Labor Day Weekend Festivities
Between gorgeous summer weather and the last weekend at the Beach Club, I’ve been busy doing fun things.
Every year, Gloucester MA hosts a schooner festival with schooners coming from around New England, and this year’s festival was a real success. I didn’t take as many pix as usual since we visit many of the same schooners in the harbor, but here are a few of local Gloucester boats.
We missed the nighttime boat parade this year that features local boats that decorate themselves with colored lights. Unfortunately, we were too far away to be able to see the entrants. See what I mean?
The winner, however, did a Margaritaville tribute to Jimmy Buffet.
After bad weather took its toll on this year’s July 4th fireworks, the team (headed by my cousins!) made up for it big time. We had great seats in the park with the fireworks directly overhead. And the Blue Moon was in the background. Fabulous!
Planning Our UK Trip
Although Jeff and I had a wonderful quick trip to Montreal last September, we haven’t been to Europe in 5 years. Because it has been so long since we both went to London, we decided to revisit the city and see how much it’s changed over the years. I’ve never been to Dublin, so we thought it would be fun to stop there for a couple of days before we return home.
In the “good ole days”, I could just show up somewhere and walk into the local museums and get last minute tickets to theater and concerts, but those days seem to be gone. Everything has to be planned out and reserved in advance. So over the weekend, we started making plans. We’re going to see a performance of Macbeth at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater (in fact, Jeff’s working on a modernization of the language for me to read before we see it since it’s been forever since I’ve read the play).
We’re also going to a dance/theater performance of Part 1 of the Mahabharata at the Barbican, and we’re going to a candlelight classical concert at St. Martins in the Fields in Trafalgar Square.
We’re thinking of going to the Tate Museums, The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, the Saatchi Gallery, and the British Museum and any others if we have time.
What we need, however, is restaurant recommendations. If you’ve been to London in the past couple of years, please write me your recommendations in the comments!! Same goes for Dublin 🙂 Thanks in advance!
This all is wonderful. Those fireworks are amazing and I love that you were able to capture their beauty with your camera. When we went to London we hired a driver to take us on a tour. He got up closer to all the sites and explained things so well. He saved my feet. But I don’t remember any particular place we ate and it was many years ago. I think we mostly ate Italian because I don’t care for Indian food.
Hiring a driver sounds like such a wonderful idea, Marcia. Since I’ve been to London so many times (tho not recently), I think we’ll rely on the Hop On Hop Off bus as well as the #11 red bus, and we’re going to try to take a cruise on the Thames to get a new vantage point.
You are going to have the best time!!! I have not been to London in soooo long so make sure to give it a kiss for me! Enjoy Macbeth! I didn’t get to see Shakespeare when I was there, but I did get to see a Restoration comedy called The Way of the World.
I’ve heard of The Way of the World, but I’ve never seen it playing anywhere around here. I’ll keep my eyes open! Thank you for your good wishes, Gabrielle! I still have a couple of weeks to get my act together. I just made a reservation at a Michelin star restaurant in Dublin for our last night there, and I’m psyched!
Woo hoo! I watch Masterchef The Professionals, a British cooking competition show that’s actually quite respected so I have my own wish list of chefs and restaurants over there. Chief among the London ones is a chef named Adam Handling. He has a couple of restaurants. Where are you eating in Dublin?
In Dublin, our foodie splurge is at Un Pico, a Michelin French restaurant. I didn’t check the name of the chef. I had wanted to go to Ballymaloe (because I watch Myrtle Allen’s brother on TV Rory O’Donnell) but on this short trip, we couldn’t get to Cork and back by train in time
I just looked up their menu and I’m droooooooling! You are going to have such a splendiferous meal!!!
They change their menu every month, so I’m curious about what will be new in October! And thank you xoxo