Selfies in Selfridge's and Peacocks in the National Gallery

| The stunning National Gallery during the day. |

2015 England Trip Travel Journal Entry

Monday, March 9

Logistics: 

1. The Tube from Stockwell Station to Charing Cross Station on the Northern Line
2. Walk to Trafalgar Square and up The Strand
3. The Tube from Chancery Lane Station to Oxford Circus Station on the Central Line
4. The Tube home from Oxford Circus Station to Brixton Station on the Victoria Line

Selfies in Selfridge's!

(8:24 PM) We have at last made it to the most historical department store in existence: The one and only Selfridge's! It is far more fascinating after having seen the dazzling TV series by ITV. It is quite as dazzling a century later, although in a 21st century way. We are in Dolly's Tea Room on the lower ground floor, which is situated next to the tea counter, where I almost expect to see Gordon Selfridge appear - as he works there on the TV show. :) It is stocked with a myriad of brightly colored tins from Mariage Fréres in Paris. It is really, truly dazzling! It makes one feel quite fashionable - or perhaps one feels they become more fashionable by simply being here. :) I think Harry Selfridge would be pleased.

Selfridge's looking fabulous at night.

Four of Selfridge's six floors...

 (10:30 PM) Back home again safely! We left the flat around 12:30 today and took a brisk walk in the cold to Stockwell Station. Once again I was reminded of why people wear scarves here: it is not simply to be fashionable, it is a necessity. It was overcast all day without even a peep of sunlight and with a chilling wind until just after dark, when it strangely became warmer - which oddly happens nearly every day after dark. I cannot explain English weather. But I have learned to trust the weather people on TV! They have been proved to be accurate every day so far, which gives me hope that tomorrow will be more Spring-like!

Trafalgar Square in the light of day.

Costa coffee in Waterstone's.

Lunch at the Trafalgar Waterstones was nice - I should say "the lunch we brought to Waterstones," since we only bought a coffee. It was a mocha, and the barista had put a heart on the top made out of cocoa. :)

We finished just in time to miss going into the Banqueting House on Whitehall, and had spent just enough money to be unable to afford the Churchill War Rooms, so we just turned around to finish looking in the National Gallery. 

Some of the lovely government buildings along Whitehall.

We still had the 17th century to see: all the Rubens, Carvaggios, Rembrandts and Van Dycks. I enjoyed all the Claude Lorrains, whose landscape paintings evoked the feeling of "the sublime" that was so eloquently described by Edmund Burke and that had inspired the Gothic romance novel of Jane Austen's youth.

Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba by Claude Lorrain

An understated portrait by Rembrandt of an old man drawn as the Apostle Paul was my favorite of his work hanging in the gallery.

My favorite Rembrandt.

But to my eyes the most impressive of those 17th century canvases belonged in the Van Dyck room. Wow. It is no wonder why Charles I hired him! The pride as well as the centerpiece of the room was the king himself on horseback. That painting must have been ten feet tall!

Charles I on Horseback by Anthony Van Dyck

Lady Elizabeth Thimbelby and her Sister by Anthony Van Dyck

My favorite of Van Dyck's, though, was of John Stuart and his jaunty younger brother who was quite the peacock. John looks pretty unaware of his own impressive appearance, looking like a fashion plate with all of his lace and golden silk. But his brother has a look on his face as if he's saying, "Oh, I'm sorry. You just caught me in the middle of being fabulous." :) I love it.

Lord John Stuart and his brother, Lord Bernard Stuart by Anthony Van Dyck (Or: Peacocks in the National Gallery)

The Royal Courts of Justice located on The Strand.

Not much happened on our walk to Oxford Street, besides us going in a totally different direction than we were supposed to, and being kindly helped in going the right way by an observant man on the street. I am more convinced every day we're here that the English reserve is exaggerated. He was one of the friendliest people I've ever encountered! We found the Chancery Lane Station and took a very brisk walk to Selfridge's, arriving by 8:13! I was quite relieved! Although my mistake reminded me of the quote: "Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure." So I stopped fretting and remembered to enjoy myself - we were walking around London, after all. :)