Rainy Sunday

I cut myself some slack today, opting for a lie in this morning, then doing laundry and tidying up my space. Monday is rubbish day in the borough of Islington, so I brought up my recycling to go out with that from the rest of the house. The weather is still being a pig and I was in no mood to go out in the rain, so I faffed around till a bit after noon before heading out. 

I really had only one destination for today — the Museum of London in Docklands. I would normally have taken the DLR to West India Quay, but there was a partial closure and I was routed via Canary Wharf.

I hadn't been there in ages, so I looked at some of the new buildings.

And walked through Jubilee Park, which sits on top of the tube station. There's a great water feature that forms the spine of the park, and there are lots of benches all around. The park does just what it's supposed to do — it brings the scale of things from that of the surrounding tall buildings back down to human level. It's quiet, away from the traffic noise, and even smells great because of all the fir trees. 

I saw some new (to me) sculpture.

And reached West India Quay. The Museum of London in Docklands is housed in a former sugar warehouse along an old wharf. The permanent exhibitions, which I'd seen, have to do with London's part in the sugar and slave trade as well as the development of the docks. But I was there today to see Secret Rivers, an exhibition about the lost, buried  and/or forgotten rivers that flow into the Thames. 

The exhibition had a number of items found on the foreshore of the Thames and in digging around the other rivers, similar to what I'd seen in the exhibition at the Bargehouse except that these objects were really exceptional. The stuff includes bones, coins, leather shoes, children's toys, an engraved dog collar from the 18th (?) century, axes, daggers, a Medieval three-holer toilet seat, audio of sounds of the rivers, video from down in the sewers and a cope (a cape or cloak) worn by the Bishop of Lambeth at a recent blessing of the Thames that was made by an artist from the detritus of the river. 

I told myself that if it was not raining when I left the museum, I'd take the overground up to Shoreditch to mooch around for the rest of the afternoon. But it was raining, so I executed Plan B, heading back to London Bridge station and a short walk to the White Cube Bermondsey. 

I didn't know anything about the three women artists on exhibition, but I was immediately drawn to the galleries containing the work of Mona Hatoum, a Palestinian artist whose work involves themes of surveillance, incarceration, occupation and globalization. I managed to catch the second half of a video in which she talked about her work and what it meant. I really liked the exhibition and thoroughly enjoyed taking photos of the installations. I love photographing at the White Cube. The walls are white (duh) and the visitors often wear black with pops of colour here and there. It makes for good fun photographing the works and the punters looking at the works. 

Back in Bermondsey Street:

After more dodging of rain, I'm now back in Tufnell Park. Soon, I'll heat up my take-away Ethiopian that I'll have for me suppa. Off to Margate in the morning. 

Stats:
£35.10 for another one-week travel card loaded onto my Oyster
£1.50 cookie
£6 take-away for dinner
15,487 steps
6.6 miles

A Daytrip to Bath

I should be starting this post with a pithy quote from Jane Austen as she spent a lot of time in Bath and it figures in her fiction, but I've never read any of her books. I'm sure she had a lot to say about the social scene, the Georgian architecture and taking the waters at the Pump Room. I'm not as eloquent as she, so you'll just have to settle for my account of my day out on Saturday.

I booked my ticket several weeks ago and got the cheapest day return I could find. It's best to travel to Bath from London at the weekend, as the week day train schedules are more suited to people commuting for work than to daytrippers like me. The 8:30 am train from Paddington got me into Bath at 10 am, just enough time to stop in at the visitors' centre to get a free map of the centre city before the free 10:30 walking tour offered by the mayor's guides. There are three different walks (two free, one for £15) that have assembly points outside the Roman baths and the Abbey — the mayor's guide tour was the one with the massive crowd awaiting the start. I was a bit worried during the introduction as the group was so big and there didn't seem to be any use of amplification or headsets, but it was quickly revealed that there were six guides available and that the throng would be divided. I found myself in a group of about 16 people with an excellent guide called, coincidentally, Austen. He really knew his stuff and told us gobs as he lead us around, first inside the old Roman city walls and then uphill to the newer (1700s) part of the city, for two hours. Although I could have downloaded a self-guided walk or an audio guide, this guided walk turned out to be a great thing to do. I learned so much about the development of Bath, from the pre-Roman settlement, through 400 years of Romans, to some local kings, the Norman conquest, the building of the Abbey around 1500, a bunch of kings called George and the development of the 18th century Georgian city, to the rediscovery of the Roman architecture. 

