A day which started bright and cool, with the first business being a pair of Mozart string quartets - K499 and K590 - from the Hagen Quartet, which despite having been around for around 40 years have yet to graduate to a website, although they do get the page in Wikipedia at reference 1. First heard by us at the Wigmore Hall in November, 2010. Then again in 2013, 2017, 2018 and, finally, in 2020, on which occasion they had been elevated to the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Waterloo trains were off on this day and Southern Railway thought that a five coacher would do, which meant that people (not us) were standing from Epsom. Pretty full by the time that we got to Victoria. Rested up for the long walk to the Victoria Line underground platform. With the bonus that BH was offered a seat, more or less as she stepped onto the train.
Too late for our usual visit to All Bar One, so BH took her coffee in the Beckstein Room, noticing on the way that the clock was missing from the foyer, on a visit to the menders.
Now during the recent cold snap, my tweedy jacket from a charity shop near the top of North Street in Exeter (or so BH alleges) proved its worth and thoughts have turned to maybe buying another, newer one. Observation suggested that such jackets were more favoured at the front of the pretty full hall than the back, suggesting that Selfridges might be a better bet than John Lewis. In the event, we went to neither.
But the Hagen Quartet served us very well, with just the one computer among the four of them. A good concert for a Sunday morning.
Instead of tweed jackets at Selfridges, we opted for lunch at Ponti's, where in addition to our now usual bread and wine, I took a pizza which involved no cheese, just a smear of tomato flavouring under the ham salad. And eaten wrap fashion. BH took ravioli. The waiters were very unimpressed with our conservative ordering and explained that bread, pizza and ravioli would all be off for our next visit. We would have to try something else.
Down to the Victoria Line, exiting somewhere near Cardinal Place. Taking in the tubes above on the way, snapped for the benefit of a correspondent who as yet fails to fully grasp the possibilities of structural tubes below ground level.
On the spur of the moment, we thought to take in Westminster Cathedral. On the way in, being reminded of the Gay Pride occasion when the gay priders were all over Victoria Street - while a line of bride's maids and groom's men in full Italian dress were having a puff on the steps, with the resultant cloud of smoking gently drifting up above them.
Inside, despite the tourists such as ourselves, it was all very holy, much more so than Westminster Abbey. This was a church which was still alive, with plenty of customers, a lot of them, I believe, being involved in the hospitality, health and care industries. And it is also an impressive place, a good place, just to sit, perhaps to reflect.
Some of the sitting was in the chapel of Holy Souls, dedicated to the souls of those held up in purgatory. Given that the chapel was being used, one did not like to look about too much, but one still saw enough to see that it was rather unusual and we learned afterwards that it was the only chapel to be completed under the supervision of the architect for the cathedral as a whole, one John Francis Bentley. For the curious, references 2 and 3 are reasonable places to start.
John Lewis headquarters did not appear work Sundays. So they must be doing alright.
Entertainment on the train provided by a curious older couple who were fond of small dogs. I think that they had three of them about them. They had a bit of trouble getting off the train at Epsom, but made it in the end.
References
Reference 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagen_Quartet.
Reference 2: https://westminstercathedral.org.uk/the-cathedral/art-marbles-and-mosaics/.
Reference 3: https://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/bentley/1.html.
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