkestone High Street are charity shops, some of them disguised as Curiosity shops, interspersed with One Pound Shops and closing down sales.

This time we could have the fish at my companions' favourite pub:


 Unlike on numerous previous occasions, we sat at a comfier table by the fireplace and could notice many paintings which turned out to be painted by the landlord who had just prepared a a mug of aromatic mulled wine for me.

 

That was the view from the window across the table:


The return journey to St Pancras meant tea deprivation again. We could see that the few passengers aboard didn't make the beverage service viable. However, we thought of a simple solution: the ticket inspector, could also fulfill the role of serving tea and coffee while checking the tickets, making some extra money and keeping us, passengers happy!

Pictures follow!

Nice to be home!

:-)