We had planned to meet up with couple of people while in London, but because our visit coincided with some wedding or something people either escaped the general area for their sanity or were not able to book rooms in London. Fortunately, we managed to meet up with one of our friends, Spencer, before he made his escape to the north. I am very glad we did because he took us on an absolutely wonderful walk. Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath is a place we never would have gone if we did not get the local inside scoop. The grounds of the house were gorgeous (though, I suppose English gentry would not go around making themselves a house on ugly grounds, would they?) and filled with locals enjoying the record spring warmth. There were lakes (separate ones for men and women) and people were actually swimming in them. The house is likewise grand, but what surprised me the most was the painting collection. I expected the usual gamut of ancestors and landscapes, which the house indeed had. However, these were not just any portraits and landscapes. The first surprise was Vermeer. Then there was the famous Rembrandt self portrait as well as a good number of other interesting paintings. I would definitely recommend this place if you are looking for a pleasant walk in London.

One of the things I was looking forward to the most about going to London is going to the theatre. There are so many things going on in London. We booked the opera and Shakespeare weeks ahead to make sure we had seats. Little Eagles we decided to see at the same time, but delayed getting tickets until we got to London as there were still plenty left. This turned out to be a good plan as we ended up going to see it on a different day than we had originally planned. Blithe Spirit we decided to see on the spur of the moment and bought the tickets on the day of the show.

Little Eagles
This is the kind of play you can see at Ottawa theatres like GCTC. A medium sized venue with intelligent, single set, play about the human condition. An engineer is brought back from the Gulag and set to be the Chief Designer of the Russian space program. I am not sure how much of the story was romanticized and overly summarized, but it was compelling.

The Tsar’s Bride
Unlike the minimalist set of the Hampstead Theatre where we saw the previous show, the Royal Opera House sets were extensive but still breath taking. The singing was fantastic and I was happy to find that even the cheapo seats in the furthest section of the balcony allowed us to feel as though we were immersed in the stage. Hats off to computer aided acoustics design. We had similarly remote seats at the Met and I could barely hear the singers there. Though the original story occurs in the 16th century, this production is set in modern times. The translation worked well for me and, together with the brilliant sets, made the story really come alive. Even Chris, who is not a great fan of the opera, though the performance was fantastic.

Blithe Spirit
I am not a big connoisseur of Noel Coward, but Chris is a fan. He could not quite place the play as to whether he has seen it before. It turned out that he had only read the script. The cast was quite good and had the perfect comic timing.

Hamlet
The production of Hamlet was made by a travelling troupe based on one of the original travelling copies of the play. This troupe did an excellent job of not glossing over the funny parts while still allowing for drama and tragedy. While there were swaths of speeches that went over my head, as is customary with Shakespeare, I was able to follow enough to truly enjoy myself. Seeing the play at the Globe added a little something extra to the experience. After having had been to a number of Shakespeare in the park performances I conclude that while roof is unnecessary, the enclosing walls really help.

What I did not get to see
I had found out about the King’s Head Theatre opera house too late and the tickets to the shows I wanted to see were already sold out. If I go to London again, I will try to see an opera there.

I have been a bit low on energy so my free time has shrunk to pretty much nothing. I am managing to get out on the bike for short runs, usually getting Trev from school. Speaking of Trev, he is a proud owner of a new bike complete with the honey bee bell. I would love to post picutres, but alas, we are too busy biking to pose.

Unfortunately, we will be away this year and miss the annual kick off to biking season – the CHEO Bike ride. However, Team Awesome is still riding, so please pledge here. I am not offering any goodies this year because I am literally out of breath just doing my regular chores, but if you really want to, let me know and I can knit you something small for next winter.

On Monday I went to my Ward meeting specifically to hear more information about the cancellation of the express and milk-run buses serving Beaverbrook. While there are still busses going through the main artery of the neighbourhood, most of the Beaverbrook is no longer going to have bus service.

The demise of the milk run bus was inevitable. Even when it was reasonably frequent ten years ago, it rarely carried more than a few people. My shock lies mostly with the cancelation of the express bus. I have used it a lot this summer and it was the perfect bus. I was always able to get a seat though by the time it hit the highway there were many people standing. It went every twenty minutes and it took me just as long to get home as it would if I was carpooling. The alternative to taking the 65 was 60. 60 was always overpacked and, though I am by no means unaccustomed to crowded buses, I was close to tears in discomfort every time I took it. I would much rather drive by myself and pay $25 per day to park at Carleton than take the 60.

Anyhow, the city is cutting transportation costs and getting rid of 65 saves them $450,000 per year. According to the city, the ridership of 65 (7 buses in the morning and 7 in the afternoon) is 200 people. To compensate the removal of this line, the city will increase the capacity and frequency of the 60 and add a 90 level bus (“main line” busses in Ottawa) between Morgan’s Grant (fast growing neighbourhood north of Beaverbrook) and Bayshore (major shopping centre two highway exits towards downtown) that will go through Beaverbrook. I am sceptical about the 60 and cautiously hopeful about the new 93.

Now here is the beef. Despite the changes like this one happening all over the city, they do not expect the level of ridership to drop. My city councillor claims that the parking downtown combined with the gas prices and wear and tear on the cars will cause people in Beaverbrook to use the 60 in lieu of 65. I truly don’t buy it. I am sure that some of the 200 people will walk extra 10 or 20 minutes each way, squeeze themselves onto the 60 and stand for half an hour while the bus is rushing at highway speeds and making sharp turns. Will all 200 people do this? I would not.

I think it is commendable of the city to cut costs and focus on bringing the service to areas of the city and suburbs where people are most likely to not be able to afford to drive to work. It is also commendable that they are not raising taxes or bus fees more than absolutely necessary. However, I am uncomfortable with the position that the bus is the last resort for people who cannot afford to pay for car, gas or parking. I am unhappy with city doing absolutely nothing (worse than nothing really) to get the people who have a choice between driving and taking a bus off the roads during rush hour, if not during other times.

Because I grew up in the city and was a heavy, and generally happy, user of public transit for most of my life, my expectations of what the transit service should be are perhaps too unreasonable for a suburb. However, I would like to see the data. Is the ridiculous amount of money spent over last ten years on roads and highways in Kanata (every mayor artery has been built, rebuilt or expanded since I moved here) justifiable where as a bus that is always comfortably filled is luxury? If anyone has some urban planning data or a link to an intelligent paper about this, please let me know.

Silly city public transit is for kids!

I have been having headaches at work and generally feeling a bit low. On the way home I realized that it is because i have spent too much time inside this winter. The day was beautiful (even though it was wet, cloudy and +2, this is how badly we anticipate spring) so i decided to go get trevor from daycare by bike. I dragged the bike out of the basement, pumped the tires and my day was already twice as good. Trev was really excited when he saw that I had his helmet with me and told anyone who would listen that he is going home on the bike. It is so nice to be out and about.