Along the route, we saw the sites of some of the hot springs that have been used through the centuries for relaxation and healing, locations of various Medieval and Georgian hospitals (to this day, one of Bath's largest industries is health care), lovely Palladian facades facing pretty squares, the King's Circus, the Royal Crescent and the Assembly Rooms. I peeled off from the group at the Assembly Rooms, the penultimate stop on the walk, to eat my packed lunch on a bench and then backtrack to the Royal Crescent to see No. 1 Royal Crescent, a restored, beautifully appointed Georgian home. 

From there, I reversed the walk's route back down the Gravel Walk. On the way up, I'd seen an open door leading into the Georgian Garden and wanted to return for a look around. 

I then zigged and zagged back down hill, passing along Milsom Street with its bow-front shops, a posh commercial street in the 18th century and a bustling place today. I nipped into the Guildhall Market, had a sit down, a tea and a Welsh cake (a bit like a dense currant scone) before taking a look at the Pulteney Bridge with its shops on both sides (like the Rialto Bridge) and the weir on the River Avon. As I looked out at the bridge and at weir, I could hear the sound of a cheering crowd. Turns out that the rugby pitch was just across the river and Bath were playing a home game. 

My next stop was the Roman Baths. It's an expensive ticket, even at concession price, and I wondered how looking at an old swimming pool filled with green water was going to be worth the price of admission. Well, there's a lot more to the site than just that. Underneath the Georgian bath building and the Pump Room lies an entire complex of Roman bathing and worshiping facilities. With audio device in hand, I spent nearly two hours going through the exhibitions and numerous rooms. 

The photo above is of a bloke that they pay to sit around wearing a cloak and pretending to be a Roman. He was periodically approached by a punter who engaged him in conversation. Wonder if he spoke in Latin.

My plan was to go to the Pump Room after to taste the waters, but it seems to have closed sometime when I was roaming around the subterranean ruins. My other plan was to leave an hour for seeing the inside of Bath Abbey. I exited through the gift shop right at 5 pm, having made a mental note that the Abbey was open until 6. Not that day, it seems. They had just closed the doors in order to hold their annual harvest dinner for the congregation. 

And so I spent my final hour mooching around in the waning light. I passed a row of shops selling tourist tat and got a tote bag (with top zip!) for a fiver. It will be perfect to use as an overnight bag for my upcoming trip down to Arundel. By this time, the rugby fans had spilled back into the centre city and were heading into the pubs and restaurants or flocking to the train and coach stations. Time for me to catch the 6:43 train back to Paddington. 

As I write this, it's a gloomy, damp Sunday morning. I had a lie in, did my laundry and am tidying up a bit. Tomorrow it's Margate!

Stats:
$43.71 train ticket (booked online from the US, so charged in dollars)
£4.55 for No. 1 Royal Crescent (half off the concession price with Art Pass)
£4 tea and cake
£18.55 Roman Baths
£5 souvenir tote bag
£2.15 water and olive roll for train journey home
£12 wine and veg from market in Tufnell Park
21,671 steps
9.06 miles

Up the Archway and across the Heath

My friend Jen, who is a professional walking tour guide with Footprints of London, offered to take me on a bespoke version of her Archway and Highgate walk this morning. I met up with her half way up Dartmouth Park Hill; we continued walking upward to the Archway to see where the former gyratory has been converted to a pedestrianized plaza of sorts, called Navigator Square, with a disused pub in the middle that was where the cover for The Kinks album Muswell Hillbillies was photographed. We walked past a derelict Methodist hall, various new office towers, a former almshouse, a Mercers' Maiden (the Mercers owned property in Islington and founded the almshouse), up to — and then up over — Archway Bridge. We visited the Whittington Stone and the statue of Dick Whittington's cat, placed where it's said he heard the bells of St Mary-le-Bow calling him back to London when he and the cat set out to leave town. The bells seemed to say, "Turn again, Whittington, thrice Mayor of London." In fact, he was mayor four times. 

