What do JMW Turner, fossils, Henry Austen and doughnuts have in common?

 London, of course!
Here is where the fossils are: the Natural History Museum.

2015 England Trip Travel Journal Entry

Tuesday, March 17
 

This day was packed! My feet were so worn out at the end of it. We at last went to Tate Britain! It was exciting to finally get off at Pimlico Station. "Alight for Tate Britain" is what the Tube announcer say every time, and at last it applied to us. We weren't exactly sure if we were going in the right direction, and while we were standing there looking rather bewildered an older lady passed by and said with a smile, "Tate Britain? Just down that way." She must be a local. (As well as being yet another example of a friendly English person.)

Tate Britain: the national gallery of British art.

What a great overview of western history is in that gallery! There are fewer pieces than in the National Gallery, so it is mentally more manageable. You can actually remember what you've seen. We went backwards from 1910 and the beginning of Modernism to the Renaissance and the beginning of British art. Boy, did things change! Each shift from one decade to another in ideology and style is more than evident.

Portrait of Elizabeth I in 1563 by Stephan van Herwijck

The Cholmondeley Sisters from 1600-10

Scenes from Richardson's Pamela by Joseph Highmore in 1743-4

Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1773
Reynolds is one of my favorite artists.

One of the most famous paintings in the Tate:
The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse in 1888

And another of the most famous...
Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais, Bt in 1851-2

We happened to be looking at a painting that was to be the subject of a 15 minute lecture. It was an 18th century depiction of a battle on the isle of Jersey, and the expert who was to give the lecture was just then setting up the chairs. When he noticed us looking at it he got started telling us about its history, so we ended up getting our own private lecture. It was basically a propaganda piece during the Napoleonic wars with France, and as such would have also made the artist some money, because it would have been printed and displayed. The gentleman who was about to lecture looked like my idea of a stereotypical professor: his grey hair a little disheveled, with a suit jacket over a dress shirt and jeans, a silk scarf and glasses.

The painting which was to be the subject of the lecture.
The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781 by John Singleton Copley in 1783

A Country Blacksmith Disputing upon the Price of Iron, and the Price Charged to the Butcher for Shoeing his Poney
by JMW Turner in 1807
We thought this was a somewhat unusual scene for Turner, being a very ordinary scene.

Crossing the Brook by JMW Turner in 1815

Malvern Hall by John Constable in 1809

We had a pleasant lunch in the cafe with a delicious pot of Darjeeling and our own food: Wensleydale cheese, carrots and dip, boiled eggs, cashews and cookies (or biscuits, I should say).

Mom looking cheerful about our tea. :)

Tea always makes us happy. (Which is good, since we
drank a lot of it...)

Next we zipped up to Victoria Station for South Kensington and Exhibition Road. The Natural History Museum looks like it is a giant fossil carved out of a canyon – and I mean giant. Massive! The great hall alone is worth seeing. But it would be worth visiting again to see the rest.

The Victorian marvel that is the Natural History Museum.

The great hall of the Natural History Museum with Dippy the dinosaur.

And a view from the other end.

A fuzzy photo of what appears to be a giant armadillo.

Proof that we were there!

The British rooms at the Victoria & Albert Museum were open today! So we went from 1760 back to 1500. My favorite specimens are of course the clothes. Two other favorites were an invitation to Vauxhall Gardens and the book of Palladian architectural techniques.

Enjoying an 18th century drawing room transported from an actual house.
A typical stance: holding a camera. :) It's also not a bad way to get a picture of oneselves!

A lovely 18th century Robe à l'Anglaise in a textile exhibit.

An 18th century court dress in the same exhibit area.

The 1786 ticket to a jubilee in Vauxhall Gardens.

A rare ladies' jacket from 1620.

Those galleries closed before we were really finished, so we rushed a bit through the 1500s before walking to the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall to make our way through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. That was lovely – and long. It is no small expanse of park! But it made a pretty romantic scene with the light layer of fog swirling around the rows of streetlamps in the twilight of the tree-lined paths.

Walking across the bridge into Hyde Park.

It was rather a contrast from the lights of Knightsbridge and Sloane Street we next encountered as we went in search of Henry Austen's house in Hans Place. We found it at last, and discovered from my very handy book (Walking Jane Austen's London) that Jane herself would have slept on the third floor where a light happened to be on while we were gawking outside. It was the only light on and I could almost imagine her up there, maybe writing a late-night letter to Cassandra, or out walking around the square, rather like we did when we walked around it and turned a corner to find Harrod's.

Number 23 Hans Place, the former home of Jane Austen's brother Henry in 1813.
It has a Victorian façade now.

There's the light, the place where Jane herself would have stayed when visiting Henry.

