Liberty of London Visit

Happy Easter! May your day be spent enjoying services and catching up with family and friends.

View of the fabric from the floor above. Note the timbers.

One new destination on my list during my London trip was Liberty of London. The business has been around since 1875. The building was finished in 1924. It was constructed from two ancient three decker battle ships. The length and height of the building measured one of the ships. Flooring and support timbers came from the ships. It is such an interesting building!

A selection of the fabric

I looked at the bed linen floor briefly. I could have spent a lot of time walking through each floor; but, I didn't know how well my knee would cooperate so I confined my visit to the fabric floor. To see so many prints was amazing. One meter of fabric was 29 pounds. A meter is about 39 inches. The pound conversion meant the fabric was about $38 for that meter.

Pulling the fabric from the bolt

The employee who waited on me was helpful and knowledgeable. He did want to know what I planned to make with the fabric as there isn't enough yardage to make clothing. Before I answered his questions, I noted that he wore well fitting pants. I asked if he had made them since the fit was so perfect. He smiled and squared his shoulders before he responded. He reported that he had put the last stitch in the pants that morning and that the fabric had come from a recent visit to Scotland. He said he bought fabric every place he went and then made a piece of clothing as a souvenir!

My purchase

I laughed. I said I was doing the same but, I was sharing my fabric with my quilt group! He said my answer made sense; but, I could tell he had no idea how this small amount of fabric could be made into anything. Time will tell. My small group won't receive it until next fall. We all need to finish our current challenge!

Documenting this visit was goal number seven on my April list. Linking up with Sew & Tell.

London Through the Eyes on an 11 Year Old--post 5

View of one wall of the coffee shop

One place J wanted to visit was a particular coffee shop. At 11, she doesn't like the taste of coffee; but, this shop makes great dairy free smoothies. That was not the reason that she wanted to go there. She wanted to go because she wanted to see for herself what the hype was all about.

More eclectic trinkets

The shop is Fuckoffe. It is pronounced Fu coffee. The link will tell you about the origins of the shop. My family has laughed because there was a time that my drink of choice there was a smoothie with banana, non dairy milk and coffee. It had a name that I could not say. I rarely swear and if I do, I don't use the F word. I've noticed Londonners seem to use that word or some derivative of it it  often in a conversation. 

Example of the souvenir shirt

My daughter, who has no issues with that word, would order for me. If I went to the shop on my own, I would point to the item and say that I'd like that option with oat milk. The barista would say. . ."Oh, one MotherF* with oat milk coming up!" Even that would make me blush. This blushing action delighted the members of my party.

J with her berry smoothie

Now, my drink of choice is an iced Americano with oat milk. There is no need to utter a profanity! J ordered a berry smoothie which she enjoyed. She did purchase a shirt. 

The other activity that J enjoyed was seeing a performance of Wicked put on through the London Theater. She and her auntie attended the event. She convinced her auntie to purchase a souvenir sweatshirt for her from the event. All in all, London was a great place to vacation!

Next week, I'll share a couple of highlights of our trip to Paris. That will be my last travel post!

London Through the Eyes of An 11 Year Old--post 4

Arrival at restaurant 

J's Auntie, N, made lunch reservations at Héléne Darroze at the Connaught. It is a three star Michelin restaurant. J was extra excited about the opportunity to eat a fancy lunch. J is open to trying new foods; but, she has an intolerance to dairy which the staff accommodated.

Special purse for a special lunch

To ensure that J had great accessories, N lent J a special bag for the lunch. N made the reservation in J's name so J would have the opportunity to interact more with the staff. We shared the occasion was for her birthday and that J is an aspiring cook, she would like to see the kitchen if that could be possible.

Special appetizers

N supports women owned businesses and women in the workplace. She has experienced more than her share of male dominance in the workplace. She positions herself to encourage women to excel in their areas of expertise and to keep reaching for their goals. She shares this passion with her nieces too!

J's Wagyu beef

When we arrived, J walked up to the reservation desk and let them know that she and her party were here for lunch! 

Dessert

She enjoyed the lunch. She did get a special birthday dessert in addition to the lunch dessert. I didn't snap a photo of it though!

Chocolate thank you bites 

We all received a round of chocolate at the end of the meal. We also received a small sesame like cookie.

Us at the end of lunch

Our waiter took a photo of us at the table.

J with her mounted photo

Then, J was given the photo mounted on card stock and in an envelope. It was a perfect memento.

