Zima Russian Restaurant

Interior decor
Inside Zima

My friends and I like to go out for a meal every now and then, taking it in turns to pick a restaurant. Several years ago I spent a few months in Russia, and I keep meaning to try and find a decent Russian restaurant. A Google search turned up Zima (the name means “winter” in Russian).

Zima is in Soho, next to Ronnie Scott’s famous jazz club, not far from the Prince Edward Theatre. Inside it is warm and cosy, covered with abstract art prints (Kandinsky?). The background music was like a crash course in Russian music, with folk, metal and pop making an appearance.

Russian food is pretty meat-heavy, and there wasn’t much choice for vegetarians on the menu, but lack of choice doesn’t tend to bother me, being chronically indecisive. In the end I went for the dumplings with potato and mushroom, with an egg-and-mushroom bun on the side. Friends ordered borscht, turkey-stuffed cabbage rolls and a side of bread, which the whole table sampled and gave the thumbs-up (also, the little bread board was super-cute).

Drinks-wise, everyone was doing Dry January apart from me, but I really wanted to sample the vodka, so I chose a shot of strawberry and basil vodka which was amazing, and genuinely sippable. I want to come back and sample the vodka tasting platter. The soft drinks were very impressive: the strawberry lemonade was amazing, and my strawberry and orange tea was delicious.

For pudding, we tend to go and find an ice cream parlour, but the desserts here looked so good we decided to stay. Friends had honey cake and pancakes, which both looked delicious. I had chocolate dumplings, which were amazing.

Dessert at Zima
Chocolate dumplings

I always get nervous when I pick a restaurant in case people hate it, but in this case I got lucky as everyone gave it the thumbs-up! It’s definitely somewhere I’d like to visit again.

Zima, 45 Frith Street, Soho, London W1D 4SD

Jewellery brand of the month: Buttercup’s Babe

I’m kicking off the year with another Australian brand, this time:

BUTTERCUP’S BABE

The brand hasn’t been around for very long, but already has a reputation for intricate and much-coveted designs.

The First Day of Christmas (a.k.a. a partridge in a pear tree!) is my Holy Grail of brooches. I’d love to own it, but I don’t know if I ever will, it sells out so quickly. Maybe next Christmas?

First day of Christmas brooch

This Humble Harvest brooch has a lovely autumn theme, with fruits and vegetables aplenty.

humble harvest brooch

Moving on to Easter, the Easter Wreath brooch is an Easter egg garlanded with pretty flowers.

Easter wreath brooch

The Three Wishes brooch is a sweet homage to Aladdin.

three wishes brooch

The ‘I Move the Stars For No One’ brooch was inspired by Labyrinth, so obviously, I want it.

I move the stars for no one brooch

Find Buttercup’s Babe at the following locations:

Website: buttercupsbabe.bigcartel.com

Etsy: etsy.com/uk/shop/ButtercupsBabe

Instagram: instagram.com/buttercupsbabe

Facebook: facebook.com/buttercupsbabes

Ghost Tour – Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace at night

Not long after my Tower of London evening tour, I headed down to Hampton Court Palace for their Ghost Tour. Basically, what happened was that I saw all these tours advertised around Halloween but they were mostly sold out until the winter, so I’ve had them booked for ages. The depths of winter is still a good time for ghosts, anyway.

This Friday night tour was actually designated as a BSL (British Sign Language) tour. I wouldn’t have chosen this one if I’d known (I wouldn’t have wanted to take up a space from someone who might actually need it) but most people on it were hearing (like me, they hadn’t got the memo – it wasn’t particularly well signposted on the website). I was curious as to how they’d make BSL visible in the dark, but the lady doing the signing was wearing bright gloves illuminated by a spotlight: pretty ingenious.

The tour itself took around two hours and encompassed both outdoor and indoor areas of the Palace, lit very sparsely which only added to the atmosphere. Unlike the Tower tour, which was more of a general tour that happened to take place at night, this was most definitely a ghost tour and I was certainly spooked. I wouldn’t want to give away too many of the stories I heard on the tour (I wouldn’t tell them half as well, anyway) but they range from sightings of an old nursemaid of Edward VI to apparitions of two of the workmen killed during the construction of the baroque wing of the Palace in William and Mary’s time, not to mention Henry VIII’s unfortunate wife Catherine, who can reportedly be heard screaming in the appropriately-named Haunted Gallery. We had to traverse this Gallery in small groups of two or three; as I’d attended the tour on my own, I begged to tag along with another pair, not wanting to venture down the path alone!

One particularly exciting tale involved a cloaked spectre caught on camera trying to close a pair of fire doors. This footage can be viewed online; the figure was apparently nicknamed Skeletor! Another less spooky, but still (to me) frightening anecdote concerned Cardinal Wolsey, whose home Hampton Court originally was. He was terrified of a particular species of large house spider (I completely sympathise) which ended up being named the Cardinal Spider after him – an impressive act of trolling.

