I knew I was a bit behind on the blog but we’ve now travelled from Sicily, back to London and this is our 3rd day in New York. My only defence is jet lag and the cold that refuses to die!

We had a busy time in our short second stay in London doing 2 day-long tours with the same firm we went to Sicily with: on with a lecturer talking about Italian Renaissance Art in the National Gallery, the other with an expert on railway history and travel taking us around 3 of the big London railway stations – sounds nerdy but was interesting in terms of learning about their history, architecture and their development over time.

Here’s a little sample of the National Gallery tour with more to come on the other adventures later. We head off shortly to catch a ferry to the Statue of Liberty.

The last two days have been long and musical days: Friday we had a free morning in Ortigia so we went to the market and did a bit more wandering, and in the afternoon were off by bus to Avola (about 30 km away) for a performance of Acteon by the Early Opera Company. Acteon is based on a story by Ovid from the Metamorphoses where an unfortunate young hunter sees the goddess Diana and her attendants bathing in a glade and is turned into a stag an torn apart by his own hounds. Cheery! Actually I liked the music (by Charpentier), and it’s short.

Back in Ortigia we had a free night to find dinner before another concert in Chiesa Santa Lucia alla Badia of Alessandro Scarlatti’s Missa Defunctorum. Very atmospheric sitting in a baroque church in front of a Caravaggio painting listening to amazing music. And while we’ve enjoyed the trip it was nice to escape “group food” and have dinner in a restaurant on our own. The perils of feeding large groups is that the food is often not what you would choose.

Then yesterday we were on the bus to Ragusa Ibla – another town in the Val di Noto damaged and rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693. Probably less interesting that Noto and Modica but nonetheless pleasant. We had a group lunch then back to Modica for a performance of Acis and Galatea by Handel – unfortunately Ragusa’s opera house was under renovation.

Shattered by the end of the day. Today we have most of the day free and no bussing involved to get to a venue!

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Another long day yesterday: bus ride to the town of Modica – about an hour and a half from Ortigia – another town rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake and rich with baroque churches. There are broadly 2 parts to the town: Modica Bassa and Modica Alta – but the town is built on terraces on the sides of a steep valley.

We had some free time for a look around and a very pleasant white wine watching the world go by on the main street.

The day’s opera – La Traviata – was performed in the Teatro Garibaldi, a tiny historic theatre in the heart of the town. Some of the more discerning folk on the tour weren’t fans of the staging – but we hadn’t seen it before so had no point of comparison. It was always going to be a tough gig for the performers of HGO – a company of young singers – because everyone was going to have and opinion having seen it multiple times (except us!).

Then is was a bus trip back to Ortigia and a “picnic dinner” on the bus on the way.

Here’s Modica!

Yesterday was the first opera of the tour: L’Issipile, by a composer called Francesco Conti, an italian working at the royal court in Vienna; it dates from 1732. It’s not well known and not much performed. The group performing for us, La Nuova Musica, last performed it in London in 2014. Like lots of operas the plot it convoluted and based loosely on a classical myth.

But first we got to have a look around the plesant town of Noto, about 40km from Ortigia. The original town on a different site aas destroyed in an earthquake in 1693. The town was rebuilt in a consistent baroque style in a lovely golden sandstone with what seems like a church on every corner! And they all ring their bells vigourously at midday!

So we did a walking tour of the town, had a light lunch and then filed into the Teatro Tina di Lorenzo for a (much needed!) explanatory talk and the performance. La Nuova Musica were great – it was a really lively performance. So John is no longer an opera novice!

It’s been a long day today – our first concert in the theatre in Noto about 40km away. But here are some pictures from our free day in Ortigia yesterday. We had 2 walking tours with a Martin Randall guest lecturer, but also did alot of exploring on our own. It’s not a big place and it’s relatively easy to find your way around.

The weather was lovely, so we enjoyed strolling around and learning a bit about the history and architecture.

The last concert of our Tallis Trail tour was at Hampton Court in the Chapel Royal but we had a couple of hours to look around after our bus trip from Canterbury.

For both of us it was a long time since we’d been there – and I didn’t remember much. So we took our time wandering through the old Tudor-era part of the palace and then the newer baroque apartments.

The concert, like the others, was great but we were seated in the choir stalls which are designed to be stood in. For the shorter among us we only saw the taller members of the choir. Luckily the ceiling of the Chapel Royal is amazing!

