CYNfull Living: 2013

LATE AUTUMN, 2013, IN EUROPE WITH MY FABULOUS PHOTOGRAPHER, RAY.......

This is a multi purpose trip. We are in LONDON first, because we are invested in a musical production there, and in VALENCIA, Spain for a Berklee College of Music conference, with a stop in MADRID in between..... Details to follow.....

October 24th we flew from Boston to LONDON!!! We love London! Our hotel is the Stafford on St. James Place. Lovely small, very British hotel. Arrived SAturday morning, rather disoriented on almost no sleep.

Stafford Hotel, St James, London

Saturday we mostly rested and ate! Lunch was at "Thai Square" .... authentic Thai close to Trafalgar Square, which was Full of Football fans. Apparently American Football as we recognized the jackets and there were NFL logos everywhere. We did not get why this was going on...

Trafalgar Square: the latest sculpture addition

Dinner was at a french bistro in the neighborhood of our hotel. On St. James near Picadilly. "Cafe Boulstin". Very nice food and French speaking staff. We liked it so much, we returned Sunday morning for their breakfast. Ray had a french egg preparation where they simmer the egg in red wine and serve it with brown sauce, mushrooms and pearl onions. Very rich way to start the day!

St James Castle, just behind the hotel. Prince Charles and Camilla have a residence here.

Sunday, Oct. 27th, was our tour of the city with car and guide. Ian drove us past Buckingham Palace and all the
fancy clubs and government buildings to Parliment and Westminster Abbey. We walked around the Abbey and into the Chapter Hall where 100 monks used to gather and read a chapter from the Bible daily. That was before the 1500's when Henry the 8th established the Church of England and drove out all the monks. Ian knows his history well and we had a lively discussion about religion. Inside the Charter house is a display of photos from Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 ( it's now been 60 years!) which took place in the Abbey.

Westminster

Thames River and Westminster with Parliment and Big Ben

WE then drove the South bank of the Thames headed East. Took in the Borough Market and drove past a brand new tower, "The Shard". Stopped for photos of London Bridge and the tower. Then to Spitalfield Market area. Lunch was at Jamie Oliver's Italian REstaurant and fresh pasta vongole ( with clams) Delicious!!! This was in the Canary wharf area, which is the old docks transformed into a trendy shopping area with hi rise bank buildings all around. Finally down the river to look across at Grenwich and endure the winds and chill. Home for a toddy and rest before Indian dinner at "Rasoi" in Chelsea.
Michelin starred Indian in London is the way to go! Chef Vineet Bhatia creates totally inventive and beautifully presented Indian dishes is a small townhouse club. What an adventure! We'll be back for the tasting menu.... someday.

Monday, October, 28th.... BIG STORM in Britain and Europe. We awoke to trees down in the parks and a big mess on some of the streets . But the weather had calmed down considerably. We met our driver and headed to the town of OXFORD for a walking tour. Rays foot was sore so we just walked through Christ Church College.. one of the oldest and more prestigious of the almost 60 different colleges that make up Oxford University. The dining hall at Christchurch is famous as the filmsite for the Harry Potter Hogwarts Dining room scenes. We walked through it and it was erie to recall it in the films. OXford is SO old-world. The earliest colleges there date back to the 12th Century. Weather changed all day from rain to wind to clear, quite the adventure.

Oxford from above

The Great dining hall at Christ Church College : used as the location for Harry Potter films

Lunch was at the famous....>>> Manoir au Quat'Saisons >>>>.....in the village of Great Milton. It is a beautiful Relais et Chateaux hotel and restaurant. Chef Raymond Blanc is highly regarded and his lunch was amazing!
We had the 5 course tasting menu, highlighted by a ravishing Cotswold chicken with Smokey potato mash, chargrilled shallot and ceps... SO delicious. We strolled the grounds before dessert. We saved the menu for DAve and Julie! ( our family chefs ) .....The lunch went on for over 2 hours and we were very glad to have John drive us back to town while we snoozed in the back seat. We drove home through the Thames valley towns of Dorchester, Nettlebed, Stadhampton, And finally Henley on Thames. Henly is home to a big crew regatta every Summer and a very pretty town... Our evening was quiet and restful with a light dinner of Dover sole in the hotel restaurant, and a Chinese movie called "The Assasin"...

Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons in Oxfordshire, UK

Tuesday, October 29th... Our last day in London and a "free" day! We checked out the Victoria and Albert museum in the morning. Our first time there and NOT the last. It is an AMAZING museum.
On Special exhibit were the Chinese Paintings dating back to the 800s..... Quite interesting.

Then on to Harrods, a museum of it's own. Ray wanted a camera cable to download his photos to this blog, and we discovered the Technology dept. at Harrods. Wow. They also have a "Montreux Jazz Cafe" there. I'll be back for that!

Lunch was at a GREAT Japanese restaurant near the hotel. "Sake Nohana" at 23 St James Street. Highly recommended!! I had a sake flight and the vegetarian lunch plate. Fabulous. Ray was not hungry. He had sushi and watched me feast on Japanese veges! Very artistic stuff. Great sushi too!
Between the Thai lunch, the Indian Dinner, and the Japanese lunch, we really explored world cuisine in London. It is easy to do here!!!

Tonight is the Press night opening for the Broadway musical, the Scottsboro Boys which I am involved in as an investor. Catherine Schreiber, the producer, invited us to attend this special performance at the Young Vic theater here in London. More on that later.......

This afternoon Ray is off for a cigar and I am on my way out to a fitness walk in Green Park, just behind the Stafford Hotel.