J with her chef hat in the chef's kitchen

She also was treated to a trip to the kitchen. We were allowed a few minutes to watch the staff prepare the dishes as well as watch how the chef interacted with everyone while ensuring each dish left the kitchen perfectly. Our guide took a photo of us. The hostess gifted J with her own chef's hat.

The last bite of lunch

As we were leaving, we were gifted with a sweet "bite" to enjoy at home. It was a great way to spend the afternoon,

London Through the Eyes of an 11 Year Old--post 3

 

Our tour guide

On J's list of must see was touring the Tower of London. We started with a tour from a Beefeater. These men and woman share interesting stories about the buildings and people who lived and died there. Our guide had served 26 years in the Navy and was the number 420th Beefeater. There isn't a lot of turnover in that position!

J listening to the guide

The tale the tour guide wove kept J's attention. We walked to various spots on the grounds to listen to the guide. It was 45 minutes well spent and included in the ticket price.

Reading about the White Tower

She saw the White Tower. She was impressed with the armaments for people and for the horses. 

J in front of the Bell Tower

I took a photo of her in front of the Bell Tower. 

Taking photos

She took photos of places that interested her. Often, she scouted way ahead of me!

In the queue for the Crown Jewels

She most wanted to see the Crown Jewels so of course we checked those out. She was surprised that there were so many crowns.

J with Amanda Clark

As we walked the grounds, we happened to see a woman Beefeater. There have been three in the history. This is Amanda J Clark. When I asked if I could snap a photo of her with J, she said yes!

London through the eyes of an 11 year old--post 2

J requested a boat tour on the Thames. She reasoned that listening to stories would be more entertaining that racing down the river in speed boat or taking a dignified city cruise or riding in the water public transport. She was right!

J in front of the fountain near our pick up point

J enjoyed the Terrible Thames boat tour. Over the years that I've visited, I've heard the music on this tour as the boat travels within site of my daughter's flat. We didn't have far to go to arrive at the meeting point. We only had to walk across Tower bridge and then down to the dock.

J enjoying the tour

The tour was 45 minutes and perfect for kids/families. J enjoyed learning a little about the history of some of the bridges and buildings along the route. 

London Through the Eyes Of An 11 Year Old--post 1

At departure from Portland, Oregon

July 23 through August 6, my 11 year old granddaughter, J, and I visited London, England where my daughter and youngest granddaughter live. The four of us also spent four days in Paris, France. This was J's first time to London and France. We took the usual photos before departing the Portland airport. It is a "thing" here, to photo one's shoes against the airport carpet before one leaves. We made sure to capture that moment!

Iconic shoe photo with the airport carpet

I'll be writing a series of posts describing the top six activities of J's trip. There is no particular order to the posts There may be several activities in a post. 

The cats at the cafe

This post will highlight having high tea at Whiskers and Cream which is a cat cafe. Admittance is by reservation only. The cats are rescues. Patrons can pet, play, photo and admire the cats during their reservation time. The cat no no rules were few. You can't feed the cats people food and you can't pick up the cats. You could order a drink, a drink and a dessert, a high tea or a meal. The time period for high tea was 90 minutes.

The cat, Jack

J LOVED watching, petting and photographing the various cats. She took more than 100 photos/videos of the cats. She snapped the majority of photos in this post.

Basil about to leap

There were cats on tables, on chairs, on scratching posts and in cat beds scattered about the cafe.

Basil in repose

The patrons were all busy with The food was definitely second fiddle to the cats as far as J was concerned! She has an intolerance to dairy. This cafe was able to make a tea that contained no dairy which was great.

Jack making himself available for seating too

We did see one cat try to join a group having a high tea. One of the employees walked over and picked him up before he could help himself to the treats!

The three tier tea tray part way through tea

Our tea consisted of sandwiches, scones and a variety of desserts.

J rated the experience a success

To get to this location, we took a bus,  two trains and walked about ten minutes. I was impressed that I was able to navigate there and even more impressed that I was able to navigate back to my daughter's house!

I'll be using my Sunday posts to document our trip. Goal number six on my August list was to begin documenting my trip. 

Greece--Day 11

First departure wave (Photo J. Callahan)

On our final morning, we left our penthouse. We said goodbye to Amanda and family at 6am. They were traveling from Athens, to London/Heathrow to Vancouver/Canada and then to Portland. They made all of their connections and had enough of a layover in Heathrow for James to taste a pint. They arrived at the Portland airport at 7:30pm.

We said goodbye to Nicole, Miss A and Nicole's partner at 9am. This goodbye is always hard especially now that Miss A is in the picture. We have plans to see one another at Thanksgiving. I was thinking about traveling at Christmas; or waiting until March for a visit. Now, I'll wait until after knee surgery.

