punts, pimm’s, and piano reveries
We all got an early (“early”) start today and hurried to get ready to catch a train from St. Pancras station. We stopped at M&S first to grab sandwiches and snacks for the ride, and then caught the bus and tube to St. Pancras where we had some time to kill before our departure. There are so many incredible shops in the St. Pancras terminal, which serves as the fastest connection point between London and Paris, so there’s a Fortnum & Mason shop right across from a Ladurée. It’s dreamy. F&M was displaying a “Summer Cooler” tea that smelled so delicious I could immediately imagine a homemade pitcher of iced tea, which I’ve never made before in my life. I made a mental note to grab it upon our return, and we headed down to the platforms to catch our train to Cambridge.
It was a pleasant hour on the train, and the M&S sandwiches were delicious as usual. We alighted at Cambridge and rushed to grab a taxi to make it to our punting tour in time. We rode to the River Cam, which has many beautiful bridges (get it? Cam Bridge?), and walked along its grassy banks for a bit, as well as a bridge, before climbing aboard a boat for a punting ride. Essentially it’s like a gondola ride, with someone pushing the boat along the riverbed with a long pole. Our guide, Joe, took us (and a small group of Canadians) along the river, telling us all about the history of the area and its gorgeous landmarks.
With the sun shining brightly and a light breeze, it was all so fantastically beautiful that it felt unreal. There were other boats floating past us with hen parties, and students sitting along the river, and another boat with a guy playing guitar as a woman next to him sang. There were gorgeous bridges and stately buildings and even a lone blue heron walking along the riverbank. To top it all off, there was a floating bar on another punt boat which we pulled up alongside to order some drinks, and I had my first Pimm’s Cup of the warm weather season. Truly nothing like a cold drink with a fresh strawberry as I reclined in the boat.
After we returned to the shore we walked along the riverbank towards the central part of Cambridge, passing college buildings and shops and restaurants. I ducked into Fitzbillies Bakery on the recommendation of Andrew Strickman’s parents and got some excellent sweets there, and peeked into some fantastic store called “Pocket Watch & Petticoats” which was full of frilly dresses and groups of women excitedly trying them on.
I resisted and we wandered further, getting suddenly overtaken by a large silent group of women dressed dramatically in red robes with their faces painted white, stopping in front of the gates of King’s College. We gleaned that this was a climate protest: a funeral for the passing of the 1.5 degree Celsius warming threshold of global temperatures. They’re calling on university leadership to take stronger action on climate issues.
The protesters moved on and so did we, wandering through Market Square and buying a snack of cheese at one of the stalls there. There were long queues at multiple gelato spots so we joined the shortest one and got a round of gelato for everyone else and a tiny pastry for me. By that point it was 3:30pm and we felt like we’d seen the best parts of Cambridge and were ready to start heading home. So we fought our way through crowds crammed into the narrow streets and all the way to the station to catch our train back to London.
When we alighted at St. Pancras Ben wanted to get sushi from a shop in the terminal and I wanted to go back to Fortnum & Mason for my tea, so we did both. There’s a public piano, gifted by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical foundation, that sits in the middle of the concourse, and is often played by passersby. Bill realized that Elton John had played there as a surprise a couple months back just before the new album was released. But today there was a young guy in the midst of a virtuoso performance so arresting that I told the rest of my crew to go grab the sushi without me, just so I could stand and watch for a while.
This man was so talented, he played such a mix of music with seamless transitions between each song, from Lucid Dreams to the La La Land theme. He even played an Elton John song. I was standing so close for so long that he paused to ask me if I was waiting to play, which I realized must be communicated through hovering. So I told him no, I was just enjoying his music, and to keep on going, so he did. I feel like piano can end up being an instrument that has a stuffiness about it because it requires such dedicated technique, so I loved how his interpretations were so fluid and accessible – not the strict feel of classical and not the wild feel of jazz. There was pop and improv and these dynamic waves of forcefulness and quiet that lulled me, and many others, into a kind of reverie.
Not only did I love the music, but I also loved the people-watching around it. Train stations are always phenomenal spots for observation, catching people in that liminal space between two places. Many people rushed by, on their way to other places, but also plenty smiled and paused and enjoyed the music for a moment or longer. There was a man in a kilt and top hat. It was unusual and nice that very few people were filming it, or, if they were, it was just for brief moments (like I did, couldn’t resist). It all just felt fleeting and beautiful, this random moment of artistic expression that filled the station with music and then ended. And when it ended it was so abrupt, he stopped and then grabbed his backpack from under the piano, jumped to his feet, and sprinted away towards the exit.
My dudes had been watching the end with me and were eager to get home to eat dinner, so we made our way to the tube and onto a train bound for Hammersmith. All of us were talking about the music and speculating about him, when Ben suddenly looked up and said, “he’s right there!” and indeed he was standing just half a carriage away from us. So I approached him and he recognized me from our brief interaction, and I told him we were all still marveling at his talent.
He told me that he’s from Paris but commutes back and forth for work, which, unsurprisingly, is writing music for videos. He was very friendly and I got his instagram info (@friqtao) and he ended up being on our train the entire way, which also somehow had someone with a cello and another with an entire double bass. James joked, “they could start a band.” When our train pulled into the station he once again launched himself into an astonishing sprint, weaving through the crowd and out to the street. Mystifying.
We headed towards our bus stop with a quick detour into the Hammersmith M&S for just a container of milk but somehow ended up with ten other things too. Then back out to the street where it was still warm and the sun was giving off a late afternoon golden glow. We rode home and immediately sat down to dinner of St Pancras sushi and leftover Indian from last night, and then deliberated over what movie to watch. It hit me all of a sudden: Field of Dreams! With our current baseball fever it was the perfect choice, especially since the kids last watched it so long ago that they barely remember. It was a pleasure to watch, as always, and ended in the best way possible: with James saying, “man, I wish we could play baseball right now.”
Cambridge and piano video here