SV Ostinato: Goldfish, Pickles, Opera and Giant Ducks

It's been a good week. In short, we picked up the long sought after Westminster Christmas Eve tickets, popped in on Parliament, snagged reservations for at a cool spot for Years Eve and I ate a whole bag of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish in a single sitting.

The trip to pick up the Westminster Christmas Eve tickets was a bit anticlimactic. A tube ride direct from Tower Hill to Westminster. After they had been safely tucked away we were ready to move on to the next item on the list, my junk food search. After finally finding marginally passable pretzels (I think my taste buds just gave in), the next longing was for a bag of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish. You know, those tiny fish shaped crackers that once you open the bag it magically becomes empty. Doesn't happen to you? ...hmmm. They can be had on Ebay UK for £4.99 ($7.50+) plus shipping but I am not there yet. We were now tracking down rumour that a bag of Goldfish was seen at a local upscale department store. As we headed back to the tube we passed Parliament and noted there were no lines. An afternoon watching the House of Commons "go at it" was on our list of things to do before we leave London. Yes, a bit odd, I know.

Parliament & London Eye

Anyway, checking it out on-line made it seem like an iffy outing. Basically, cueing up outside the gates with only slim hopes that you get inside. Maybe an ok summer thing to do but this did not appear to be an attractive way to spend an afternoon in 32 degree weather (that's Fahrenheit for the Celsius followers). So, when we passed by and there was no cue, we were curious and decided to check it out. Much to our amazement, we were quickly ushered through the gates, mental detectors, given badges with unflattering pictures of ourselves attached and then guided to a cue inside the building. Now your saying well at least it was warm....oh but no! The great hall was the size of a football field with a ceiling that was surely designed by a boat builder and had 0 heat. However, we were offered seats so not the worst of cues. After 15 minutes we were ushered into another all in a heated area...where we sat in another cue....this time on nice green velvet cushions. Ten minutes later we were sitting in the gallery of the House of Commons. Very cool.

Following the grilling (otherwise known as Oral Questions) of the Secretary of State for Education (he held his own quite well) we left to peak in on the House of Lords. No more lines, we just strolled along attempting to look like we belonged. Of course, the tennis shoes were likely a dead giveaway. A brief 2 minute sit on another set of green velvet cushions and off we went to the balcony over looking the House of Lords Chambers, compete with a gold throne for the queen's annual visit to Parliament. Not nearly the show here so we moved on again.

By this time we were quite embolden and began checking out random passages. As we strolled down one we were stopped by a policeman. He asked where we were going...King said that he didn't know, but he would really like to see a Committee meeting. He promptly ushered us into a small room that was just beginning to gather for a hearing on a new bill on animal rights. We got the once over from committee members as we walked in. No doubt fearful we were some crazed animal rights people planning to over take their meeting. The bill's sponsor gave a brilliant response to all of the oral comments and questions made by members. Three hours after we had entered, we staggered out Parliament and headed home. My Goldfish will have to wait for another day.

After morning chores and lunch the next day, we bundled up and headed for the tube again. The goal for the day was to check out the New Years Eve festivities location and to continue the pursuit of the Gold Fish. London is serious about its New Years celebrations. New Years advertisements began popping up in mid October. I mean really, we hadn't even put the pumpkins out and folks are planning New Years! Last New Years we had dinner in Tallahassee with friends and decided, after several bottles of some very nice champagne, that we would all meet again in London for 2012. The pressure to find a good spot was on but surely I had till Thanksgiving.

So wrong. Lets just say I now have comprehensive knowledge of every London restaurant's holiday offerings and, as of today, with the exception of the Ritz for £1150 per person few, if any, have a free table (you don't want to even think about what that is in $). Following several days of intensive searching I was ready to cry uncle. So it was by sheer dumb luck that I decided to try Quaglinos one last time....this was after being denied by them by email, an online reservation calendar and over the phone. What I didn't know was our last ditch effort was made an hour before all deposits became final. So, to put it mildly, I was skeptical when Quaglinos accepted my online request for a reservation and ecstatic when a confirming email arrive the next morning. We celebrated with lunch at our favourite pub, The Town of Ramsgate, fish and chips of course. Then off to check out the place where we would be ringing in the New Year. All I can say is WOW!

goldfish in disguise

The final chore of the day was to locate Selfridges Department Store. Did you know the GPS doesn't like cold weather? After several warming up efforts, the phone finally coughed up the directions and we joined the throngs of Christmas shoppers at Selfridges. They have a Food Market on the first floor that makes you want to invite Julia Childs over to cook....Oh My. And there sitting in the "American" section was my little Gold Fish!! As we made our way to the check out, a One Man Band passed through playing When the Saints Go Marching In....it left us speechless. I exhibited great self control and did not open the crackers until we returned home. Without a doubt, those were the best Gold Fish I have ever eaten.

Back at the marina a new boat has arrived! Quite sorry we didn't see her come through the lock. The Etoile du Roy ( http://www.bateaux-de-saint-malo.com/en/fiche%20Grand%20Turk.htm ) apparently could only shove in fenders on one side due to her size. She is from Brittany and is promoting pink onions grown there. They're going to need to sell a lot of onions to keep her afloat! She was built for the BBC Hornblower series.

It's getting a bit chilly for my Florida winter coat so we were off on Saturday to find something with a bit more substance. The schedule was to try on and narrow down during the morning and then move on to Whole Foods to pick up Sour Pickles (the closest thing to dills we can find) for King.....he also has his foodie needs. All went well so at 4:00 we hopped on the tram and headed for the Theatre district to see if we can get £10 concession (i.e. retiree) tickets for Makado. They offered us £15 for nice seats in the balcony so we coughed up the extra £10. This didn't hurt too bad since the guy ahead of us had just paid £70 pp to see the same show. So what's the appropriate dress for the opera on a Saturday night we asked. We were assured we looked fine. As we strolled around looking at the Christmas decorations while we waited for show time, it occurred to us that he could only see us from the waist up. Oh, well, too late now. Off to see the opera with our bag of sour dills, jeans and tennis shoes. Thank God the group in evening gowns and tuxedoes didn't sit next to us.

I will end this ramble with an update on the Etoile du Roy, aka the Pink Onion ship. She moved today to St Katharine's Pier just outside the marina. All went well with the relocation. We were a bit concerned when The Tower Bridge began to open just as the Pink Onion ship was preparing to leave the lock but no concern....it was only a giant inflatable duck floating down the Thames. I love London.

Note: the Duck made the front page of the news this morning. His purpose...to make us smile. For those that need more about the Duck.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2246297/London-City-workers-confused-rubber-duck-swimming-Canary-Wharf.html?ITO=socialnet-twitter-mailonline