Unfortunately, I had to work on Monday, so I headed in to the office, while everyone else was getting ready for another day in London. Michelle called me to let me know that they were entering the National Gallery, so when I finished up at about 4 or 4:30, I headed towards Trafalgar Square. I can't recall if I've mentioned this before, but the National Gallery stands right on Trafalgar Square, and if you've seen a picture of the Square and the building with all the columns behind it, the building is the National Gallery. As it so happened, I arrived right on time, as they had just gotten out, and Dalton and Maggie were feeding and chasing the pigeons.
I suggested that we go to the Harrod's food halls, and so that's where we headed next. The Harrod's food halls really are astonishing, not only in terms of what they carry - everything from foie gras to olives to squid ink to apples, but also in the way that they present it. The halls are exquisitely decorated, each with the theme of the food in the hall, and the fish, meats, veggies are all laid out in such a manner that I think that even the most squeamish person would be tempted to try something new. Of course, I say that, but then Dalton and Maggie went down the fresh seafood presentations and kept saying "Yuck!", "Yuck!", "That's gross!", "Ewww!", and other such pleasantries, until I pulled them aside for fear they might be scaring off the Harrod's clientele.
We left and headed down the street a little bit before stopping to eat at Leon. Leon turned out to be a little Mediterranean/health food eatery, which served falafel, Moroccan meatballs, chicken in yoghurt, and other such assortments. I thought it was really quite good, although Dalton ended up dining on garlic bread. Maggie enjoyed her chicken and yoghurt, and we all shared a carafe of wine.
Afterwards, we headed to the Royal Albert Hall to watch one of the Proms. The Proms (short for Promenades) are a 113-year old tradition here in London where they basically let you go and see classical music for cheap. You can "promenade", which roughly translates to - don't buy a ticket before hand, just show up and pay five pounds/person for a standing spot in front of the orchestra. Excluding the fact that you're standing, they're probably the best seats in the house. I thought it was amazing, and even Dalton says he liked it. I think that there is a huge difference between live classical music and listening to it on a CD - the live music just seems so much richer for some reason. If you're interested in reading more about the Proms, click here. We actually skipped out on the last bit of the concert, but it was about 11 or so by the time we got home, so another 40 minutes or so would have made us quite late, and even more tired than we were.
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