A window display in Sloane Street. I especially liked the tea theme. :)

We only went because we were there. It is a rather dazzling sight to see, outlined by those white lights against the black night sky, and we did get some spectacular doughnuts that happened to be half price. :) They were greatly enjoyed while we watched 'Sherlock' after our delicious dinner of stir-fried veggies, chicken, rice and tikka sauce.

Our doughnuts from Harrods! A dulche du leche and
a pistacho flavored.

'Sherlock' and dinner!

    

© 2015 Anna Morton

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. :)

Hello London!

There are no foreign lands, it is the traveler only who is foreign.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Getting off of the train at London Blackfriars Station

2015 England Trip Travel Journal Entry

Thursday evening, March 5

Logistics: 

1. Train from London Gatwick Airport to London Blackfriars Station
2. Circle/District Tube line to Victoria
3. Victoria Tube line to Brixton
4. Bus to our final destination, a flat rented on AirBnB

 (1:20 AM) It has been a long day, with some learning curves, a lot of excitement and a lot of hunger. :) But we have at last gone to the store and shall not starve! Thankfully our closest Tube stop has grocery stores galore just feet away, and we found a Sainsbury's Local that was still open after 10:00.

Back on the Underground!

We got to wander around a lit-up Oxford Street (for a rather long time, since I had us start off in the wrong direction...) and saw Selfridge's! The outside looks just like it does in the show! We walked in fifteen minutes before closing and were met with their dazzlingly large cosmetic section. (Kitty would have been thrilled. :))

It's so, so lovely having a flat of "our own" to come back to! I am so thankful! We come in, light the gas hub with a lighter, put the kettle on and settle ourselves on the sofa. (And maybe turn on the TV...) A tribute to the Battle of Britain was on ITV tonight, hosted by Ewan McGregor and his brother [who is in the military]. Our AirBnB host was so sweet and friendly! The sort of lady who calls you "love." :) Anyway, must get some sleep so I can enjoy tomorrow.

Friday, March 6

(5:44 PM) Today was a day of recovering. I tried to get up at 8:30, but we couldn't drag ourselves out until nearly two hours later. We also enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast/lunch. Then I had to take a shower, so it was 3:30 before we left.

The classic Notting Hill

We had a nice walk in the sunshine to Stockwell Station to begin our journey to the Portobello Road Market. The Green Park Tube Station is worth avoiding in the future, as there are many stairs to climb and tunnels to walk down if you choose to switch lines. I would say the same of Baker Street Station, but is has a better-than-average atmosphere, including some retro wood decor (as in 1863 when it opened as the first underground station).

Coffee at Caffe Nero

Most of the vendors were packing up around 5:00 when we arrived, even though the Market officially closes at 7:00. There were still some used or maybe vintage clothes, shoes and accessories, including one stall entirely filled with old military clothes and gear! I'm sure there were some WWII uniforms there.

The street is rather international and Bohemian, with lots of Italian, Mid-eastern and Asian cafes, shops selling incense, and off-beat shops stuck in between. All of this a couple of blocks from the quintessential, definitive Notting Hill streets filled with rows of beautiful white houses. Now we're in Caffe Nero, warming up with a delicious cup of coffee, a croissant and a Belgian chocolate brownie that is so delicious it should be banned. :) We're going to plan our next move before we wander around until we're starving and cold. :)

Trafalgar Square at Night

(9:57 PM) Our planning worked! We had over an hour to spend in the National Gallery. Finally we had the time and opportunity to go in. Of course the outside is fittingly splendid for such an impressive collection, even at night. All of Trafalgar Square and Whitehall have an imposing grandeur that one can't see during the day because in the dark they are lit from underneath and the shadows make them seem more mysterious, filled with secrets and history that have shaped this country for centuries.

The Elizabeth Tower

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square

The Houses of Parliament are the same. Even the small glimpse I now have through the windows of St. Stephen's Tavern shows them to be hauntingly stately.

The splendid National Gallery

Inside the National Gallery

The impressive collection of paintings in the gallery were housed in equally impressive rooms. Some were long and some were small, but all had open, soaring ceilings with intricate white molding and richly colored walls of orange red, mauve and mossy green, and wooden walls and furniture. It was quite classical. I think my favorites were Gainsborough and Constable, but I was also super excited and surprised to see 'The Ambassadors," the Wilton Diptych commissioned by Richard II and the sunflowers by Van Gogh.

Van Gogh's Sunflowers

The Wilton Diptych, 1300s

The Ambassadors, 1500s

Thomas Gainsborough's Mr. and Mrs. William Hallett ('A Morning Walk'), 1700s

The Young Waltonians by John Constable, 1800s

(11:53 PM) It is so pleasant to have a comfortable place to rest in after being out in the cold and blown about by the wind while getting tired feet. I get to put the kettle on, change into PJs and update Facebook as soon as my tea is made.

© 2015 Anna Morton