We walked through the incredibly lovely Waterlow Park, dubbed the "garden for the gardenless," and decided to stop at the caff in the park for a cuppa just as the skies opened up. The downpour gave us an opportunity to take a look at an exhibition of local artists' work, which was impressive. The rain soon stopped and we pushed on to explore some housing developments tucked up against Waterlow Park and Highgate Cemetery. Jen showed me were some scenes of The Bodyguard (the recent tv series, not the Whitney Houston movie) were filmed in Highgate New Town. I'm going to have to rewatch the series now. She ended our tour right next to a bus stop where I could get a bus over to Highgate Road and an entrance to Hampstead Heath. 

The weather was still looking fine as I started the uphill climb on the east side of the Heath. I debated whether to go left to Parliament Hill or follow the path to the right that would take me past the ponds and up to Kenwood House. Quickly, clouds rolled in and things began to look iffy again. I decided to go for the Parliament Hill route, hoping it would take me to the Viaduct Bridge, which I'd never seen, and out to Spaniards Road. The heath is a wild place and there are scores of paths that crisscross all over it. My phone was not able to figure out where I was, but that was ok because I had my trusty copy of Michael Middleditch's The London Mapguide with me. It's never let me down and even pointed me to the cute little toilet block/cottage in the woods. 

So there I was, in Spaniards Road just feet from the entrance to the Hill Garden and Pergola, when it began sprinkling again. Undeterred, I walked in the garden as the rain started chucking down. Since the structure I was there to see is a pergola, it wasn't going to offer me much in the way of shelter from the storm. I hightailed it to the cupola (a brolly for the brolly-less) and waited out the rain there, wondering if I should make a dash for the nearest bus stop. I was still mulling over my strategy when the skies cleared and the most beautiful late afternoon light bathed the gardens. (The photos below were taken when it was still raining, but I'll post the brighter ones on my photo site in due time.)

My spirits lifted by the sunshine, I reckoned I could get one more destination in before heading back to my gaff. I hopped a bus to Hampstead station, got the tube to Warren Street, and walked over to Regent's Park to see the Frieze sculpture. I'm no judge of sculpture but I know what I like. I liked the Emily Young. 

You be the judge of the rest. 

I've been trying to take different bus routes to and from my gaff. I hadn't yet taken the 134 to Tufnell Park, so I walked a few blocks east of Regent's Park to where it stopped on Hampstead Road. And I waited. And waited. When it finally arrived, the journey to Tufnell Park was short, but not fast enough to avoid the next onslaught of torrential rain that started just minutes before my stop and ended just minutes after I walked in my door. 

I'm off to Bath tomorrow. Fingers crossed I have some decent weather for my day out. 

Stats:

£3.60 for bread from the local baker

£4.85 for tea and coffee for Jen and me 

26,553 steps

11.2 miles

According to my Fitbit, I climbed 94 flights of stairs today. In reality, that was mostly uphill slogging.

More art, rambles and seeing me mates

I told myself I was going to slow down the pace, do fewer things and give my back a rest. I haven't exactly done a good job of any of that. Here's what I've been up to the past two days. 

Wednesday:

• Out the door at 8:10 am to walk up the Junction Road to take a Pilates mat class. My back did thank me for this.
• Back to me gaff to change clothes, eat, faff around and then out the door again at 11 am to head into town.
• Took the tube to Charring X and popped in to the NPG to see the BP 2019 Portrait Award exhibition. While I'm not all that keen on photographic portraits, and I avoid them like the plaque in my own photography, I do appreciate a good portrait painting. This year's exhibition did not disappoint and I thought the winners were well chosen.
• Walked over the Golden Jubilee Bridge to the Southbank and made my way towards Tate Modern.
• Stopped in Gabriel's Wharf for lunch — a Heidi pie (my favourite pie) from the Pieminister (my favourite pie maker). I even opted to eat in. I hate when people post photos of food they are about to eat, so here's my clean plate after consuming my pie.

