Feasting....

[fajrdrako]

Yesterday my friend Tina was in town, and I went with her and Alayne to the Art Gallery for the French painters exhibit. The common denominator between us is Dunnett fandom, though Alayne and I are also in the same apazine.

I met them as arranged in the garden outside the Rideau Chapel - this is all inside the National Art Gallery of Canada. There are comfortable chairs in the garden, and I sat reading Jo Beverley's latest novel while waiting for Tina. I always think of the garden as a Medieval Garden because it is shaped, symmetrical and square, but it isn't medieval at all - it's a modern version of something rather like a medieval garden, where the geraniums are in a triangular shape complementary to the trees and the light shines down from a skylight far above.

It's one of my favourite spots in Ottawa.

After seeing the French exhibit, we went to a new exhibit (included in our ticket) of North European drawings from c. 1400. The 15th century is dear to our heart because it is the setting of Dorothy Dunnett's "Niccolo" series, and anything connected with art or commerce in that era has an inescapable Nicholas connotation to all of us.

It's fun to wander an art gallery with people who have the same mental references you do. It's as if the books give us a whole set of acquaintances in common.

But we didn't get much of a chance to wander the drawings, spectacular though they were - there were several pieces by Durer, a particular favourite of all of us. Unfortunately, we'd barely got to c. 1500 in our rounds when the guards announced the gallery was closing.

It isn't the first time that's happened to me.

We wandered to the restaurant for dinner, by way of a second-hand bookstore. Note: No group of Dunnett fans can meet anywhere, in any city, without a bookstore somewhere on the agenda. It's just the way Dunnett fans are.

At the restaurant we were joined by five other good Dunnett friends and a good time was had by all.

In honour of the occasion, I declared the day free from my Ayurvedic diet, and I threw caution to the winds. I ate whatever I wanted. Including Italian bread dipped in olive oil. Including lingine with a creamy clam sauce.

Including a pina colada. I didn't tell the others why I had to have rum: it was in honour of Jack Sparrow. If I was going to drink anything, it had to be rum!

We talked about the state of public schools in Ontario today (terrible), books we've been reading, Greek history, movies we've seen (I gave them an earful on "Tomb Raider") and other adventures.

I tried to explain my diet and got some blank stares - "What's a dosha? Tell us again why you can't eat cucumbers?"

Dessert: oh, this is where it becomes sinful heaven on earth. Creme brulee. No more wonderful dish exists. I shared mine with Beulah: half-sin for each of us.

Comments

[blackbyrde.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good day. I'm afraid I find art galleries rather sleep-inducing; can only take them for 2 hours at the most. I've fallen asleep in that central garden area! Heh. A few years ago, we went to see the Van Gogh exhibit. Things like that I think you have to see at least once in your lifetime. :)

I saw a Dorothy Dunnett book on sale at Chapters - Caprice and Rondo I think it was called. Thought about buying it, but I wasn't sure if it was part of a series or not, and thought I'd better ask you first. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I find art galleries rather sleep-inducing

I find them wonderful, exhausting, and difficult to take for more than about two hours at a time; at which point, much as I love them, I start to suffer mind-boggle and sore feet.

This is why I love to visit art galleries and museums frequently and for short periods of time - half an hour maybe, or less, per visit - and it's why I hate so much the new tradition at places like the ROM of charging high admittance fees, which make it difficult to do that.

Seeing the foofy French art in half-hour increments might be about enough to see one room per visit and it'd take a month or two.

I always want to go to the National Gallery more than I actually do go. I love it. It's just hard to fit into my schedule on a frequent basis. Usually it takes a special exhibit or an out of town visitor to get me there.

Alayne was recommending the Photography museum to me. I want to see that, too.

"Caprice and Rondo" is often seen remaindered for some reason. Yes, it's part of a series - it's one of the Nicholas books. The Nicholas series begins with "Niccolo Rising", the Lymond series begins with "The Game of Kings". If you want to borrow one of those, you are welcome to.

I saw the Van Gogh exhibit too. Magnificent. I was never really a Van Gogh fan before that.

[glinda-north.livejournal.com]

Creme brulee -- proof of a benevolent deity.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes - the great theological equivalent to the answer to the riddles of the universe. The '42' of foodstuffs, the nirvana of the taste buds.

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

Creme brulee. No more wonderful dish exists

That is true. Although, in a pinch, Spanish flan and baked caramel custard are quite acceptable.

Also rice pudding, tapioca pudding...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree. All of the above. Slurp.

But having indulged in major food decadence this weekend - It's time to be good. For a while.