And ended up having to scramble up this very steep hill of very slippery mud, just like would-be invaders of Old Sarum, except we didn't have boulders being thrown at our heads. There is a great deal of limestone around Old Sarum, which means a lot of diatoms make up the soil (an interest of ours) and also means very slippery while also sometimes sticky mud. I was so afraid that one of my shoes would fall off and roll all the way down the hill.

Part of the "inner circle." Cold and blustery at the top. This is why, we are told, some top decision-makers, church and king, decided to move the entire community to the flat plains and the confluence of several rivers of present-day Salisbury. I guess things must have calmed down politically and there was less fear of attack.

Walked into town in time to see the beautiful cathedral at dusk. 

Salisbury cloisters, the largest cloisters in somewhere - Great Britain? Anyway, pretty roomy.

Several local legends. Inside the impressive Salisbury cathedral is the tomb of an Earl of Salisbury, John Longspée, who our guide said was actually a good man, loyal, knightly, protector of the weak, that sort of thing. He died unexpectedly after a meal and poison was suspected at the time. Later when his tomb was dug up, a well-preserved rat was found inside his skull. This state of preservation was thought to have been the result of the rat having eaten Sir John's arsenic riddled brain. 

This rat is now in the Salisbury Museum. In the 21st century, a patron of the museum decided to adopt this rat, as she was born in the year of the rat. It's a fund-raising program the museum has. Thought Hung Liu might get a chuckle from this (also born in the year of the rat). A new idea for fund raising; museum officials everywhere, take note.

Another local legend has to do with the Haunch of Venison, the oldest pub in Salisbury, and where we did venture to have a meal, although it is so old that it reeks of all sorts of odd and ancient smells. An unfortunate card player there once had his hand removed and the mummified hand was preserved and is supposedly displayed in the pub. 

Era having a look at the supposed severed hand, which looked suspiciously like a rubber casting.

When we queried the bartender about it, he admitted that that was not the real hand. The real mummified hand has been stolen and recovered a number of times (once dropped thru the mail slot) and it is currently stolen. He did say that he thought the story about Churchill and Eisenhower is true. The 2 statesmen met in a cubby at the Haunch of Venison, and plotted at least some of their plans for D-Day. Looking at the photo (above) the nook or cubby would be the windows on the ground floor, right-hand side.

The bartender.

And one last Salisbury gristly bit, found at the Farmer's Market, next to the dog biscuits.

Whereupon, we climbed into our shiny red telephone box and were transported into 21st century London.

Love,

Era and Don

Full English, Lyme Regis, serve yourself beans on the side.

Full English, Salisbury. Those are the ubiquitous beans; think "pork and beans."

Up early for a "Full English Breakfast," which consists of bacon or rashers (more like thin slices of our ham, or what we might know as Canadian bacon), sausage, a sunny side up egg, beans, a fried half of a tomato, mushrooms, and toast. It is invariable and everywhere. Nobody seems to know when this came into vogue. One older woman (a bit older than us) said it wasn't so when she was young. They called it a fry up and everything would go into the fryer. Got into a discussion about the breakfast and then other British dishes, especially ones with funny names:

a banger (a sausage) - Just saw a Michael Caine movie (he's just returned to England, after being more or less under house arrest in Russia) where he says, "God, it's been so long since I've had a banger. I've really missed my bangers."

bubble and squeak (cabbage and potatoes fried, sometimes with bacon)

spotted dick (a cake roll with raisins) 

afters (dessert)

toad in a hole (batter with sausage in it or Yorkshire pudding)

cuppa (a cup of tea)

salad cream (salad dressing)

This conversation has continued with various other British people. Just today a woman told us she thought "banger" came from during the war when they would mix more bread with the sausage (than they do at present) and it would explode in the oven. Don queried, "And does Bubble and Squeak bubble and squeak in the oven?" The guide who was with us (in Salisbury Cathedral) said Bubble and Squeak would bubble and squeak when cooking. Don quipped or was it that perhaps we bubble and squeak after we eat it? Yes, probably so, said the guide, laughing.