• Popped into the Bankside Gallery to look at their print exhibition. They had a number of really nice prints at reasonable prices, but I resisted temptation.
• Pressed on to Tate Modern, taking photos along the way. 

• Saw two exhibitions at Tate Modern: Olafur Eliasson and Takis. Also wandered all over until I found Yinka Shonibare's British Library, which was what I really wanted to see. 
• Between the two big exhibitions, I went to the caff in search of a bottle of water. At first, all I saw was sparkling, not still, for £1.90. I was about to buy a bottle despite not wanting the bubbles when I saw both the tap water dispenser and the pastel de nata for £2.20. I don't have a huge sweet tooth, but I can't resist a pastel de nata (something I've never seen at home). Got one, sat at a table by the window and consumed a lot of the free tap water.
• While in Tate Modern, I saw that Kara Walker has the Hyundai Commission for the Turbine Hall, opening 2 October. We had a big exhibition of her silhouette prints at the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum a couple years ago. Her work is very challenging and really interesting. I could get a bit of a glimpse of what she has in store for the Turbine Hall. I'm going to have to make a point to come back to see it once it opens. 
• Went to the Bargehouse (behind the OXO Tower, nearby to the Tate) to see an exhibition about mudlarking finds from the Thames foreshore. There is an amazing array of stuff on display, including bits from Mesolithic, Roman, Georgian, Victorian and modern times. Many of the items have incredible stories.  
• Had a sit down in Bernie Spain's Garden next to the OXO, messaged my friend Kathy who lives nearby and she walked over to join me for a cuppa and a lovely catch-up before the 7 pm talk back at the Bargehouse — author Ted Sandling talking on London in Fragments, which is also the title of his book. The talk was informative and really good fun. Glad I booked it online weeks ago. 

What a full day! I crashed within an hour of getting back to my gaff.

Thursday:

• Met up with friends Malcolm and Jane at Shepherds Bush tube station for a ramble through Notting Dale to Ladbroke Grove station. Malcolm has lived in and around here his whole life, as did his dad. His grandparents lived here as well, having come to London from other parts of Britain. I'd asked him to show me around his patch, pointing out what's changed, what hasn't, what's come and gone, for better or worse. It was a thoroughly enjoyable time, zigzagging through streets that were for me uncharted territory as well a some familiar ones I'd not seen for several years. Much of it was new for Jane, too. We spent some of our time walking under the Westway in places you can't get to on Google Maps Streetview. This area is a classic example of London progress, going from abject slum (one of the worst Dickens had seen, and I reckon he'd seen a lot), to middle class housing, to decline (with one of the most notorious slumlords of the 20th century controlling much of the property), to the current gentrification. We walked around the base of Grenfell Tower and felt the impact of the tragic loss of life there and the council's woefully inadequate response to it. We ended our ramble with sandwiches at Pret. 
• Took the tube to Hammersmith and walked down to and along the river to 26 Upper Mall, former home of William Morris and now (part of it, at any rate) the home of the William Morris Society. The society maintains its exhibits in the garage and basement of the house. It's rarely open, and this was the first time I'd gotten the timing right. 
• Back on the tube to Kew Gardens to see some of the Chihuly glass installation. The weather was not cooperating at all, with minutes of sunshine alternating with brief torrential downpours throughout the day. I managed to see a lot of glass and to dodge a couple showers. And when the sun shone through the glass, it looked pretty special.

