Debkakes in the UK 2025

Further adventures on land and water

London
April 13 – Hello, London
April 14 – Canal Walk & Nat’l Gallery
April 14, Part 2 – Critters & Portrait Gallery
April 15 – Tower of London
April 16- Bath
April 17 – The Serpentine Gallery
April 18 – Cricket!!
April 19- The Wallace Collection
April 20 – Abbey Road

Paris
April 21 – Sacre Coeur
April 22 – Notre Dame & Musee de Cluny
April 23 – Musee d’Orsay & David Hockney
April 24 – Modern Art & Pere Lachaise
April 25 – Accidental Day Off
April 26 – Montparnasse, Catacombs, Pompidou

Ludlow
April 27 – Train to Ludlow
April 28 – Hill Walk
April 29 – Ludlow Castle & St. Laurence Church
April 30 – Ludlow to Knighton

Glyndwr’s Way, Powys County, Wales
May 1 – Knighton to Llangunlo
May 2 – Llangunlo to Felindre
May 3 – Felindre to Llanbadarn Fynydd
May 4 – Llanbadarn Fynydd to Abbeycwmhir
May 5 & 6 – Abbeycwmhir to Llanidloes, a Day in Llanidloes
May 7 – Llanidloes to Hafren Forest
May 8 & 9 – Dyliffe & Machynlleth

Llwyngwril, Wales (and briefly Aberdeen)
May 10 – Llwyngwril Reunion
May 11 – Day of Rest
May 12 – Portmeirion
May 13 – Day of Art and Rest
May 14 – A Little Train Ride
May 15 – A Big Train Ride to Blaenau Ffestiniog
May 16 – Bus Ride to Porthmadog
May 17 – A Day in Aberystwyth
May 18 – A Tiny Train Ride in Fairbourne
May 19 – On to Shetland via Aberdeen

Shetland Isles
May 20 – Overnight Ferry to Shetland
May 21 – Lerwick and Sumburgh Head PUFFINS
May 22 – Day trip to Bressay
May 23 – Textile Museum and on to Vidlin/Lunna Pod
May 24 – Lunna Kirk
May 25 – A Rainy Day at Home
May 26 – A Walk on Whalsay and Cavorting with a Lamb
May 27 – The Cabin Museum and Eshaness
May 28 – Unst Unst Unst
May 29 – Birthday Girl
May 30 – Puffins Part 2, St. Ninian’s, and Ferry to Orkney

Orkney Isles
May 31 – A Day in Kirkwall
June 1 – Circle of Brodgar, Stenness Stones
June 2 – Scara Brae, Castle of Yesnaby, Marwick Head
June 3 – Day Off
June 4 – Broch of Gurness, HMS Tern, Lamb Holm (Italian Chapel), Happy Valley
June 5 – TCOB
June 6 – Castle O’Burrian Puffins, Superb Walk
June 7 – More Puffins, Grobust Beach, Noltland Castle, Jack’s Chippie
June 8 – A Day on Papay
June 9 – Ferry, Kirkwall, Ferry

Falkirk and Union Canal
June 10 – Bus, Train, Falkirk Canal Walk and Kelpies
June 11 – Falkirk Wheel and Navigating the Union Canal
June 12 – A Day in Linlithgow
June 13 – Day Two on Union Canal
June 14 – Day of Borked Train Travel to Sheringham

Sheringham and London
June 15 – Sheringham Museum, Christine’s House
June 16 – A Day in Sheringham
June 17 – To London!
June 18 – Camden Art Center, Freud Museum, British Library
June 19 – Sir John Soane’s Museum, Hunterian Museum
June 20 – Sewer Gas Light
June 21 – Hampstead Heath, Museum of Curiosities
June 22 – Tate Modern, Pocket Park
June 23 – Camden Town, Graffiti Tunnel
June 24 – Quadrophenia
June 25 – Docklands Museum of London
June 26 – In Search of Edwin Abbot Abbot, V&A East Storehouse, Parkland Walk
June 27 and Home!

For past travels, visit https://debkakesintheuk2018.wordpress.com/ and https://debkakesintheuk2022.blog/

April 17 – Serpentine Gallery & Hadestown

My second theatrical outing was to see “Hadestown,” a modern reworking of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.

I wanted a little park time, so headed to Marble Arch entrance to Hyde Park. I stumbled across The Serpentine North Gallery in the Kensington Gardens section of the Park. Amazing building designed by Zaha Hadid, and a really wonderful retrospective of a new-to-me artist, Arpita Singh.

A gorgeous if bulbous tree on a gorgeous day in Hyde Park.
Selfie with spring flowers!
One of the ponds at Hyde Park, and a black-headed gull.
I didn’t get a photo of the exterior of the Gallery, so I cadged this from the Internets.

Arpit Singh is a revelation. Her detail- and symbol-laden work is so colorful and playful on the surface, but you don’t have to look too closely to see the ravages that violence, war, and corruption have played in modern India. I lingered long in all the galleries.

Kitties!!
An early work, but one of my favorites.
Yeah, I’ve got a few minutes, think I’ll have a bite and a beer.
Oh yes, this will do nicely! But then……..I didn’t watch the clock very well, and had to HOOF IT to the Strand.
The Hadestown set. And lots of phones.
The band was onstage. This performance knocked my dang socks off! Wonderful balcony seat, no complaints.

I know this show has been around for ages, and boy — it was no fun to navigate the very crowded streets of theatre-goers in the West End — but 100% worth it. I didn’t have much of an idea of the musical before getting my ticket (I was, frankly, looking for cheap tix to not-sucky shows), but I’m sure glad I chose it, the production and cast were superb, the music actually memorable!!