Jamie Oliver is a ‘celebrity chef’ most known for his efforts to revamp school food around the world and in England in particular. His cooking could be described as no frills everyman food, and the prices are affordable. The atmosphere in the Soho/Piccadilly Circus location is more old school English pub than Italian restaurant as far as the decor goes. It could be labelled cozy with the low ceiling height and dark wood furniture, the place is on the dark side with small windows that don’t let in too much light.
Jamie’s Italian interior view.An Aperol Spritz starts of the meal in a good way.Veggie Tagliatelle Bolognese
Jamie’s Italian does serve a good Aperol Spritz and that is a good way to start up your Italian dinner, just like the Italians do. The main dish we had was a Vegan/Vegetarian – Veggie Tagliatelle Bolognese. It was not the flavor explosion that one could have expected from a chef of Jamie Oliver’s stature. Perhaps he is too focused on the meat dishes which I must assume is better than the veggie dishes at his places, I can’t see why people would keep coming back if they weren’t.
Epic Chocolate Brownie
The most redeeming dish of this place is the dessert, in this case – Epic Chocolate Brownie – From menu ‘Rich chocolate sauce, salted caramel gelato & caramelised popcorn’ it is very good.
Prices are moderate and here is a link to the web site with locations, hours, menu etc.
Hyde Park is London’s great oasis. People come to walk their dogs, ride their horses, sit on the benches, watch the birds, walk around, run around, ski around, ride their bike around, smell the flowers, listen to the birds – and to Fish! Hyde Park came to be in 1536 when Henry VIII took the land from Westminster Abbey to use it as his private hunting grounds. Hyde Park was opened to the public in 1637 and has been immensely popular ever since.
Fox of Hyde Park
There are wild animals apart from birds in Hyde Park, and these guys are not hunted anymore…
Horse riding in Hyde ParkSkiers are out in Hyde park to perfect their cross country skiing before the season starts.Kensington palace
Kensington Palace has a number of apartments in it and it is the current home of, among others, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate as well as William’s brother prince Harry. Both William and Harry grew up in the palace as it was the home of their parents Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Diana Princess of Wales. After their parents divorced Kensington palace continued to be the home of their mother, the beloved princess Diana, until her death in 1997.
Princess Diana memorial Gardens at Kensington Palace.Walkway around the Princess Diana memorial Gardens.Statue of Queen Victoria outside of Kensington Palace which was her childhood home.A fisherman at the one spot at the Serpentine where fishing is allowed.
The fisherman has cast far out towards a small island in the Serpentine lake. It looks like he might have a bite
Typha Angustifolia, a.k.a. Narrowleaf cattail growing at the edge of the Serpentine.Anne Andrews bench in Hude Park.
The inscription reads: “ANNE ANDREWS WHO ENJOYED VISITING THE GARDENS”. We have not been able to find any information on memorial benches in the Royal parks, however donated memorial benches can currently be installed in the City of Westminster owned parks, more info here.
Fall colors are slowly beginning to appear in the park.Another fascinating tree in the park, Araucaria-araucana, or the Monkey puzzle tree.The park is filled with memorials of different types, here is one memorial to the Cavalry.Yes, the fisherman had a bite, here the fish is in the net and about to be hauled out of the lake.Fish is out of the lake and resting in the fish bed.Closeup of the fish, a good sized Carp.
Toledo coming into town from the South.A sculpture in the Alcázar de Toledo, the artist is Juan Antonio Sánchez.
The talented metal forger that made the bust above is Juan Antonio Sánchez at forjatoledo.com
Toledo is another amazing city in Spain, it is built on a hill in the region Castile-La Mancha in central Spain. It is the capital of the province of Toledo and also the capital of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It has the fewest inhabitants/km² of any autonomous community in Spain (as of jan 12 2012 26.70 inhabitants/km² and a total population of 2,121,888). The autonomous community of Madrid is the most densely populated with 809.49 inhabitants/km² and a total population of 6,498,560.
A view from up on the hill just by the Alcazar de Toledo down towards the Tagus river and a part of the tower of the Alcántara bridge and gate.A better view of the Alcántara gate and bridge.
Toledo is a walled in city and it dates back a long time. Toledo (or Toletum in Latin) was mentioned by the Roman historian Livy who lived 59 BC – AD 17. He called it “Urbs parva, sed loco munita.” which translates into “A smaller city, fortified by it’s location”. Already in 193 BC the Roman General Marcus Fulvius Nobilor fought and won a battle near the city against Celtic tribes. At that time Toledo was a part of the region of Carpetania. It was then incorporated into the Roman Empire as a “civitas stipendiaria”, a tributary city of non-citizens. When the Flavian dynasty came to power during the civil war of 69, the city had gained the status of “municipium”. This meant that all city officials obtained Roman citizenship for public service and it also meant that Roman law and political structures were increasingly being adopted. It caused municipal services to be expanded to include a water system, storage, public baths and a Roman circus was constructed. The circus was one of the largest in Spain and it could hold up to 15,000 spectators to watch chariot races and other games that were held at the circus.
Looking out over the plains of La-Mancha with the Tagus river from atop the hill in Toledo.
Toledo was given World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive monumental and cultural heritage. It is known as the “Imperial city” for being the main home of the court of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V as well as the “City of three Cultures” for the influences of Christians, Muslims and Jews on the city and it’s culture where the three religions coexisted peacefully for more than a thousand years. This in some ways can be seen as having ended when Sephardic (Spanish – Sefardic) Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492.
