Tag Archives: Trafalgar Square

A brush with art

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I had an hour to kill between meetings near Pall Mall today and as I braced myself against the cold (it was -1 Celsius for most of today) and crossed Trafalgar Square, the imposing pillared facade of the National Gallery and the promise of its warm – and free – galleries looked pretty inviting.

In the thirteen years that I’ve lived in London, I have never been to the National Gallery (I know, the shame!) so once inside, I followed the signs up to the paintings galleries and began to wander. I had such a lovely time that I wanted to share a few of my favourites with you.

Let me pause here and say that I am in awe of the skill and talent required to paint. But I know diddly-squat about art and on the rare occasions that I go (like to last year’s Painting the Modern Garden at the Royal Academy), I tend to stroll around and stop whenever something takes my fancy.

And I was only just inside the door when I was taken by fancy number one.

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Sleeps To Go…On A Small Island

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I have been reading Bill Bryson’s Notes From A Small Island during my commute this week and this morning, I read a page that really struck a chord.

One of the things I am asked by every second (or maybe third) Brit the minute they hear my accent is ‘what are you doing over here?’  Well, let me refer you to page 46 of Bryson’s tome:

“It has more history, finer parks, a livelier and more varied press (nowadays lively in a sinister, phone-tapping kind of way it would seem), better theatres…leafier squares…and more courageous inhabitants than any other large city in the world.”

He also talks about the ‘incidental civilities’

“cheery red pillar boxes, drivers who actually stop for you on pedestrian crossings …lovely forgotten churches …sudden pockets of quiet like Lincoln’s Inn and Red Lion Square…black cabs, double-decker buses…polite notices, people who will stop to help you when you fall down or drop your shopping, benches everywhere.”

 
It inspired me to think about some of the things I love about London and as I was gazing out of the window of the number 57 bus tonight, here are the first five that sprang to mind:

  • the light – it’s soft and beautiful and drapes itself gently over great expanses of countryside within 30mins of London
  • the fabulous place names – I am just dying to get on the bus to see what Seething Wells is all about and St Martin In The Field overlooks not a field but Trafalgar Square

  • the squirrels – skipping across the railing along my front garden, in the tree overhead, the little ones daring to venture a little way along my front path towards my open door before scurrying away at the behest of the bigger ones
  • the sun worship – with the merest hint of sunshine, Londoners appear from every nook and cranny and cram themselves along river banks, in parks and all sorts of public places to bask at lunchtime, after work, on weekends and any available opportunity
Source: Metro.co.uk
  • the irony – the Brit’s do that dry, dry wit better than anyone else – and really know how to poke gentle fun at themselves (and others) as a result.

There are loads of other things and I could go on (and on and on) but this post was inspired by someone else’s vision of the place I call home.  So what about you?  I’d love hear what you love about London, whether it’s your home, your home-away-from-home, a memory captured for holiday posterity or a trigger for the nostalgic yearning of days gone by.

What do you consider worthy of note about this small island? 

ps…there are 20 sleeps to go peeps…that’s less than 3 weeks for all your Gidday shopping and shipping. Just as well I’m super-prepared with my wishlist at the ready should any of you need a little helping hand.  I mean let’s face it, who has to have a wedding to partake of one of those Bridal Register thingies?

Life in London… Through the Lens

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During the visit of Mum & her partner, we managed to get around all sorts of parts of London and I found myself getting a little snap-happy before forgetting that I do live here and do not have to capture every moment tourist-style…and I got all sorts of fab shots but there are some particular faves I want to share (or rather show-off about)…check these out!

I loved the lonely Narnia-style streetlamp in Lewes…

…this snippet of English quaintness in Fleet Street from the top deck of the hop-on-hop-off bus…
…the wicked reflection of this building down a side street opposite The Old Shades in the previous shot (so stoked the pic turned out!)…
…crossing Tower Bridge…things are looking up…
…the Elephant at the Tower (of London)…
…the slightly faded show of English support (not unlike their World Cup performance actually?!)…
…another taste of Narnia finding Aslan in repose at Trafalgar Square…

…as well as the message in a bottle on the 4th plinth…
…and finally the long & winding road/path through Richmond Park.

How could I possibly live anywhere else when surrounded by such inspiration?

