Today we
finally saw a car actually using the electric recharging station on Elgin Ave!
We walk past it every time we go to the tube station or head down Elgin Ave and
had noticed the designated space with glowing blue poles but it was never in
use. Took a photo or two to capture the moment then headed off again.
We returned
to Camden Town again today in search of Citadels
and a potential summer clothing bargain for Roni...success on both counts.
It was raining heavily – the only time we don’t take an umbrella of
course...though we were at least wearing jackets!
As we walked
down Camden High Street in the heavy rain after successful purchases we noticed
some shimmery rainbow bubbles in the air...Roni tried catching a few and we
wondered where they had come from. Looking for small children blowing bubbles
was fruitless and suddenly we saw it...A BUBBLE TRUCK!! Much excitement! There was a vintage truck (with running
boards a bit like Gumdrop) diving
slowly along the road and it was blowing bubbles out of a pipe at the front of
the left side running board. People were looking bewildered then laughing,
smiling and taking pictures. It was like snow in that the bubbles floated
through the air all over the place and made people act like kids again! We both
got pretty excited and followed it back down the road (away from our
destination) to take photos, film and touch more bubbles. There was an older
man driving and singing Christmas songs through a karaoke machine loudspeaker
type thing with a Santa in the passenger seat and an inflatable one on the
roof.
Eventually
we tore ourselves away and got back on the trains.
Next goal
was the Late Shift at the National
Portrait Gallery – this is on a Friday where they are open late, have live
music, workshops and talks by artists and curators. It was still a little early
so we first wanted to head back to the travel bookstore we discovered on the 21st
to purchase Lara’s Christmas present. The only problem was...we couldn’t really
remember where it was AND the rain was really pouring down now!
After trying
many options of route we almost gave up before our last effort bore fruit –
yay! Back through the rain to the gallery where we discovered that as it was so
close to Christmas none of the extra stuff was happening this Friday – except
for a wee concert later in the lobby. Undeterred we headed into the collections
(discovering through this educational experience the reason Nelson’s statue
only had one arm!) and wandered between ages and styles. It was not only art
but a history lesson and learning curve.
Near the end
we even saw a couple of Andy Warhol works and a Freud or two. By this time the
concert in the lobby had begun but we continued on and paid a little bit extra
to see the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize entrants before returning to the lobby
where the London Brass Ensemble were ripping it up. Some great music appreciated
before back out into the rain and to catch the tube home.
By the time
we were back in Maida Vale our hunger got the best of us and we resorted to Sam’s (of the great chicken wings) for
dinner. While chowing down we skype-d with Roni’s Mum in sunny NZ and caught up
on all the latest news. It was great fun
chatting and catching up on all the latest at her end, though eventually we
released her to carry on with her day and relaxed a bit before hitting the hay.