Castillo de San Servando is a Medieval castle just outside the city of Toledo that is now a hostel.Old ruins by the river Tagus with some nice swift water. Do not swim in the river it is said to be highly polluted unfortunately.Toledo Academia de Infantería
Toledo is a city with military influences in the sense that it is home to a big military museum in Alcázar de Toledo (Arabic word for palace/castle). The Alcázar sits on top of the hill of what is the city of Toledo. The city is also the home of the Academia de Infanteria. This is a training academy, providing basic and specialized training for commissioned and non commissioned officers of the infantry branch of the Spanish army.
A view of the imposing Alcázar de Toledo on top of the hill.One of the narrow streets in Toledo.Toledo street with cars, even as narrow as some of the streets are, there seems to be an insane amount of cars driving around on these streets. Frequent tussles, mostly verbal can be seen over coveted parking spaces. Pedestrians, be aware!Toledo narrow street.Toledo street – watch your head!Yes, even large buses roam the hilly and narrow streets of Toledo.
In Toledo a small motorcycle parked in such a manner that the bus can’t make the narrow turn – might, like here create what we call a Sig-alert (named after Loyd C. “Sig” Sigmon 1955 – read more here) in So Cal. In this instance, it was a beautiful Italian made Aprilia motorcycle that caused the Sig-alert. After some time passed and people started getting out of their cars the motorcycle was moved in a cooperative manner. In some ways this might be looked at as an event that signifies the core of the city of Toledo where co-existance between the different religions over more than a thousand years likely involved a good amount of cooperation…
The Sig alert resulting from the illegally and carelessly parked motorcycled involved a long line of other city buses and cars stretching all the way down the hill…A plaque denoting the area where many of the people belonging to the Jewish faith choose to settle in Toledo.
Sinagoga del Transito built in 1366 now contains the Museo Sefardi that depicts Jewish life in Toledo during medieval times. Today there are only two Synagogues left in Toledo, at one time thee were ten of them. The second remaining one is Sinagoga of Santa María la Blancaalso, built under permission from King Alfonso VIII of Castile who was in love with a Jewish woman. It was later converted into a church when Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 and it is today owned and maintained by the Catholic church as a synagogue museum. It is of one of the oldest synagogues that are still standing in Europe, it was erected in 1180. In June 2015 Spain passed a law enabling descendants of the Sephardic Jews who were expelled in 1492 to regain Spanish citizenship. It was enacted by the Spanish government as an attempt of making reparation of a past wrong.
A wine cellar in the Sephardic museum (Museo Sefardi) with wine vessels possibly dating back to the 1400’sA sculpture at Museo Sefardi in ToledoA great portal with entry door in Toledo.Colegio Oficial De Arquitectos De Castilia La Mancha delegación De Toledo.
“Official College Of Architects Of Castilia La Mancha Delegation Of Toledo” is an architectural school in the province of La-Mancha and this plaque denotes the Toledo location, read more here (Spanish only).
Another imposing and beautiful old Toledo gate with an entry door.A view down a Toledo street with tower and parts of “The Primate Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo” visible.
The construction of the cathedral (Spanish – “Catedral Primada Santa María de Toledo”) started in 1226 the architecture is Gothic and it is one of three 13:th century “High Gothic” cathedrals in Spain.
Aguas de Toledo plaque/cover, it likely is not from the Flavian period that started in 69, which was when water and other municipal services started appearing in Toledo, but it is old – and beautiful.
Looking out over the plains of the Castile-La Mancha from the site of Los Molinos of La Mancha where Don Quixote and Sancho Panza were roaming around in the 1505 novel by Cervantes.
Castile-La Mancha is famous for, among other things, Don Quixote and his trusted sidekick Sancho Panza in the novels written by Miguel de Cervantes Saveedra (1547-1616), two volumes published in 1605 and 1615. The full title of the books are “The Ingenious Nobleman Mister Quixote of La Mancha” or in Spanish “El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha”. This work is considered to be the first modern novel and it is also the most important novel ever published in the Spanish language. By many said to be the best work of fiction ever published in any language, it has had an enormous impact on other authors around the world throughout the ages.
Cervantes had an interesting life, he was born in 1547 in Alcalá de Henares, Habsburg Spain, which is near Madrid. In 1569 Cervantes was forced to leave Spain and it is not entirely clear why. There is one theory that he fled because he was being sought in connection with a duel and the punishment would have been severe had he been captured, tried and convicted. He spent a few months in Rome working as a chamber assistant to a cardinal and later that same year he joined a Spanish Navy Infantry regiment and stayed with the military until 1575 when he was captured by Barbary Pirates and held for ransom. He was released after five years in captivity when his parents together with a Catholic religious order, the Trinitarians, came up with and paid the ransom demanded for his release. Upon his release he came to stay with his family in Madrid.
In 1585 while working for the Spanish Armada as a purchasing agent and later as a tax collector for the Spanish government, he published a novel – La Galatea. Unfortunately in 1597, Cervantes once again found himself in captivity, this time in the Crown jail in Seville due to irregularities found in his bookkeeping for a period when he was the purchasing agent for the Spanish Armada. It was during these hard times that Cervantes started writing his literary masterpiece about Don Quixote of La Mancha.
Cervantes was known as a brave and good soldier and had wounds from the many battles he took part in. He had a chest wound and another wound left him without the use of his left hand that was badly damaged in battle. He spent the last years of his life in Madrid where he died in 1616.
Los Molinos, the windmills that Don Quixote fought with in the Cervantes novel, some of them sit on a hill just South of Toledo.
The Castile-La Mancha province is the home of the white windmills made famous by the books about Don Quixote – they are beautiful, and maybe even as Don Quixote found them, a bit scary…
There are many different sites around the province of La Mancha where these distinctive looking white windmills can be found, the ones here are from just South of Alcazar de San Juan on the CM 42/CM 420 road going North towards Toledo. These are particularly appealing because of the location on the hillside which in my mind make them all the more appealing.
One of the windmillsLooking out over the plains of La Mancha from this windmill site.
