Das Weisse Band

MBA and I saw Das Weisse Band, The White Ribbon, yesterday afternoon. I'm still mulling over the movie; it's quite thought-provoking. MBA liked it. I found it interesting. One critic states that the film is "an oppressive and impressive moral painting, in which neither the audience nor the people in the village find an escape and a valve from the web of authority, hierarchy and violence. [...] Everything in The White Ribbon is true. And that is why it is so difficult to bear." (Translated from German in "Eine deutsche Gewaltgeschichte"). I agree. It is a difficult movie to bear. The maker of the film, Michael Haneke, described the film as an exploration of every type of terrorism. The dark portrayal of fallen humans might, at times, be accurate; yet, life in Eichwald seemed hopeless. Realistically, redemption was never mentioned or portrayed. Possibly for the audience to deduce?

I don't know.

If you're interested in the film, I would do a bit of reading and research prior to going to determine whether it's well-suited for your tastes.

Saturday in London

 

Last Saturday we started out with a stroll in the neighborhood and headed west to Notting Hill. 

  

We made our way to the Portobello Road Market.

  

MBA was a good trooper. 

  

There's tons of interesting stuff to peruse. And there were tons of tourists there to peruse it. 

  

I love all the colored buildings. It's so happy!

  

And then I spotted this ...... what the ????

  

More proof. 

Who walks through the Portobello Road Market with a dog balancing on his shoulders!?!?!? 

Only the Eccentric!

  

Next we headed to St. Paul's for a quick look. 

  

Then we walked north to John Wesley's church and home. 

  

Because he was a Dissenter, his meeting place was outside the city walls. 

  

This is Wesley's grave -- surrounded by Reuters. 

  

Wesley's Home

  

Across the street is Bunhill Fields where many Dissenters and Nonconformists were buried. 

  

Over 120,000 people were buried there from 1685 -- and it's small. It's crazy how many people are buried in four hectares. 

  

Next, we swung by the National Gallery for our monthly fill of Italian Renaissance Art. We couldn't stay long because we were headed to the Westminster evensong at 3.

  

On our way south to Westminster, we passed this protest. Did you know Christians are being killed in Egypt? I didn't. 

  

The evensong at Westminster was splendid. As we were being ushered in, we even passed William Wilberforce's grave. What a hero. He's the guy that put an end to the slave trade in Britain. 

  After Evensong, we met up with our friend Chris in St. James Park for a spot of tea. As a native Londoner, Chris was keen to take us on small walking tour. Here's some of the areas we passed through:

  

West End

Soho

Picadilly 

Even though it was our second trip to London since living here, we're still keen to head back soon. I feel as though we've barely started seeing all there is to take in and experience in that grand town. I'm already itching to see more of what the world can show!

"By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show." - Samuel Johnson

Friday in Kensington, London

Last Friday, MBA and I caught the eastern rail into London Kings Cross. In five hours, we went from door step to the heart of London. Within minutes of arrival, we were purchasing Oyster Cards and making our way across town using London's Underground. We stayed in one of London's most-exclusive and lovely neighborhoods: the charming Hollands Park.

MBA in Holland Park Neighborhood. Kensington, London.

 

While I was still quite ill last Friday (an icky upper respiratory infection), we still enjoyed strolling these streets close to the hotel.

Charming. I absolutely love all the white! It's refreshing to see white!

After a one-course dinner a block from the hotel, we headed back so I could rest.

And guess what -- there was a surprise awaiting me!

BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!!

And Along Come Tourists

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, and in my feeble attempt to commemorate the day, I spent the afternoon at the Filmhouse viewing the film And Along Come Tourists.  The German film, set at Auschwitz, examines the German memory of history through the relationship of a young, German civil servant working alongside an 80-something survivor of the concentration camp. The young German, Sven, has some difficulty with the slow, depressing world embodying the former concentration camp. Yet, he convincingly evolves into a figure committed to civility, honoring victims, and recognizing the importance of history. In the last scene Sven's at the train station escaping back to Berlin, but he encounters a German school leader accompanying a group of young German students to visit Auschwitz. Sven abandons the train station and helps the group find the bus stop and how to get on to the camp. The German school leader, impressed with Sven's assistance, states [paraphrase as the movie was in German] that he's thankful that Sven's volunteering at Auschwitz as the world will now judge Germany as to their response to the horrific, systematic killing of millions of people. It's interesting that people, generations later, are concerned with an appropriate response to the atrocity committed by their former countrymen. Yet, the film never questions the appropriate response. Is commemorating a place, a piece of soil, a decent start? Is viewing the thousands of stolen suitcases, each representing a tortured victim -- is that an appropriate response?

Food for thought.

There's So Much Entertaining Stuff on the Internet ......

You should totally try the Soul Train med sometime. I battled a nasty upper respiratory infection last week, and this is the only medicine that made me feel better.

Updates on the Wilsons

Tia's home! Check out the homecoming here.

Life Savers

There's a reason wellies were invented in Great Britain -- we desperately need them here! 

 Hunter, headquartered in Edinburgh, really does make the best rain boot. They've been protecting my feet from all the elements everyday since we've been back in the UK.

If you're headed to Scotland anytime soon, this pair comes highly recommended.

Three cheers to a boot that keeps your feet dry and is not too heavy to traverse the city far and wide!