Stats for Wednesday:

£15 Pilates mat class

£5 Heidi pie

£2.20 pastel de nata

£3 wine at mudlarking talk

22,941 steps

9.8 miles

Stats for Thursday:

£3.98 sandwich and beverage for lunch

£6 veg pie for tomorrow's dinner
26,331 steps
11 miles

Art, history, more architecture and seeing me mates

Monday saw me in Westminster, Pimlico and Soho, while Tuesday took me to Bloomsbury and the City. Here's what I did and saw:

I was out the door bright and early on Monday to meet my friend Simon at Westminster Hall. I'd never seen any of the Palace of Westminster and thought the exhibition about the Peterloo Massacre (it's the 200th anniversary) would be a grand way to get into Westminster Hall for free. I'd listened to two very interesting podcasts about Peterloo in preparation and I'm looking forward to seeing the upcoming film. The exhibition, however, wasn't much of anything — four panels, one of which was blocked by a construction barrier. But I did enjoy seeing the inside of the hall, the oldest bits of which date to the 11th century. There's an incredible timber roof, constructed in the 14th century, that spans an enormous space and has some impressive carved angels attached to the beams. 

Simon and I had tea and a catch-up in the caff and then he walked me down to Tate Britain, pointing out various bits of architectural interest along the way. At Tate Britain, I met up with my friend Judy, with whom I always enjoy seeing arty things. We first looked at the installation called The Asset Strippers by Mike Nelson in the Duveen Galleries. We'd seen a previous installation by Nelson at Tate Britain — The Coral Reef, in which he had recreated the rooms of a minicab office in one of the galleries. I confess to not having done any reading on The Asset Strippers, so I wasn't sure what it was all about. What he's done is to purchase various large pieces of industrial machinery at auction and raise them (literally and figuratively) to monumental status on pedestals and plinths. Some of the machines still had dust and cobwebs on them and a couple of the ones used in the textile industry had spools of thread and bits of trim still attached. There were no labels or wall text for any of it, so it's all up to the viewer to interpret it. My take away was that these machines represented British manufacturing industries that no longer exist. Taken off the factory floor and installed in the Duveen Galleries, they do become monuments to a past glory. In addition, each machine takes on sculptural qualities. I could picture any one of them on the fourth plinth (which I'd stopped to see on my way to Westminster Hall). 

After lunch in the members' caff, we saw the Blake exhibition. I'm a bit of a philistine when it comes to Blake, never really having read any of his poetry other than the Tyger poem and Jerusalem. This exhibition, however, was 98% about his art and, again, I hardly knew it. There's an awful lot of religious imagery and I can only do so much of that. I far preferred the paintings and prints with visions and supernatural beings. My greatest appreciation was for his technique, as he pushed printmaking into new realms during his time. Glad I saw it, but the best part of the afternoon was catching up with Judy. 

Skies were looking quite iffy when I exited the museum, but I decided to see if I could fit in one more exhibition in central London before heading back to me gaff in Tufnell Park. I took the tube to Oxford Circus and popped into the Photographers' Gallery, a place I always enjoy. The exhibition there is Urban Impulses: Latin American Photography from 1959 to 2016. It was full of images of things I'd never seen — street scenes, advertising, portraits, intimate moments — from countries I've never been to. Definitely worth seeing.

I decided to take a different route back to Tufnell Park and opted for the number 88 bus, which took me up the east side of Regent's Park and through Camden Town (known territory) before heading up Kentish Town Road (as yet unexplored). The walk back to the house was a bit longer than if I'd taken the 390 as usual, but gave me an opportunity to see a bit more of Fortess Road. Exhausted, I had an early dinner, watched some Netflix and hit the sack. 

The rain was chucking down when I woke up on Tuesday, so I decided to have a lie-in, hand wash some laundry, drink a second cup of tea and head out late for my day's adventures. Also, my back is really hurting and I thought it would be good to go easy. On rainy days, my usual go-to spot is the V&A, but I decided to mix it up a bit and go to the British Museum instead. Again, inspired by a podcast (the BM now has its own podcast in which different curators or members of staff chat about objects in the museum) I knew I wanted to go to room 41 to see the Sutton Hoo burial ship. It did not disappoint, but the museum was full of school groups and I pressed on. 