Nicole and family left about noon. When they arrived at the airport, she received a message that her flight was delayed about an hour and a half. Miss A was busy during the delay; but, she slept most of the three hour flight to London. They arrived home about 6:30 and just in time to accept their grocery delivery!

Our taxi ride to the airport took about an hour. We checked ourselves and our bags in. Going through security was

A sample of some of the savory lounge food

uneventful. Then, because we have access to the lounge, we enjoyed one last snack in Greece before boarding our plane to Newark, New Jersey. The flight was about a half hour late leaving. It was a long flight and we were thankful we had booked extra leg room. We were seated at an exit so it was easy for us to get up every hour or so to stretch.

I slept parts of four hours on the ten hour flight. When we landed in Newark, we had a couple of hours. Unfortunately, it took about an hour for our bags to arrive. The line going through customs was so long; but, thanks to Nicole in addition to the lounge access, I also have gold status. Gold status means that I can go to a "special" line to by pass an extra long wait. Thankfully, we were able to recheck our bags on the way to catch the shuttle to a different concourse.

At the concourse, going back through security was crazy. It is set up so that you don't have space to strip off your shoes, take out your electrical devices, etc. Electrical devices can't touch one another and you can't have other items in the tub. What ends up happening is that someone else's items come between your items. Added to that, the security person questioned my cross body bag. I wasn't able to proceed

A sampling of the sweets

through the body scan until after my purse had been scanned.

Bob of course was through, redressed and waiting for me when I finally made it through the screening process. If there is a way to avoid Newark, I would if the future. While custodial, wheel chair transportation staff were friendly and helpful, the TSA staff were crabby and demanding. Perhaps, they were still recovering from the influx of Fourth of July travelers.

We thought that the flight to Portland would be boarding by the time we arrived at the gate; but, it was delayed. It seemed like a lot of flights were delayed that day so there were long lines of people waiting outside many gates. After seeing the amount of people on a "normal" day, I can't imagine what it must be like when there are serious weather delays.

We did board our plane and we left about 45 minutes late. The woman who sat next to us didn't speak English. Her daughter who was about 13 rows behind us came several times to check on her. I tried to help her with the audio equipment so she would have some inflight entertainment.

Greek coffee top, Starbucks coffee bottom

While I tried to stay awake on this leg of the journey, I did catch myself dozing a couple of times.

On this five hour and 20 minute flight, we could purchase food. We didn't. We took the savory snack and the two drinks that were offered to us. I think a flight that long should include a meal. When we flew from Denver to Newark on the way to Athens, we were served a meal. 

The flight was uneventful. The audio with the earbuds from the airlines wasn't good enough for me to decipher the dialog in a movie. I read instead. I started "A Long Walk to Freedom" an autobiography of Nelson Mandela. It's about 700 pages long and I still haven't finished it!

We landed about half an hour late; but, our bags arrived quickly. For once the priority bags, arrived first! There seemed to be a lot of people leaving the airport so traffic was extra heavy. Friend and neighbor Rod, arrived to pick us up. Home we went. We arrived about 11pm. 

It was a long day; but, to unwind, we unpacked. It was a great trip. We concurred that a full day of travel is hard on one's body!

The following day, I made a comparison of the Greek coffee that we had purchased on our trip with what we drink at home. The color of the coffee was different; but, both tasted great! This is my last post about our trip. It was fun to re live our activities. I wonder where we will travel in four years. . .it could be a destination within the continental United States. . . .or not! It will be interesting to read where people want to go!

Greece--Day 10

Miss J outside the archeological museum (Photo J. Callahan)

This morning, we enjoyed a cup of coffee, a slice of cheese with a slice of bread. On our final day, our first plan was to visit the National Archeological Museum. Not all of the group wanted to visit the museum so those that wanted to go went by taxi.

Exhibit at the war museum (Photo J. Callahan)

The most interesting exhibit at the museum was a copper fry pan. It was made about 300 B.C. Over time it was a beautiful blue and the design was coils. The inside of the pan was smooth. Amanda said that the person who used this beautiful dish must have had status. Perhaps, women were thought more highly of than we have been led to believe.

I always find the nails, fish hooks and pottery of interest. I marvel at how long it would take them to make something. They couldn't build a piece of furniture until they had made the nails. They couldn't catch fish, if they didn't have hooks. I enjoyed the designs on the pottery. Utilitarian items were beautified in some way. 