The opening of SCOTTSBORO BOYS was quite a success. Please go to the website to learn about the story behind this musical if you're interested. We really enjoyed the show as did the sold out crowd at the young Vic theater this evening. It was a painfully sad story about racial prejudice in Alabama in the 1930's and how it ruined the lives of 9 innocent young black men. Music and lyrics by Kander and Ebb ( famous for Chicago and Cabaret among others) and direction by Susan Strohman. Brilliantly done and great ensemble work by the cast of 13 actors. We are proud to have helped make the transfer of this show from Broadway to the London stage reality. Brava to Catherine Schrieber and the whole team in London!

Ray and Cyn at Scottsboro Boys opening at the Young Vic Theatre, 10/29/13

NOW ON TO........... ESPAGNA!!!!!

Wednesday, Oct 30th we flew to MADRID, checking in at the RITZ Hotel, arriving late afternoon.

Madrid monument in courtyard outside the RITZ. Hotel exterior in background.

Lovely lobby at the Ritz

Our first evening was a "Tapas Tour"of bars in Madrid serving traditional Spanish appetizers to the locals. Our guide was Carlos, and he knows Madrid intimately. We strolled around on a balmy evening to 5 or 6 different bars to taste a variety of delicacies. These tapas bars were the real deal... Ray and I were the only tourists.
Delicious Iberian Ham, Squid, veges, roast peppers, and lots of beer and vino. We strolled through many neighborhoods and across the grand Plaza Mayor. This was a good introduction to life in Madrid.

Our First Tapas Bar.... a very popular place with the locals

This bar, with Tapas, honors Bullfighting

Thursday morning , Oct 31st, we met our guide, Marta, for a full day tour starting with the Prado museum. Located Just across from the Ritz hotel where we are staying, the Prado is world renowned for its great collection of European masterpieces. We focused on the Spanish masters: Goya, Valazquez, El Greco and Marta did a great job of connecting the paintings to Spain's rich history.

Prado Courtyard

Prado Facade just before opening time

Then we strolled through the Plaza Mayor and a big Ham expo there, and on to the Puerta Del Sol. It's a big area in the middle of the traffic with monuments and open space, today lots of people in crazy Halloween costumes.

Puerta Del Sol

Bear sculpture in the Puerta del Sol .. This is the Symbol of Madrid

Next was the famous Mercado de San Miguel, a busy covered food market with vendors of all sorts of delicacies. People come here to buy tapas, meals, drink and socialize. The place is always packed, but we went in for a peek.

It was by now 1:30 so we took a break for lunch at BOTIN, a famous old restaurant near the Mercado. Founded in 1725, Botin is considered the oldest restaurant in the world!

We dined in the vaulted brick cellar on roast pork and lamb and a big Spanish salad, with a beautiful bottle of Rioja Reserva: and this was only lunch! They know exactly what they are doing and the food was delish!!

The ancient cellar at BOTIN

After lunch, we drove to the Palacio Real and strolled in it's beautiful gardens. It was a lovely , sunny afternoon and Ray took gobs of photos….

Palacio Real from the back side with Gardens

Balloon Boy in front of the Palacio Real

Then to the Terrace with the Egyptian Temple of Debod, a gift from the Egyptian government in 1968, then to a super modern section of the city. We stopped for photos at the KIO Towers, also known as the "Gate of Europe". This is a wild architecture double office building and is truly a landmark in Madrid...

KIO Towers

Dinner was at Casa Lucio, just down the street from Botin. Not memorable.

Friday, NOV 1st. Was a great day in Madrid. After a beautiful breakfast at the Ritz, we wandered over to the famous EL RETIRO PARK AND GARDENS. Full of people enjoying a lovely day.

El Retiro

RAY got in the photo

Gorgeous gardens everywhere!

El Retiro is a gem!

We then visited the "Thyssen - Bornemisza" art museum. It was a fascinating journey through time
with paintings. Any Art history major should see this one. Lunch was at "Al Natural" , a vegetarian place that I found online. Good idea in theory, but not impressive.... The afternoon was R & R
for both of us.

Special dinner that evening at an amazing restaurant called "TERRAZZA DEL CASINO".
Famous chef and very elegant food. We had a ball taking photos of our dishes.

Saturday, NOV 2nd. A visit with Marta, our guide, to the Decorative arts museum, Lazaro
Galdiano house. It was the home of a wealthy couple who collected art. In about 1910, they left it to the City. A pleasure to check that out.

Then we took a walking tour of the old city. Churches, cafes and walls covered in tile. Coffee break in the sunshine near a big church. Ray and I said goodbye to Marta and continued our walk in search of lunch. We found an outdoor cafe " Jamon 5 Js" and watched the shoppers walk by, while listening to a pair of opera singers perform famous arias for the crowd. Wonderful!!!

Madrid City Hall

Typical square in the old section of the city

That evening was a private tasting of Spanish Wines with 2 lovely ladies, Gabriella and Theresa.
They prepared a little tapas for us and served us several different types of Spanish wines.
Our final dinner was at "Viridiana". Very nice Spanish food and atmosphere. A good way to end our visit to Madrid.

The following morning, we flew to the seaside town of VALENCIA SPAIN to spend a few days.
The purpose of the visit was so I could attend a 2 day meeting of the Berklee College of Music
PAC ( Presidents Advisory Counsel) there. Berklee has a campus located in the building that houses Valencia's Opera Company in the City of the Arts.

A walk on the beach: Sand Sculpture extraordinaire! The artist was standing by to collect tips

It was a beautiful, balmy afternoon! The town is about a 15 minute cab ride from the shore. People flock to the seaside
restaurants and even swim in the sea in November