On arrival, in need of sustenance, we headed for the Mock Turtle, a landmark teahouse just off the seafront of which I have fond, fond memories from my student days. We were gutted, however, to find that it is closed on Mondays! Argh! And I had so been looking forward to some hot buttered toast, a morsel of cake, and a lovely cuppa, served on their wonderful collection of faded, chipped, mismatched china. Ah well. We had to make do with coffee in Bartholomew Square instead, before setting off for an hour's wander around the wonderful Lanes. They are unchanged (except for many of the shops, of course) and as atmospheric as ever. I was impressed with the whole town, actually - it's smartened up a good bit over the past decade, while keeping its distinctive, rather hippyish and bohemian air.
While J. contented herself with lunch at the Hotel du Vin, I hopped on the no. 25 bus (just for old time's sake) and headed out to the Sussex university campus in Falmer village, about 20 minutes away. I walked up to the far end of campus, to the Brighthelm residences where I lived for the first few months after I arrived in England in the autumn of 1995. I headed straight up the hill behind the house where I lived, but was surprised to see that the hillside was under cultivation and there were wire fences everywhere. Eventually I found a way through and was able to climb to the top of the hill, and look down at the wonderful view across the campus and away over the South Downs. I will never forget waking up my first morning there, and looking out my bedroom window at that view. The "green and pleasant land", indeed.
After I took a bunch of pictures, I headed for the Arts block and went to the office of one of my old supervisors, C.D. It was lovely catching up with her again - she's a great person and quite inspirational in many ways. She showed me the manuscript she has just submitted for a fabulous-looking book on the social history of glamour! I can't wait to read that - hell, I wish I was the one who'd written it!
After our lunch, I got the bus back into town, then walked up North Street and Western Road, popping into the shops and noticing all the changes that have taken place over the past decade. Eventually I turned right and walked up to York Avenue, and the house where I lived during most of 1998. I knew that the former owners had sold up and moved on a few years ago; as a result, the place has really changed, and sadly not for the better. The beautiful garden at the back of the house, which my studio overlooked and which the owners kept so meticulously, has been torn up and gravelled over to create tenant parking spaces. And the whole house had a whiff of neglect about it, which was sad. Feeling a bit melancholy, I went two blocks further along the road to Brunswick Place, and checked out no. 66, where I lived during 1996-97 - unlike York Avenue, it is still much the same as I remember it and retains an air of genteel shabbiness. ;-)
By then it was time to catch up with J. again, so I headed back to The Lanes and a "bar du chocolat" called Choccywoccydoodah. Silly name, oh-so-serious gourmet chocolatier. We rolled out the boat and ordered the "Decadent Chocolate Lovers' Banquet" which was so, so delicious...ooh. By rights, we should have walked back to London that evening, just to burn off the calories!
It was so nice to see Brighton again, though it also felt a little strange. My years there seem like they were a whole lifetime ago, and so much has changed. (Weirdly, over the past year I've had several vivid dreams about re-visiting the town and going to see the places where I used to live - only to find that, instead of the familiar streets I remembered, the area was all open fields. Very odd.) At the same time though, by the end of the day, I was definitely getting my bearings again, and remembering why it's such a popular and attractive place to live. I'd like to visit again sometime!
The following day, Tuesday, was the first full day in London together for J. and I. In the morning, we stayed in the neighbourhood and visited the Old Operating Theatre, about a ten-minute walk from our flat. With J. being a doctor and my interest in medical history, it made for a very interesting visit. The theatre is located away up under the rafters of what used to be the women's wards of St. Thomas' Hospital, and dates from the early nineteenth century. This was the pre-anaesthetic era, when medical students would have crowded in to watch as surgeons dosed some poor soul with alcohol or opiates, before commencing surgery. It's remarkable that it survived at all.
Afterwards, we hit the local Sainsbury's for some groceries (so nice to have our own kitchen!) before heading for Holborn tube station and the first of several wonderful London Walks we took during the week. This particular walk was "Literary Bloomsbury and the Old Museum Quarter" and it was excellent, taking us to see sights we'd never have found on our own. I love Bloomsbury, especially its wonderful squares (Red Lion, Russell, Gordon). It doesn't require much of an imaginative leap to picture Virginia Woolf, TS Eliot, and Ted and Sylvia living there...not to mention great artists like Rossetti, Morris and Burne-Jones, among others. We finished the walk with a stroll past Senate House at the University of London (inspiration for the Ministry of Truth in Orwell's 1984!) and then the forecourt of the British Museum - both places I know so well and spent a great deal of time in, as a student.
But the day was not over yet! We raced home to our apartment, made some supper, then headed out again, walking along the riverside to the Globe Theatre, about a mile away from our flat. I had never been, but after learning about it on my last trip to London and being intrigued, I suggested to J. that we give it a go, and got tickets for a performance of "Romeo & Juliet". I knew the Globe was a pretty faithful reconstruction of a theatre that had stood on the site in Shakespeare's day, but thought that it might be a bit twee and touristy. I was very happy to be wrong about that! I knew from the moment we entered that it would be something very special - members of the cast were on stage as the audience filed in, in costume, playing music and generally clowning around.
And once the performance started - well, it was unlike anything I've ever seen before. The atmosphere was magical, and the production itself very, uh, earthy (hehe...Shakespeare really did write for the common folk). We really got a sense of what it must have been like, to see these plays performed as Shakespeare himself would probably have intended. Truly, a fantastic evening!
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In the next installment, flowers, fairies, shopping and sipping (tea, that is).
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