Woke up around 7:20am. The shower had no hot water again. Argh!! I packed everything up, and then headed to the tube station. Turns out my Oyster Card had expired (I thought I had 7 days starting on March 3, but apparently it started March 2). This was a blessing in disguise; due to some station closures for construction this weekend, they were gonna accept Travelcards from Zone 1-6 on the Heathrow Express, which I had been planning on taking …
Gordon's Wine Bar / Paradise E Inferno / Coal Hole Pub
My last evening in London began with a bottle of wine at Gordon’s Wine Bar, London’s oldest wine bar (1890). The place was pretty crowded, and located downstairs in a cellar that felt quite old. It was pretty cool! Then we were going to go to some tapas restaurant that Stephen recommended, but it started raining – so we went to Paradiso E Inferno, an Italian restaurant on the Strand. It was very traditional, and the food and service was …
PAUL French Patisserie
After watching the rather violent and pretty exciting rugby match, I headed over to the PAUL French Family Bakery and Patisserie to meet up with a student who is attending the Royal College of Music, for some coffee. We have friends in common, so it was nice to meet someone else in London who has an interest in film music (and composing). I didn’t have the whole “afternoon tea” thing; I just had a latte which was very very good. …
The Changing of the Guard / Hakkasan / Rugby
I popped on the tube and headed to Green Park, then walked over to Buckingham Palace. It wasn’t even 11am, and there was already a huge crowd gathered waiting for the Changing of the Guard. I managed to work my way towards the palace gates, and got some decent pictures as the ceremony unfurled. The Queen’s Guard was the 23 Pioneer Regiment, and the Queen’s Guard Band was the Band of the Scots Guards. Amidst the various songs they played …
No Power / Cold Shower
Woke up this morning earlier than I had planned, when an alarm went off in the building. I assumed it was Meri’s alarm clock at first, but it got much louder and didn’t sound like any alarm clock I’d ever heard. Turns out the building power went out, and this was the smoke alarm or something. In any case, the lack of power apparently affected the water heater – so there was no hot water. Joy!! Getting out of the …
The Hospital / Moti Mahal
I headed out from Abbey Road, and headed over to The Hospital, which is not actually a medical facility, but rather a members-only club that also houses a few studio spaces, which is home-base for the music team. After hanging for a bit, Stephen and Meri and I headed out to dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant called Moti Mahal. While we were waiting to be seated, we were at the bar, where I had “The Alchemist” – Fresh …
The British Museum / AIR Studios
I arrived at the British Museum just before 9am, and the line was huge. Everyone wanted the free tickets they release for the special exhibit on China’s Terracotta Army. I hadn’t a shot at it, so I just waited for them to open up the grand foyer, and grabbed a light breakfast while relaxing and waiting for the museum to open. It’s a fascinating and huge place. They have a lot of the famous treasures you only read about: the …
A late night, and an early morning
What a late night – I didn’t leave Abbey Road until 11:15pm, since they have a bar there, and a bunch of us were having drinks after the session ended. By the time I got back to the apartment and settled in, it was midnight – and then the next hour or so was spent chatting and hanging out. Good grief the apartment is huge – it’s a 3-bedroom 4-bathroom flat near The Strand, just a block or two from …
Another Day at Abbey
I packed up my stuff, and schlepped all my luggage through London (via the tube) to Abbey Road this morning. After taking more session pix, and a light lunch, I headed down to Baker Street, to go visit an agent at Air-Edel. I took a slight diversion to take a photo of 221B Baker Street, since “Sherlock Holmes” was always fun to read growing up, and I enjoyed the television series starring Jeremy Brett. These pix, as well as some …
Abbey Road / Harrod's / Coffee with Erica / More Abbey!
This morning I took the tube to the St. John’s Wood stop (one line transfer at Bond Street), and it took about an hour total (including walking) to get to the famous Abbey Road Studios. Yes, I walked across the crosswalk, but didn’t take a picture. The studio appears deceiving small from the outside, but inside it’s huge. Multiple recording stages and rooms, including the Beatles’ famous Studio 2, which I got a chance to see. (I’ll try to get …
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