In the Loop Around the World: June 2008

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Friday, June 20, 2008

Royal Ascot 2008

(for more photos click here http://kateherbert.tumblr.com)

Dad and I had a great day at the races.

Ascot is the biggest track we have every been too but what really impressed us was the spirit of the English people.

We saw quite a fashion show of British beauties in every type hat ever designed. Oh yes and there were horses, too. The races were longer than the US and some were stampedes of up to 30 horses. They race on grass and one race was over 2 miles long.

We had a good time after the races as it took us two hours to get to the train as we stopped for champagne and singing and talking with the crowd. At the end of the day no one was in a hurry to leave. They stay and sing along to British songs and wave flags regardless of the days wins or losses. Despite popular conceptions, they love their Queen.

We head out to Ascot again tomorrow. This time we will be better able to focus on the races. :)

Live from London,

Kate and Dad

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Dad's Adventures in London

Dad arrived in London on Friday the 13th. He made it on the red eye and I picked him up at Heathrow without incident. Friday night we had a light dinner and rested up.

Saturday was the celebration of the Queen's 82nd birthday. There was a 205 member band and hours of ceremonial presenting of colors and review of the troops. She had an excellent sunny day for the celebration. After watching this, we set out on the tube to Westminster and stopped there to look around at the Thames and the many many tourists who had the same idea.

We got back on the train to London Bridge and Borough Market. Dad thought it was by far the most lavish Farmer's Market he had ever seen. We spent time tasting the great cheeses and samples and checking out the beautiful produce and fresh seafood, meat and flowers. Dad, being a super critic, could find nothing that needed to be improved. His only comment was that it was very crowded, I told him the Susan Herbert method of beating the crowds was to be there before the farmers.

We went to the Wine Wharf for lunch and had a unique dish of six different dips and pita bread and some wine and recharged our batteries for the journey home. We bought more Monmouth coffee, now a staple of Kate's apartment and jumped on the train home. We had a nice dinner at home and Dad did the dishes, not being treated as company the second night per Herbert rules whoever cooks does not have to do the dishes.

This morning we went to the local mall and got Dad measured for a suit. In true Herbert fashion, mom would be proud, we were there an hour before the stores opened. We could browse for the 1st half an hour but not purchase anything until noon. We rented Dad the full Ascot package including a top hat and bought a race day hat complete with feathers for Kate.

We then made a quick pit stop at home and continued on to find Churchill's Wartime Underground Chambers for directing WW2 operations. We toured the bunker type underground construction and imagined what it must have been like there in the early 1940s during the bombing of London. We listened to some of the conversations between Churchill and Roosevelt on our audio tour. We emerged from our tour exhausted.

We walked to the nearest pub on Whitehall Street. In front of Parliament, many protesters were awaiting the arrival of George W Bush to greet him with anti war banners in hand. We had fish and chips and a beer overlooking the demonstrators and many police. We were right in the action as we walked to the Westminster station to get back on our train home.

There has been plenty of activity in the backyard of Kate's flat as well. From picnics to ballgames there is always something to watch. However, no fox sighting yet for Dad.

That is it so far, a memorable Father's Day and the best London weather any of my visitors have had.

Cheers from London,

Kate and Dad

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Durga on Glass

I finished another painting, the goddess Durga on her tiger. Note the mirrored edges and all the glitter and gold. The other photo is the reverse side -- the side that is actually painted. This one took about two weeks of work. (Click on the photo to see the intricate detailing.)