The ghost stories surrounding Hampton Court come from a great variety of sources: staff and visitors as well as security personnel and at least one policeman. Several occupants of the grace-and-favour apartments here over the years have borne witness to supernatural phenomena, and in at least one case have become the subject of it. Whether there is any truth to these ghost stories or not, it was amazing to hear them in situ and experience the Palace when it is closed to visitors. Tours are now sold out for the season but I would expect them to come back this autumn – keep an eye on the website.

Tower Twilight Tour

On the second Sunday of January, I went on an after-dark tour of the Tower of London. These tours only take place in the winter, and sell out fairly quickly, so I made sure to book a while ago.

The Tower of London at night

It was eerie heading to the Tower in the dark, without the usual flood of tourists at the entrance gate. The crowd waiting to take part in the tour was fairly large, but still, there was no one but us in the vicinity; well, no one but us, our Yeoman Warder guide, and another Warder who patrolled the grounds accompanied by a sleek black cat. I’d assumed the tour was a kind of spooky ghost tour – the bloody history of the Tower would lend itself to this kind of experience – but in fact it was more like a general tour that happened to be held at night. This did not make it any less enjoyable, and it was still quite an experience to explore the Tower at night.

We visited all sorts of outdoor and indoor locations, including the place where Henry VI was murdered in 1471, and heard stories of those who were kept prisoner here and even executed, including two of Henry VIII’s wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. The Tower’s construction began in 1078, and the near-thousand years of history it has witnessed is hugely impressive.

Me by the White Tower

We ended our tour in the chapel, where many of those executed in the Tower are buried (Though it’s not a ghost tour, there is plenty of death). Despite not being quite what I expected, I was pretty impressed, and would recommend the tour as a unique experience.

William Blake – Tate Britain

Exhibition poster

I first encountered William Blake’s work in sixth form, when I studied his Songs of Innocence and of Experience for A level. This major exhibition at Tate Britain explores Blake’s whole life, tracing his development as an artist from his beginnings at the Royal Academy through to his unique and visionary works. It acknowledges the complex questions raised by his images of slavery, and mentions the contribution his wife Catherine made to his work.

Blake was born in 1757 in London, where he lived for almost all of his life, most famously in Lambeth, south of the river.  As a teenager he was apprenticed to an engraver, and later studied at the Royal Academy. He initially followed the prescribed course of study, practising by sketching the classical statues provided for this purpose, but grew frustrated with the restrictions this placed on him, and began to explore his own myths in his art. One example of this is his long poem Tiriel: he envisioned this as a combination of words and images, integrated as one whole. Much of his early work, and his images for Tiriel, are displayed in the first rooms of the exhibition.

Blake spent much of his career as an engraver and print maker. He pioneered a technique, still not fully understood, of relief etching, which he used to create beautiful illuminated books, which were not commercially lucrative but were nevertheless admired by a select few collectors. Blake would often produce images without text to sell individually. Two of his key collections, displayed here, are the pages from his famous Songs of Innocence and of Experience, and America: A Prophecy, inspired by the American War of Independence.

Patrons were crucial to Blake being able to make a living. He had several patrons throughout his life, and and a section of the exhibition is devoted to the work he produced for them. However, his relationship with them was often tense as he felt they restricted his creativity and artistic freedom. In later life Blake hosted his own exhibition, above the shop owned by his family, in 1809, however, it was poorly received by the critics.

Towards the end of his life, Blake did receive appreciation from younger artists who saw him as a radical, someone who had refused to compromise his vision. It was at this time that he began his work Jerusalem. The exhibition is a comprehensive, intelligent and engaging exploration of Blake’s work.

William Blake

Mari Lwyd

Mari Lwyd outside The Boot pub

Mari Lwyd is a Welsh tradition that I came across a few years ago. A wassailing folk custom found in South Wales, it features a horse’s skull mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sackcloth. First recorded in 1800, it involves a group of men accompanying the horse from house to house, requesting entry through the medium of song; householders were required to reply, also through song, and this would continue until one side backed down. If the householders quit first, they would invite the group in and provide them with food and drink.

The London Welsh Centre and The Spring Heeled Jacks have organised a special Mari Lwyd event for the past five years. This involves visiting various pubs, rather than individual homes (I’m not sure how Londoners would react to seeing this on their doorstep), but the principle is the same. I went along to Friday’s event at the Boot pub just to see it in action. As I’d expected, it was creepy but awesome. There were a fair few people there, drawn possibly by the advertisement on Londonist, but there were several bemused looks from passers-by, suggesting that not everyone is familiar with this custom!

Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night used to be a major part of the festive celebrations in the UK, but these days it usually goes unmarked. The Lions Part, however, mark the occasion each year with a performance in Southwark, appropriately starting next to the Globe, as it was during Tudor times that the occasion really came into its own.

Crowds on Bankside
Twelfth Night celebrations on Bankside

I arrived on Bankside Pier just as the Holly Man – winter equivalent of the Green Man – arrived, in time to see the St. George Folk Combat Play, performed by the Bankside Mummers. There was quite a crowd gathered and I ended up standing on the wall to get a better view. The play, which featured stock characters like the Turkey Sniper, Clever Legs, the Old ‘Oss and many others, mixed old-fashioned language with modern references and was a hit with the audience.

Twelfth Night poster
Twelfth Night poster

After the performance, Twelfth Cakes were handed out to the audience and those who found a pea or a bean were invited to come up and be crowned King and Queen. One of these elusive objects could not be found so a random audience member was selected instead! The party then paraded down to the George Inn near London Bridge. I headed home as I was pretty cold by this time, but I was glad to have gone.

The Moon – National Maritime Museum

the moon banner

We like the moon, ’cause it is close to us…

I went to the National Maritime Museum to visit The Moon on its very last day. The Science Museum had an exhibition on the Sun not long ago, so this exhibition seemed apt. Also, it’s the celestial body associated with my star sign, Cancer. The exhibition marks 50 years since the moon landings, but as well as space travel it looks at the history of our understanding of the moon, literature associated with it, and religious and cultural practices with the moon at their centre.

Phases of the moon

Accompanied by a musical soundtrack of Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’, the exhibition explores early superstitions about the Moon, looks at the scientific developments that allowed us to view and eventually visit it, and looks to the future with the prospect of human settlement on the Moon. I was intrigued by the role of the Moon in the lives of ordinary people, and the names given to the different phases of the Moon. Much of the artwork featuring moonlit landscapes is beautiful, and the early photos and diagrams of its surface perhaps even more so.

telescope

An important part of the exhibition is devoted to the Space Race: items from actual Apollo missions are some of the most exciting on display. This leads on to a section that asks who owns the Moon: there are some difficult questions to be asked in the future, but there is also excitement at the prospect of further exploration.

The Moon

Troy: Myth and Reality – British Museum

urn
Urn showing Achilles killing Penthesilea

On the first Saturday of the New Year I went to the British Museum with my friend to see the exhibition Troy: Myth and Reality. The exhibition looks at the myths surrounding Troy and the Trojan War before exploring the evidence for the real existence of Troy and how the legend has been interpreted over the centuries.The first object on display is a magnificent urn painting, dating from approximately 530BC. It shows Achilles at the instant he kills Penthesilea, leader of the Amazons: a dramatic moment showcasing the violence of the Trojan War. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, as well as Virgil’s Aeneid, tell stories of characters such as Achilles both real and mythical, and are hugely well known in the Western world and beyond.

Most people know the basics of the myth: Trojan prince Paris runs off with Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of the Spartans. But was she abducted or did she go willingly? Whas she as beautiful as legend suggests – “the face that launched a thousand ships” – or was she simply an excuse for the Greeks to declare war? The contemporary and near-contemporary artefacts in the exhibition offer a variety of perspectives and interpretations.One aspect I found fascinating was the gallery exploring the discovery of Troy as a real place:

Homer’s Iliad references the northern Turkish city of Ilium, and for many years Troy was thought to be at a place called Bounarbashi. In the nineteenth century the focus changed to Hisarlik. Many objects excavated during this period are displayed here. The second half of the exhibition focuses on differing interpretations of the Trojan War over the centuries, and it’s fascinating to see how these changed over time. It ends with a 19th-century interpretation of Achilles’ shield, symbolising how the myth has inspired artists and creators for years and years.

shield
19th-centuy shield of Achilles

Happy New Year!

Frog in the park

I seem to find myself taking a walk in the local park every New Year’s Day. It’s good to get out and get some fresh air , reset and think about the year ahead.

I wasn’t particularly hungover this year, as I really tried not to drink too much last night. I did NOT want a repeat of last year when I was unbelievably ill. I went for lunch to the same Vietnamese restaurant I went to in 2019, but this time it was much easier to keep it all down!

Depressing as it is to think about going back to work tomorrow, I want to think about some of the things I have to look forward to this year:

  1. Baby! (Not mine!) – A close friend of mine is due to have a baby in January. I’m super excited for baby cuddles.
  2. Avril Lavigne – I used to be a huge fan of hers back in the day and I’m going to see her concert at the O2 Academy in Brixton in April.
  3. City of Angels – My favourite musical of all time is coming to the West End this summer. I will definitely be seeing this more than once.
  4. Holiday – I’m hoping to go on holiday with another friend this summer. I haven’t been abroad for a few years so I really hope this works out!