I was prebooked for a free talk "Revels on the River" that's part of the Totally Thames Festival. The talk was in the Guildhall Library, so I hopped a bus heading east, got a cheap sandwich and ate it in the yard of St Lawrence Jewry, next to the Guildhall. Here's the description: "From Royal pageantry and Frost Fairs to the Tall Ships Festival, the Thames has for centuries been a focus for local and national celebration. In a lavishly illustrated talk, Pete Smith traces the history of these revels on the river." It was a totally entertaining talk and you know how much I love totally free events. Afterwards, I took in Architecture of London, the current exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery, which I really enjoyed. I thought I recognized the location of one of the paintings and, sure enough, it turns out to be just down Brecknock Road from my AirBnB. I'd seen the spot from the 390. 

All day I'd been dodging the rain. For the most part, I was inside when it was chucking down and on the move when it eased up. I couldn't tell from the forecast what the evening had in store, and I was dead tired, so I decided to bail on the free evening walk to see the illuminations of four of the bridges on the Thames. I beat the rush hour, got back to Tufnell Park with plenty of time to walk to Budgen's (a bit further walk but SOOOO much better than the nearby Sainsbury's Local) to load up on more groceries. I used the evening for stretching, fixing dinner and writing this long post for my loyal readers. I think I'll be doing every-other-day posts from here on in. 

Monday stats:
£2.50 Photographers' Gallery (half price with Art Pass)
£2.50 groceries
19,482 steps
8.32 miles

Tuesday stats:
£3.85 for sandwich 
£3.50 for Guildhall Art Gallery
£16.30 groceries and wine
13,135 steps
5.47 miles

Open House Weekend

Loyal readers will know how much I love Open House — the annual September weekend when more than 800 buildings are open to the public across the capital city. Each time I'm in London for Open House, I begin my preparation in the summer when I order the printed guide and pore over it, making index cards for the places I might want to see, sorting them by day and area, putting them in order and noting the transport routes from one to the next. 

Saturday was a glorious day — warm, sunny and blue skies all day. Armed with my camera and index cards, I was out the door a little past 10 a.m. to walk one street over for the first destination. The house at 1 Hugo Road is a Victorian terrace house, originally a two up two down, very similar to the one in which I'm staying, that was renovated throughout in 2017 with a fantastic kitchen extension into the back garden. There was already a queue outside when I arrived. Once inside, we were given access to the garden level and the first floor. They've really done a great job with the small footprint. I could live there happily. In my dreams.

Next destination was five minutes away — the Acland Burghley School, a brutalist Grade II listed building. I got there just after a tour group had set off through the building and another group was waiting in the auditorium for the next tour in 45 minutes. So I pushed on. 

I was headed to the farmers' market on Parliament Hill to pick up fruit, veg and bread. From the school, I zigged and zagged west and north, cutting through a housing estate until, to my delight, I popped out into Little Green Street, a place I knew. Roger and I visited several of the Georgian terrace cottages here during Open House several years. At that time, the street was under threat of nearby construction and the residents were keen to draw attention to this unique little street. It's been saved and is no longer an Open House venue, but it was so nice to see a familiar place. 

The farmers' market was bustling and I was pleased with my haul, which I stashed back at my gaff before hopping on the 390 bus for King's Cross, where I was hoping first to see the Aga Khan Centre, a Muslim cultural center that contains six gardens of the Muslim world. When I arrived, there was quite a queue with signs saying it was an hour long, so I moved along to the Coal Drops Yard. Another disappointment there, as I was too late for one tour and way too early for the next, but I had fun looking around the development. Last time I was there, these buildings were derelict and the gasometers had been removed to make way for the redevelopment. Well, it ain't derelict any more and the gasometers have been reinstalled, although all but one of them have flats built inside them. 

While around Granary Square, I also did the tour of the Coal Office (it had small trees growing out of the roof last time I saw it; now it's cleaned up and occupied by designer types). Next up was the nearby Victorian Waterpoint. Getting there was a bit tricky as I had to wait for two canal boats to go through the lock and then walk the narrow plank on top of the lock arms to the other side of the canal. Well worth the trouble and the somewhat-scary stairs to the top, where the views on this glorious day were grand. 