Then after being dropped at Stamford Brook tube station we navigated our way to our hotel in Whitehall – with work on the District line turning our straight forward trip into a 2 change epic journey as most of London seemed to be going somewhere by Tube.

Today was day 2 of our Tallis tour: while the day was crisp and beautiful when I went for a quick walk around Canterbury earlyish by the time we were heading for the railway station to get the train for Dover it was damp and windy.

Dover Priory refectory, where out concert was is now in the grounds of a school: so no photos from outside. It had an amazing roof like the inside of a barrel and the sound was really good. Back then to Canterbury where we tried out some local beers with our hamburger lunch at a local craft brewery and gin distillery having got soaked on the way back from the station.

After that we spent most of the afternoon in the Cathedral, including attending the requiem mass for All Souls Day which featured the Cathedral choir singing Faure’s requiem as part of the mass.

Then it was on to the pre-concert talk for our evening concert and then back into the cathedral. It is special to hear this sort of music in the spaces it was written to be sung in – it adds to the experience.

Then we were done for the day! So what follows are some shots from my early walk around Canterbury, and also from inside the Cathedral.

A dreary and damp day for the start of our music tour: the theme is the choral music of the 16th century composer Thomas Tallis sung by an early music vocal group called the Tallis Scholars in locations where he worked. So we began with a short concert in a church just up the street from where we were staying where Tallis was an organist in the 1530s. It’s much-changed since then as it was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London in 1666.

After lunch we were on buses to Waltham Abbey Church in Kent for another concert – while the church is very different from Tallis’ time (Henry VIII destroyed the abbey complex around it), the interior was still lovely and suited to Tallis’ music. Pews were a bit hard though!

Then it was on to Canterbury – didn’t get to see much of the countryside as the sun is setting at 4:30pm and by the time we got here it was dark and wet. Dinner was at the hotel. The group size is 105 – mostly english ladies of a certain age but some Australians and Americans too. John was in hot demand last night at the dinner as there aren’t that many men!

Today we are off to Dover Priory Church and tonight we have a concert in Canterbury Cathedral – but unfortunately looks like the day will be wet and very windy so not good for a walk around the town. Here’s a few shots from Waltham Abbey yesterday.

Today was a new experience for both of us: took the Thames Clipper (like a bigger version of a Brisbane Citycat) to the museum complex at Greenwich. There are 5: The Royal Observatory, The Maritime Museum, The Queen’s House, The Cutty Sark and the old Royal Naval Hospital. We didn’t worry about the Cutty Sark, but visited the Observatory, two special exhibitions at the Maritime Museum, The Queen’s House and The Painted Hall in the old hospital but truly you could spend days here.

I wanted to see the 0 degrees, 0 minutes, 0 seconds longitude line at the Observatory (aka where the western and eastern hemispheres meet). But there are really interesting timekeeping and astronomy exhibits as well. The observatory is set on a hill overlooking a big park, behind the other museums and the views down to the river as fabulous.

After that we headed to the Queen’s House which has a collection of portraits of the great and the good, including the Armada portrait of Elizabeth I, but then also has some quirky modern works including some by kiwi Marian McGuire who I didn’t know but whose work was really interesting. Unfortunately we couldn’t see some of the galleries as there was a fancy and undoubtedly very expensive wedding on. From there it was off to two special exhibits at the Maritime Museum: one on the Moon, including it’s representation in myth and art as well as lunar exploration, the other on astronomy photography.

Although pretty tired, we still managed a whistle stop tour through parts of the Old Hospital, including the amazing Painted Hall: 19 years in the making it was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and painted by Sir James Thornhill starting in 1707. Conveniently they have leather couches to allow you to lie back and look at the painted ceilings in comfort!

After another pleasant and quick trip back to the city – only 20 minutes – and a restorative gin and dinner we are done. Joining our Thomas Tallis music festive trip tomorrow.

So today is our second proper day in London. The cold I picked up just before we left Wellington is abating but I felt like a leper on the plane (I was that person you didn’t want to be anywhere near). The transit through Heathrow was surprisingly quick, the Heathrow Express to Paddington was pricey but after that much flying, fine thank you! And the taxi ride from Paddington to our hotel near The Monument to the Great Fire of London was like a ride across the monopoly board.

So yesterday we went to St Pauls Cathedral, roughly 15 minutes easy walk away. And despite our various ailments we both managed the 528 steps to the Golden Gallery on the top of the dome – fabulous views although the last 100 or so steps were a test! As it’s the off season things weren’t too crowded. Hoping it’s the same today as we head downriver to the museums at Greenwich.