Took a bus to Lyme Regis less than 10 minutes away. Bitterly cold on the beach, but quite magical.

A viewing platform from another era, a Jane Austen setting. Multi-colored changing rooms added at a later time. Gardens up above.

As stated previously, Lyme Regis is on the Jurassic Coast and is famous for its fossils, which are supposedly found everywhere down past those distant houses. We decided it was just too cold to venture down there.

Lyme Regis is also the setting for The French Lieutenant's Woman, which must have been one of Meryl Streep's first movies, and which I barely remember. It's also where my friend Mary Day tells me "stubborn Louisa fell off the Cobb and broke her ankle, in the great moment of Persuasion" by Jane Austen. The Cobb is a long curved sort of pier which stretches into the ocean. It is famous, but not that scenic. You can see the beginnings of it in the upper lefthand corner of the above photo.

Had to vacate the beach for a warmer walk inland. Walked by a young fishmonger who was cleaning lovely fresh fish. We asked him if there were any restaurants in town who purchased from him and he said Hix, up the road. It was up a steep road and next to some lovely gardens. Made a reservation and then took a great walk along the Coastal Path, which is a walking trail which seems to traverse the entire perimeter of England and Wales. We have begun to develop a great appreciation for the British system of walking trails, which seem to be everywhere, and so well-posted. On our hour or so walk down the Coastal Path and back, we passed a number of different connecting paths, all posted and giving directions to other walking paths. They seem to criss-cross the island.

Love,

Era and Don

This amazing sketch is painted, incredible mastery of the brush. A study by Durer for a woodcut.

Some of the work was commissioned by the Queen's illustrious ancestors, some gifted, and some simply confiscated on the death or execution of some out-of-favor subject. It all adds up to quite a collection.

Chuck told us that one can tell that Durer did not cut his own wood blocks or engravings as so much crosshatching is used, a painstaking method of achieving a shadow in an engraving (as the lines are not cut, the engraver cuts the small spaces between the lines). After seeing these prints, I don't know how you could talk or pay anybody to cut in this minute detail. Whoever cut these was clearly a master and clearly loved cutting the marks. It reminds me of the stories of the Emperor of China's seamstresses going blind embroidering his and other aristocrats' court costumes. I felt like I could damage my eyes just looking at the detail on these prints.

A detail from St. Jerome. In real life this section of the print is about 2 inches wide. 

Left the Gallery, passed by Buckingham Palace, and unbidden, there popped into my head a ditty by E.E. White, which my mother used to read to us:

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace

Christopher Robin went down with Alice

Alice is marrying one of the guards

A soldier's life is terribly hard

said Alice

That's all I remember, and it goes on, the sergeant is in charge of their socks, etc. So cute. Freezing walk to Covent Garden.

Had a wonderful meal at Polpo, billed as Venetian style cichetti. It's on Maiden Lane near Covent Garden. I had a Negroni and Don had the lovely young waitress make him his own version of a Spritz: white wine, Campari, juice of half a lime and some bitters. 

Also had some spicy chili prawns, salads, arancini, the works. We got a call from our dear French friend, Annie Salt: Jonathan was flying into London on his way to Croydon. He wanted to meet up with us. At the end of the meal we got a call from Jonathan; he was at the bar in our hotel.

Rushed back. So good to see him.

Telling Jonathan about our meeting with Obama; how friendly and open he was, especially in contrast to how harsh, aggressive and dominating the secret service were. Jonathan commented that in England the guards would be firm, but polite. He said American officials are always rude and shouting. He thought it was their military training. How did we develop into such rude and arrogant people (some of us)? 

Jonathan also told us that he had given Annie a Salt family signet ring just like this (generations old), which she had lost for 3 and a half years. She had put in "a safe place", which I can tell you from experience is a dangerous thing to do. They searched everywhere to no avail. Then one day he saw a glint of something when maintaining a fixture near their swimming pool. He emptied it out and there was the ring. I'm not at all counting on such a thing happening, but it's always possible.

