Everybody loves ya, baby! We're all goin' England Crazy!

So croons Terry Venables. But sometimes, you get a visit from Il Postino.



Jet-lag can be exhausting and here Il Postino attacks the problem head on.



Once better rested, Il Postino and Old Ken set off for a tour of the sites of greater south east London. This included a ramble through the outer reaches of Crystal Palace park to find the elusive dinosaurs (which we met last summer). But then we made our way up to the Horniman Museum—a highly eclectic collection assembled by a Victorian tea merchant—and its totem: the gigantic stuffed walrus. According to the popular mythology, this walrus was shot and then stuff by a taxidermist who was unfamiliar with the fact that such creatures have loose rolls of flesh. Thus, this fellow is not only enormous but stretched as tight as a drum!



With our appetite for natural history momentarily sated, it was off to the Wickham Arms for some exciting football action. Il Postino's visit just so happened to coincide with the early knock-out stages of the World Cup and many a pleasant hour was spent rooting for underdogs and munching on Nobby's Nuts.



With summer having begun approximately two days before Il Postino's arrival—literally, Old Ken was wearing a sweater well into mid-June—pleasant hours were whiled away reading in the garden. Above we see a broken-knuckled artist's rendition thereof.



Another exciting event on tap was a local open studio session. La Delfina and Old Ken made this scene, while Il Postino chilled. Mostly we saw interesting interiors ...



... and cool instruments.



But, by and large, the art was pretty questionable.



Such was certainly not the case with Bill Viola's amazing Tristan and Isolde-based video installation that Il Postino and Old Ken went to see near London Bridge. Viola's work had been installed in an abandoned Victorian primary school, where it was projected on screens—some massive, other much more intimate. I'll reserve further comment on this incredible show as it may well deserve its own blog; but here's a shot of Il Postino inside.



Right next door to this installation sits London's new City Hall. Apparently, in the interest of transparency in government, City Hall is not only largely made of glass but also open to the public. We were able to get up to the second floor, but alas were not able to see any functionaries pushing papers around. Que lastima!



Finally, we see an image of Il Postino taking it all in outside the Tower of London. Soon thereafter, we went on a stroll through East London tracing the "Haunts of Jack the Ripper." As with Postie's visit in general, we might summarize with the Spanish phrase: Que divertito!