European Vacation 2016: London Calling

Bon Jour,

Just arrived back last week from 2 weeks in Europe, well part of Europe, well, 2 countries actually!

Went to spend some time with my favourite youngest daughter and her young man in London Calling, then some time in Paris (always a good idea).

Travelled with my friend who shall be known as "M" as she prefers to travel incognito, this was going to be a bit different to previous trips as this was "girls" time so very different to travelling with our  significant others.

Started off as all good journeys do with a couple of liquid beverages  (definitely more than 100 millilitres involved! ) in the Qantas Club and before long we were London bound.

The young ones are living in a up and coming area of London called Shoreditch. I think of it as the sort of area that "Call the Midwife" would have been working in during the 1950's. Now it is a cross between Brooklyn, Newtown and Surry Hills. Think cafes, small bars, creative workspace hubs and lots of hipsters! Lots of buildings are being renovated and repurposed a lot of urban regeneration going on. Its very close to the city and has great transport options.

While in London we did Borough Markets, which I cannot do justice to in words, the only thing I can recommend  is you have to go and do yourself a flavour! I managed to score my favourite white asparagus and did a bit of cooking for the hosts one night.

Sunday,  it was time to channel our "inner rock chicks" and take in the  Rolling Stones exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery

Well,  that was 2 1/2 hours well spent.  I was amazed at what they had managed to keep over the years, old set lists, even clothes worn back in the early 1960's. The ultimate experience was the special 3D concert where we were on stage with Mick!  If you are going to be in London this year take time to see it, you will not be disappointed.

The final big thing we did in London was to get our "Kinky Boots" on. I had wanted to see this show 2 years ago, but never had time, so made sure we booked tickets before we left home this time and on our final night in London we had a girls night out with favourite youngest daughter at the west end theatre. The show will not be here in Sydney for another 2 years I think so I'm glad that we got to see it. Great costumes and great music. 

Next day we were off on Eurostar to Paris, so stay tuned for Paris Adventures.

Culture Vulture

I feel a bit of a fraud at the moment, because I'm not actually the Glenquarry Goddess at the moment, we are taking a sabbatical in the city of Sydney ( for various social and work reasons, but don't worry we will return to GG central in the future) so in the meantime think of me more like the Sydney Siren!

One of the things we have really taken advantage of being in the thick of things is to take a subscription to the Sydney Theatre Company for 2016. We always used to come up and see plays now and then but for this year at least we are seeing about 75% of the entire season.

Last Saturday we had the pleasure of seeing King Charles III. I remember seeing the posters for this play when I was in London a couple of years ago but never got to see it there. I must say it was very enjoyable and though provoking. The basic premise is that QEII has "passed on" and Charles is now the king, but his first royal duty to sign a bill that is designed to limit the power of the press to invade people's privacy. Charles refuses and a constitutional crises ensues. The playwright has paid homage to Shakespeare in referencing some of his more famous characters such as Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet and large parts of the dialogue are in blank verse.

It also address the issue of celebrity with Kate and William ( you know who!) who are considered "better" for the throne given their popularity.

The whole scenario played out quite realistically  in the and I could imagine that something like this could very well happen in the future.

One thing I have observed is the audience demographic at all of the plays we have been to so far, and I ask.....


"Where are the young people?"

The audiences are predominantly middle aged men and women and the absence of younger people is quite obvious, I asked the Significant Other about this and we pondered why is this so?

Is it the cost?
Are young(er) people not interested in the theatre?
Are the plays not of relevance to them?
Can they not leave their technology for long enough to see a play?

Just a thought.

Choices, choices, choices,

I've really got myself in a dilemma! After attending Cordon Bleu open day last Saturday Paris, I did a personal guided tour of  cordon bleu london......



And now I'm torn!

Both have pros and cons and I'm spending a lot of brain power trying to reason which school would be the best and which City has the most to offer.

Paris has the history, the markets and of course the French!

London, which was the second cordon bleu school outside Paris has decidedly better facilities, French chefs and I can speak the language.

so, you can see my decision is not easy,

Yes it could be, I could just go to Cordon Bleu in Sydney , but what's the fun  in that?

So maybe you can help me......


If YOU had to make a decision where would you go.........

Stay tuned.....