People-seeing in London and Bath

 -just came back from a visit to England. I was gone about two weeks and it felt, towards the end, just a tad too long. To be fair, I needed the first week to recover from jetlag, so for the second week I was awake during the day and asleep at night, so there's that, at least. 

When I lived in London a little over a decade ago, I saw my fair share of British film and television actors in places like Holborn and Bloomsbury. Seemingly every character actor who had had a bit part on Dr. Who was in and around Lambs Conduit Street. This time was slightly different in that I saw some familiar faces in unexpected places and one in an unexpected get-up. 

A few days into my trip, I was traveling on the SE rail taking a train from London Bridge to Greenwich and as I was alighting at Greenwich I turned my head to see Rupert Everett slouched against the window seat on my train bound for Slade Green. He turned his head to meet my gaze. I thought, looking good, Rupert and then looked away as I stepped off the train. Where was he going? Woolwich? 

I met a couple of friends in Bath during their Autumn 'fayre' weekend the 13th and 14th, I believe it was. I had arrived on the Thursday and was sat in the square very near both the Roman Baths and Bath Abbey when Mr. Grand Designs, Kevin McCloud, walked through. I had just watched a re-run of Grand Designs the night before in my accommodations and was sort of floored that McCloud looks just like he does in the show (minus the big puffer jacket as it wasn't cold out). I wondered why he was in Bath until I popped in to Topping & Company Booksellers the next day and realized that he'd had a speaking engagement there the previous evening. Too bad I missed it!

The funniest 'off the telly' sighting was in Russell Square. I had just come from a visit to the V & A Museum and was taking the bus, for the heck of it, down Piccadilly Circus. The bus terminated at Russell Square, so I hopped off and was about to cut through the square when I saw a woman, surrounded by a small entourage, who was dressed like a catcher's mitt. I thought it funny, and tried to take a sneaky snap when the woman in the silly get-up saw me. I put the phone down and she said, 'No, I want you to take a picture.' I realized then that it was Katherine Ryan, a Canadian comedian who has done fairly well for herself in the UK, dressed like a goof. I told her she looked 'fucking ridiculous' (which was probably the point) and took a photo. She was with her husband and a what turned about to be a camera crew. Apparently, Ryan was dressed as a snack food and not a mitt. Hearing my No. American accent, she said the mitt-shaped crisp was a cross between a Cheezit and some Brit crisp I was unfamiliar with. I told her she had me at Cheezit and her hubs told me rather enthusiastically to 'try one!' Then an assistant's hand shot out with a bag, so I took one. The puffy little mitt-shape snack was god awful. So I just thanked them and moved away. Whatever Ryan was hawking is going to need more help than her dressed as the snack, to be honest. 

The one famous person I expected to 'see' on my trip to England was in Bristol. From Bath one can easily reach Bristol via the x39 bus. So I hopped on the bus one morning looking forward to my visit, if you will, with the person below. I wasn't paying great attention to the stops, so actually rode the x39 to the end station. No biggie. Walking back loosely via the bus route led me to signage for the Millennium Square. A walk over the river Avon and a few steps farther was this man--

Bristol boy made good.

Without my having to state, I would hope that the artist captured this person's likeness well enough for you to know who this is!