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Greetings from London!

July 6, 2012 at 11:07 PM

Greetings everyone, from London! I flew here from Los Angeles with my husband and daughter, so we could visit this wonderful city that, until now, I'd never seen! It's high time, clearly, and I will share a few pictures and experiences as we make our way through London and next week, Paris. Here are a few things I saw today and yesterday (through a fog of jet lag!):

This evening we happened upon this violinist and cellist, who were busking at Covent Garden, playing the Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia. Pretty spiffy piece to be playing from memory, in the street, I think they must be conservatory students:

Earlier in the day, a soprano sang "Ave Maria" for the lunch crowd in the Covent Garden Market:

Here is the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, after which the Academy of St Martin in the Fields was named. Speaking of which, what famous violinist just took leadership of that orchestra? I'll make this interesting: post the correct answer, I'll enter you to win a V.com tote bag!

Here I am, with my daughter, Natalie on the left and my good friend, pianist Gina Kruger of London, on the right. We are standing in front of Shakespeare's Globe, the modern reconstruction of the Globe Theatre on the River Thames.

And how can I not provide you a picture of the Big Ben clock tower? Not bad for a cell phone shot, from the window of the cab, eh?

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Would the violinist be Joshua Bell?
Joshua Bell!

Laurie, lovely pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Joshua Bell, of course!
Joshua Bell is the current Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

BTW, where can one purchase one of those tote bags?

New leader of the Academy of St. Martin in the Field = Joshua Bell. :)
Joshua Bell...and it seems (a bit surprisingly, for those who know the SMF orchestra) a very happy collaboration so far.
This is great. Don't forget to go to the Horse Stables Market in Camden Town in London. It's pretty much like Harry Potter's Diagon Alley. :) A lovely alley with all kinds of small, crazy shops.
Yep! Josh Bell is the new director. Awesome pictures, Laurie, and you have a very pretty daughter. Keep us posted! (I know you will) :):)
They will go for sale in August!
Joshua Bell is the new leader of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

Wonderful pictures!

Marjory Lange, you win! Please send me your address so I can send it to you, you can use 'email te editor' below. Thanks to all who entered here and on our Facebook page!
Lucky you! And its JB if I recall correctly.
Beautiful! England's on my list of places to visit as well.

The violinist is Josh Bell

Trivia - the tower is to be renamed the Elizabeth Tower in honour of our Queen in her Jubilee. Big Ben is actually the bell (and congratulations Laurie for calling it correctly as the Big Ben clock tower - most people think the whole thing is Big Ben)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18592966
S-i-i-i-i-inging in the r-a-a-in ......?
Hope you all have umbrellas.
Welcome to the UK, hope the weather hasn't put you off!
funkyviolins
Do not forget Wimbledon.
Great pics, especially of the gorgeous ladies. I hope you had a meal in the Crypt of St. Martin in the Fields and saw a concert there. We had a wonderful evening doing those things.
Joshua Bell is the one who just took that position.
We definitely have umbrellas, and we've been using them! Having a lovely time. Went to Evensong at Westminster Abbey this evening, what a beautiful way to see that amazing work of architecture, to hear music all in the context of a service. And, at the end of the service, sun came out and shone through those gorgeous windows, so we could see the statues lit by shafts of sunlight. What a day!