London V

I took this picture just before Princess Basket left for the weekend with some friends of Dilys and Tass. In the few days that I spent with Basket, I've taken more pictures of her than of all my Europe pictures combine. It's a compulsion; I can't help myself.

Friday was a terrific day. I had wanted to take a cooking class in London but waited until the last minute to do any research. I was very lucky to find Ren, who teaches private Indian Cookery classes, and she squeezed me in. (You can visit her website here.) For four hours, I learned about Indian cooking and got to know Ren a bit, and best of all, I came home with a grocery bag full of the food I had prepared: a delicious chicken curry, saag paneer, and vegetable samosas. It was delicious and is all gone.

Then that night I went to Sadler's Wells for an evening of samples from their Spring and Fall dance season, which was a great introduction to some European/UK choreography. I was really impressed by: a UK dance group called Random Dance, Joson Samuels Smith's US tap dance group (I will look into them when I'm back), and the UK choreogropher Hofeesh Shecter--this guy is really good, though a little verbose. Hip-hop dance theater was also included, with a French group called Vagabond Crew. It is remarkable to watch--it's got the structure and thematic organization of modern dance with a lot of shockingly impossible breakdancing--even if a little full of itself (there, I said it), but then again maybe not exactly my thing.

Saturday was a gorgeous day in London, and I went back to Notting Hill to see the Portabello Street Market. Lots of antiques and LOTS of people, and also some produce and other foods. I also spent more time walking around Notting Hill, which I think is such a beautiful neighborhood, and then came back to Islington, found a wine bar, and read a book. Then I came to the house and made butternut squash risotto and watched three back-to-back episodes of Desperate Housewives.

I'm not sure what the plan is for today, but I realize that I haven't got a lot of time left to see the theater I want to see, so I'm going to check that out. And I'm still dying to see Notes on a Scandal.