A Farewell Friday and a Final Saturday of Unexpected Delights

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my Friday farewells. After a morning spent starting the cleaning and packing process at Clare Court for the final time, I had an unexpected lunch with my pal James Grant at the Observatory, a favorite local cafe and photography gallery on Marchmont Street, just one block from Clare Court. It was another unseasonably warm late October day

so, James and I sat outside and talked caught up on all that had been happening since we last saw each other at his older daughter’s birthday party at the beginning of the month. James and his family are my longest standing friends in the UK, I am so glad I got to see one representative this week. After James hopped on his Brompton bike, I headed down to Caffe Tropea where I was to meet another old friend, Graham who was coming up to London to see me before I headed back home. In a happy circumstance, Graham was able to meet several of the folks who have become my “coffee crowd” and we all spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting together before Graham and I had some time to ourselves to catch up on his grown-up kids, his latest leatherwork, a skill he has taken up in recent years, and his life down on the south coast of England.

When the time came for Graham to catch his train, I hurried back to the flat, cleaned up and changed to go to dinner with Charlene, Jon and Barney, the team that have been responsible for keeping me happily ensconced in Clare Court these last several years. Circumstances have meant they are selling the flat. Charlene and Jon have owned the flat and Barney have assisted in maintenance and management. We were joined by another American friend named Jane who has also had the great luck of being Charlene and Jon’s guest at Clare Court. We had dinner at a lovely Greek restaurant called the Four Lanterns in the Fitzrovia neighborhood of London. The picture below shows

the tables right in front of the wooden railing where our party were seated. I was “the thorn between the two roses” of Charlene and Jane. Before we arrived at the restaurant, Barney was assigned to take me on something of a forced march from outer Bloomsbury into Fitzrovia to show me some other flats that Charlene and Jon wanted me to consider for next year’s London sojourn. Each was lovely, but all involved many, many steps with twists and turns. Not for me, unfortunately. Along with the walk home after dinner, it did allow me to exceed my daily “steps goal.” The food was excellent, as was the company that evening.

Saturday dawned as another warm morning, and I was out fairly early for a final visit to my “London barber” Alex at Huckle the Barber on Lamb’s Conduit. That meant, of course, the mandatory stop at Tutti for one of their excellent cafe lattes beforehand.

As I headed toward the Russell Square Tube Station, something compelled me to take a slight detour through the Brunswick Square Gardens. Almost immediately upon entering this lovely urban green space, I noticed a rose bush, still in bloom. As I walked along, I took these three photos, the third flower was right next to a lady sitting on a bench. As I took the picture with my phone, I said to her, “late bloomers” and she replied to me, “aren’t we all.” That really made my day.

From the lovely Autumn Garden, I continued to the Russell Square Tube station and made my way to the Victoria and Albert Museum for my last visit of this London sojourn. As I walked down the hall that led me toward the members’ room where I hoped to refresh myself after a rather warm tube ride, I noticed this sculpture, that reminded me of the African Fashion Exhibit that I had been meaning to catch.

I am not much of a fashionista, but one of the great things about being a “friend” of the V&A is that it gives me free entry to special exhibits like this. The fashion on show were really quite interesting, some were stunning. The diaphanous green gown reminded me of the gown my mother wore to my niece’s wedding and that she loved so much that she asked to be buried in. The boldness of the colors and styles are wonderful, and I think remind us of another reason for hope for the future.

I noticed these three castings of sculptures by Aimé-Jules Dalou, a nineteenth century Frenchman who Wikipedia says is “recognized as one of the most brilliant virtuosos of nineteenth-century France, admired for his perceptiveness, execution, and unpretentious realism.”

Note particularly the first sculpture. I will be showing some photos later from an earlier period that have a similarity that may be surprising.

Next, an interesting cast by Andrea di Cione titled “The Assumption and Death of the Virgin.” 1352 to 60.

This relates to the Catholic tradition, made dogma of the Church by Pope Pius XII in 1954, that Mary, the mother of Jesus did not die, but rather, went to sleep and was bodily assumed into Heaven. I understand that Pope Pius chose to do this because of the terrible destruction of human life and the incredible insult to the human body that took place in the Holocaust, in the war itself and in the treatment of people in the Pacific front as well. However, this 14th century depiction looks at the tradition from a simpler view.

Finally, Rossellino’s 1450-1460 “The Virgin and Child with Cherubs” and Civitali’s 1470 to 1500 “The Madonna of Coughs.”

Looking at these casts done of sculptures made in the 15th century reminded me of an art exhibition I saw in Brugge, Belgium about 20 years ago. It was a study of how the female breast was, in the 13 to 15th centuries not taboo, especially in religious art. The Madonna was frequently shown breast feeding the baby Jesus. Seeing the cast of 19th century Dalou sculpture reminded me of the earlier exhibition and these two in the cast halls have me trying to remember the historical changes that brought about the later modesty issues in this regard.

When I returned to Bloomsbury, I went to visit the efficiency apartment complex I have reserved a place in for next year. As I left, I noticed this Blue Historic Plaque, just a few a few doors away. It seemed like an appropriate way to start the Halloween weekend. Little did I think that my next stop, the local Waitrose supermarket would surprise me with Beetlejuice, a witch and Cruella DeVille (scaring a neighborhood pooch).