Getting ready to cut the linen fabric

After the museum, James and Miss J went to the War Museum. They met Bob and Nicole's partner. The rest of us took a walk to find the vinegar that we had tasted on the food tour. The guide had stated it was available in grocery stores and as a product of Naxos, we would be able to find it there. We didn't find it on Naxos.

We walked about half an hour and I said, I was ready for a cooling break. We stopped for a coffee and a pastry that we shared. The ice coffees were presented in a an artistic way. The fruit bar, while not Miss K's favorite was delicious. She preferred the chocolate cake with a gooey chocolate center. 

The grocery store that the tour guide recommended was closed. We went to a deli which had a lot of olive oil, marmalade, wine, sandwiches and bread for sale; but, no vinegar. Then we walked a bit further to the hotel where we had initially tasted the vinegar. We asked for a tasting so Miss K and Nicole could taste the vinegar. 

We received a tasting, Miss K wasn't that excited about it; but Nicole thought the vinegar we liked was good. Why we spent so much effort in capturing this vinegar is because it is unlike vinegar I've tasted before. Natives purchase this vinegar and sip it as an aperitif. It is mild and delicious.

At any rate, we were able to purchase several containers. As we meandered through the streets, we walked through some of the areas of our food tour. We were able to enjoy the spice market and the meat market for a second time. I'm glad we were able to share the experience with Nicole and Miss K!

Cutting the fabric

We decided it was time for lunch. Miss K wanted to eat in a park. Miss K and Nicole viewed the area and found a green space on the map. 

Fabrics cut and business name of the shop

Graphics on the menu--a potential quilt design

We decided that we would purchase something to take with us to eat in the park. If there was a shop that interested us--usually me--we went in. Often, the shop aisles were so narrow that only I went in. I shopped several household goods shops looking for a particular metal spatula. I didn't find what I was looking for; but, it was fun to look! 

We saw shops that contained embroidery supplies, bedding supplies and trim supplies. We crossed a street and in front of a shop were rolls of fabric! Of course, I had to go inside. Inside, there were even more rolls of sheer fabrics and laces. The shop was tiny. There was a table for cutting; but bolts of suiting fabrics were stacked on the end of it. There was one table that contained linen. 

When I saw the linen, I told Miss K to tell the others that I was spending money there! The owner didn't speak English and I don't speak Greek. I selected a fabric and showed him with my hands how much I wanted. He gave me a look of only that much? Then he brought me a meter stick and I showed him on the stick how much I wanted. 

He took the fabric and the stick to the cutting counter and with scissors cut my fabric. I selected a variety of colored linen. It is more of a light weight medium fabric. I hope it will work into a special memory project as I tried to purchase a color that each person in our group favored. Some favored the same color so I also purchased a few fabrics that would remind me of our trip. In all, I spent 16 Euros for eight pieces of linen that measure 10 1/2 inches by 58 inches. I figure if I need a background fabric, I can purchase that at one of my local fabric stores. I imagine the shop owner is still shaking his head at the crazy American woman's purchase!

Our last dinner together 

After my purchase, we saw another fabric store. This one had a manikin wearing a coat with a Burda pattern pinned to the front of the coat. I could see bolts of fabric; but, we didn't go in. I was happy with my purchase.

Last day of Fanta drinks (Photo A. Callahan)

We walked a bit more and encountered the pie shop where we went for our first stop on the food tour. I asked if we wanted to purchase some hand pies here to take to the park. The cheese pie that was our favorite was out; but, we did purchase a spinach pie and a chicken pie. We also purchased a sausage roll and a cheese roll. All were good. Each of us had a favorite. Miss K and Ada liked the cheese roll, Amanda liked the chicken pie, Nicole liked the sausage roll and I liked the spinach pie. 

Pork dinner (Photo A. Callahan)

We did eat our lunch in the park; but, it was a green space which didn't include any equipment for kids. No play equipment was a disappointment for Miss K! From there, we took a taxi back to our penthouse.

The Mountain  (Photo A. Callahan)

For our final dinner, Nicole googled grills that were within a ten minute walk. She found two possibilities. The first wasn't open; but, the second was a great spot. We ordered a couple salads to share as appetizers. James ordered pork as a dinner, Amanda ordered pork that came wrapped in a pita, Miss J ordered a chicken skewer. Miss K ordered the mini burgers or sliders. Bob, Nicole and I ordered "The Mountain" which was a pork sausage, with chicken and pork kebabs, shaved chicken and pork with pita bread and fries. It easily would have fed four to five people. It was a great meal to end our stay in Athens.