Opting not to double back to either of the places with the tours I had missed, I forget ahead to 2 Temple Place, a destination always described in superlatives but one that I'd never been able to see. It took no time to get to Holborn on the tube and to walk to the Strand and then into Temple Place. Imagine my surprise to see no queue, just a regular flow of people in and out the door. Let's just say it's pretty opulent and worth seeing. 

When I finished poking around there, I went over to Embankment Gardens for a sit down and a consultation of my Open House app, which informed me that the faux "Roman" bath/cistern two streets over was open for viewing. The bath is 17th century, not Roman, and David Copperfield bathed there, as did Charles Dickens himself, when working nearby in a blacking factory. It's another place that's been on my to-see list for yonks but I've never timed it right until now. 

Hard to believe that I still possessed any energy, but I was on a roll and hustled back to King's Cross for one more venue — Impact Hub King's Cross. Located in an old lead factory (Grade II listed), this collaborative workspace is the second of its kind and now one of over 100 collaborative spaces worldwide. There's a caff/performance space, meeting rooms, flexible office space, etc., for use on a short- or long-term basis. I rolled up for the last tour. What a day!

Dinner at my gaff, wine, sleep (many hours in a comfy bed), shower (hot and strong), and out the door a bit after 9 a.m. on Sunday morning for more of Open House. My first destination was the Golden Lane Estate (Grade I and II* listed) in the City of London near the Barbican. This was some of the first post-war housing built on a heavily bombed, former warehouse area in order to provide much-needed housing to people employed in the City. I had pre-booked for 11 a.m. entry to the roof top of Great Arthur House on the estate. As I was early for that and the first tour of the estate wasn't to be until 11:30, I signed in at Golden Lane and tried to find my way through the Bloody Barbican to see St Giles Cripplegate first. The BB confounds me. I can't figure out how to get in, and then once I'm in, I can't find my way out. I walked all around the perimeter till I found a way to the church from London Wall and Wood Street, only to find a service in session. I was waved off by an old lady, so beat a hasty retreat and groped my way out to Beech Street and back to the Golden Lane Estate. Reaching there just in time, our group went up to the roof terrace where Jen was stewarding. The threatened rain had held off, I brushed off my trepidation about heights, and the views were as great as advertised. 

Needing sustenance and a sit down, I nipped into a Tesco Metro for a deal meal (egg and cress on brown bread and a bottle of water) and into the churchyard of St Bartholomew the Great (you've seen it in Four Weddings and a Funeral) to sit on a bench and eat. As I sat there, the sound of hymns being sung and the smell of incense wafted out of the open door of the church. 

Skies were looking threatening and I forged on to Smithfield where I hoped for a tour of the new Museum of London space in the old General Market. Yes, this was another tour I missed, as they had already filled up. (Wait, was there something on the web about timed entry? I think not.) A nice member of staff did walk me to an entry where I could look into the space and see all the people on the tour with their hardhats. Oh, well. It opens in a few year's time and I'll see it then. 

My next destinations were to be in the East End and I was so happy to find that the best bus for me to take stopped right in back of Postman's Park. I got there as the 100 bus was stopped, waiting for a delay somewhere else on the route to clear, giving me just enough time to nip into Postman's Park, a place I "discovered" on my first trip to London in 1998. Twenty years on, it's still a favourite place. 

From St Botolph without Aldersgate (where Postman's Park is located) to St Botolph without Aldgate to make my way through Petticoat Market to Toynbee Hall and Toynbee Studios where I had timed it just right to do both tours. Whew! These were the highpoint of my 2019 Open House and ticked all the boxes for me: interesting architecture with a mix of old and new, social justice mission and history, community programming, education, arts, nice caff, good toilets. Stellar!

Too late to make it to the Sandy's Row Synagogue, I went to 1 Bishops Square (Foster and Partners, ho hum) for my last stop. It's a nice modern office building, without many wows. Good for those who like that sort of thing. And the skies were cloudy and drizzling when I got to the roof terrace. 

In for the evening now. Tomorrow is another full day. 