Received this lovely quote from Chris S. (not my old boyfriend, the husband of Candida). 

Yes, we are not our things. We are all something much, much more than that.

Now on a train to Lyme Regis -- why? Not sure, exactly. Something about wanting to take some long walks in the beautiful British countryside. Something about going South where the weather might be a little better. Something about the name of the place; Jane Austen had some of her characters visit there, also it's on the Jurassic Coast, another intriguing name. Something about finding a great looking B&B there. We will let you know.

Love,

Era and Don

The wonderfully ornate stairway from the main lobby of our hotel Bailey's in Kensington. 

Dinner at Racine, nearby our hotel and the Victoria and Albert. 

It was good, but not great, (Don: it was semi-expensive) and not very photo-worthy (except for photo below). And not as good as BayWolf in Oakland, which can be counted on to serve something with a little unexpected twist.

Much love,

Era and Don

Obama tapestries hanging at the Smithsonian for President's Day, with Joann and Don.

On Joann's recommendation, we took a cab out to the Katzen to see our friend Andrea Way's retrospective at the American University. We greeted Jack Rasmussen in the hallway as he was rushing to make a dental appointment. After seeing Joann's quite beautiful show of incredibly detailed work, we caught the train to NY, where we were able to plug in and start receiving all your emails. I have to admit I did receive some during our lunch with Joann. How rude. 

One of the pen and ink and mixed media pieces from Andrea Way's retrospective.

10 minutes before we were to arrive in Penn Station, the strangest thing happened. I was standing in the train aisle with my suitcase when my rings, my 2 wedding rings, fell off my finger. It felt as if they were literally sucked off my ring finger. I dropped to the floor and very quickly found what I think of as my Squeak ring, as it was inspired by Squeak and Gary's wedding rings, a wide gold band with white and black jade dots embedded in it, only mine has additional green dots in it. But my mother's even wider and chunkier gold band, which my father had made for my mother, could not be found. We had about half the people in the train cabin, all the people on our side of the train looking, many with their iPhone flashlights on and it was just nowhere to be found. It's probably one of the physical objects I most valued. Both Don and I felt like someone (my parents ?) was trying to send me a message - maybe Don't get too pleased with yourself. As my ex-boyfriend (when I was 19 years old) Chris wrote: "The Dalai Lama, Brad Pitt and now Obama. There will be no living with you." Well, I'm still here on Planet Earth, in the physical universe and living this incredibly wonderful and sometimes not so wonderful life.

Don gave up looking before I did (he was afraid the train would pull away), and I followed him off the train and up the escalator. As we reached the top of the escalator, I realized I didn't have my cell phone. We searched our possessions and Don looked at his app which shows the cell phone's location. "It's still on the train." I ran down one escalator, but then had to run down an Up escalator, as I couldn't find the way down to the train. Found a couple of the same people in our compartment. Now I was back looking for my cell phone. I must have seemed like a crazy person. One level-headed woman offered to call my cell phone, and when I couldn't remember my number, we called Don's cell. "He's got your cell phone." "You've got my cell phone?" "Yes, get off the train. It's leaving in 30 seconds." At least I didn't break a leg running down that Up escalator.

When we checked into our hotel the man at the front desk asked, "So how was your day?" "Real highs and real lows. Got a hug from Obama yesterday and just lost my mother's wedding ring today." "Oh."

In NY for a few days, working with Kiki Smith and Chuck Close. How does it get any better?

Kiki, Beka and Don contemplating imagery and possible material for another tapestry.

Some of Chuck's African art and a pillow made for him in Chuck's favorite colors by a friend who was undergoing many hours of dialysis.

It's not all work, though. Some good food was had.

Japanese at Sobaya. Also very much enjoyed cocktails at Amor y Amargo, a bitters tasting room; and Empellon Cocina, Mexican fusion - sweetbread tacos. Yummy.

Cheers! Love you!

Era and Don