And speaking of inspiration, it has come to that special time of year where I must remind you that there are only 28 shopping days before my first birthday since that ‘big one’ last year.  That’s 28 days to be inspired by some interesting, thoughtful and completely unnecessary gift..what a gift it is indeed for you to have a partner/daughter/sister/ friend/et al so helpful in jogging your memory about such important occasions…

Only 29 sleeps to go…

Happy Days…

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So Mum is here for a visit and since her (and her partner Alan’s) arrival last Wednesday, it has been a busy time with little chance of the daily blogs I’d planned to keep you all appraised of our Days Out (and In)…so here’s a little summary thus far…

Wednesday – Arrival Day
Much chatting and catching up over their best coffees since the start of their trip on May 9th (Go London…yeah!).  Checking them into the local hotel, marvelling at how big the room is compared to everything else they have stayed in and then off to The Boaters Inn on the riverbank in Kingston to eat fish and chips, drink wine and gaze dreamily at the Thames (which, on Wednesday, was dappled in soft Autumn sunshine).  My specialty Spag Bol for dinner…with more wine.

Thursday – Lewes-and-Brighton Day
Off to the county town of Lewes this morning to see all the places that Alan remembered from his childhood there…as with all nostalgic meanderings, he said everything seemed a lot smaller than he remembered.  We also walked around the castle, through the gardens at Southover Grange and visited Anne of Cleves cottage before walking back up Keere Street…very steep cobbled street that apparently the Prince Regent who became King George IV drove his carriage down on the strength of a dare…and they say his father was the mad one! 
Then it was on to Brighton and a visit to the Royal Pavilion, the pleasure palace of King George IV whilst he was Prince Regent (is there a recurring theme of reckless behaviour here?) This was my second visit and I had forgotten how truly spectacular and OTT this place was so def. worth visiting and taking the audio guide on your visit.  We then wandered along Brighton Pier before deciding that we were rather peckish so we found a fab Italian place in Brighton’s The Lanes and waddled out of there for the drive home at about 8.  Speaking of the drive home, we had a little trouble finding the turn off back to the main road and took a scenic drive along the coast for a while hoping to find another connecting road…Plan A having failed abysmally, we turned around, drove back to Newhaven and found the turn off…

Friday – Hop-On-Hop-Off-Bus Day
Friday was tourist day in the capital and I have to say that I enjoyed the top deck of the hop-on-hop-off bus very much…it was really quite relaxing to be absolved of the need to take any photos (because it wasn’t all new and overwhelming like last time) and to just enjoy the ride in the sunshine (yes, sunshine again!  Very blessed we were…)  After a couple of hours of winding our way through the busy streets, we ‘hopped off’ at The Tower of London with enough time for lunch at gbk (scrumptious burgers) before meeting the Yeoman Warder (more widely known as Beefeaters) for our guided tour.  He had a few grisly stories to share, a typically English (dry) sense of humour and a ‘way’ with the ladies…but did you know that they come highly qualified for the job?  They have to have served a minimum of 22 years in the Army, Air Force or Marines and have reached the position of Sergeant Major and they (all 35 of them) live in the Tower of London with their families until retirement at 65…needless to say they kind of inspire ‘good behaviour’!

We then ‘hopped on’ a river cruise back to Westminster Pier – more witty commentary and interesting facts – before ‘hopping off’ and wandering past the Houses of Parliament, up Whitehall (past Downing Street and Royal Horse Guards), into Trafalgar Square and then along Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace… again I was struck by what an ‘ordinary’ looking building Buckingham Palace is, particularly when compared with Westminster Palace (aka Houses of Parliament) but if you are ever here in July-August, def. check BH out the inside – it’s amaaaaazing!…

…and then the only thing left to do (well that we had any energy left for) was to ‘hop on’ the bus home….and have Chinese takeaway for dinner…

Saturday – Day-Off Day
Saturday was my relaxing, houseworking, catching up day so J was despatched with said parent and partner to buy satnavs and posting boxes (look out chicky, there are a-comin’) before the visitors decamped to Hampton Court Palace nearby…in the drizzle…so I can’t really tell you what they got up to other than that there was jousting, a mock wedding and a lost umbrella.  Then it was pizza and Eurovision with J and the kids last night…makes you realise how small these flats really are when there are 6 people in them!

Sunday – Getting-Organised-For-All-The-Other-Days Day
Today the sun has finally broken through the clouds and we are all just puddling around here at the flat and the travellers are having a little breather before they set off on their big NW odyssey tomorrow morning…

So there you have it…a longer blog than usual but consider yourselves updated!