Stats for Saturday:
£12 or 13 at the Parliament Hill Farmers' Market
22,355 steps
9.44 miles

Stats for Sunday:
£35.10 for one-week travel card
£1.75 for lunch
£6.55 more groceries at Sainsbury's
22,512 steps
9.33 miles

Arrival Day: Tourist/Pack Mule

It was an odd and somewhat disorienting arrival day, unlike any other I've had in London. The night flight from Hartford is certainly more convenient than flying out of Boston, but the pre-dawn stop in Dublin means about two hours of sleep max in the way over. Dazed and stupid, I stumbled off the plane in Heathrow at about 8 in the morning. For some reason, I kept expecting my Fitbit to reset the time zone on its own, but it didn't and so I walked around all day looking at EST on the watch. (Much, much later I realized that the time setting happens through the app and, as I had no internet connectivity in flight, it couldn't happen. Note to self: Change the time zone via the app before take off next time.) 

On all my past journeys to London, I've gone straight to my accommodation — Roger's flat or my previous AirBnB — but my host in Tufnell Park was not expecting me until 5 pm. So, with my laptop/camera bag on my back and dragging my carryon wheelie bag behind me, I hopped on the Tube and headed into town with a plan to get some errands out of the way, see a few things and try to stay on my feet for the day. The best way to do this, I reckoned, was to stick to known places and avoid having to do too much critical thinking. It's been a full two years since I was last in London, and although so much is familiar that I don't feel the need to pre-rehearse my routes in my head, little things have changed and that knocks me for a loop a bit. I was sure I could change from the PIccadilly to the District line at Earl's Court via a steps-free route, but I took the wrong exit and faced a set of steps rather than the lift and then found myself on the platform, clueless as to which train I was waiting for. Thankfully I wasn't the only confused passenger and there was a nice member of staff who pointed me to the right train for Paddington, where I DID find the exit with the lift, which I knew would bring me up to the concourse level with some food options, a free toilet and a magic money machine.

Next stop was the fruit and veg shop where I was stashing my carryon for the day. I'd booked that through Stasher.com a month ago and chose a spot only four blocks from the station. With a giant leap of faith, I surrendered my bag and set out to get a UK sim card for my stupid phone. There are a couple of phone stores in Queensway and, sticking to the familiar, I went into the one I'd used two years ago. While the clerk was installing the card, I mentioned that my previous experience with getting a EE sim card was a bit frustrating as I discovered a block from the store that the internet didn't work and had to go back for some tweaking of the settings. This time, when the clerk assured me that she had the internet working, I executed another leap of faith, put the phone in my bag and headed to the Lancaster Gate entrance to Hyde Park, near the Italian Gardens.

And there I was, sat on a bench looking at the lovely fountains, when I pulled out my phone thinking I'd post something to Facebook, and discovered — you knew this was coming, didn't you? — that I had no internet connectivity. Bloody hell. I was going to need to go back to Queensway to get it fixed. Couldn't even look up the location of another EE store closer to where I was at the time. I took some snaps of the fountains and headed south to the Serpentine Gallery, where I had some lunch at this year's pavilion and collected my wits. 

Long story short, I got the phone fixed, picked up my bag at the Nisa Local in Craven Road, and headed to the bus stop on Praed Street. But Praed Street is all dug up and buses were on diversion. Made my way to the next stop down the road and hopped the 205 for Euston Station. From there, I walked across the Euston Road to the Wellcome Collection, a welcome sight indeed. Checked my bag in the cloak room (free), spent some time in the library in a comfy chair, looked at some of the exhibitions, used the loo, ate a snack in the caff, and generally started feeling more grounded and less like a tourist or a pack mule. 

The 390 bus took me up York Road towards Tufnell Park and my AirBnB, which is roomy, comfortable and will be a great base for the next two weeks. My friend Jen walked the 15 minutes down the hill from where she lives, met me at my gaff and walked me back to hers for a tasty and filling dinner, washed down with a bit too much wine. Feeling much more like a human being, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I'm out the door now to do Open House — as a temporary Londoner, not a tourist or a pack mule. 

20,792 steps
Expenses (they were many):
3 Euros for tea on the plane (highway robbery!)
£6 to Stasher
55p for water at Paddington
£15 for sim card
£10 to top up my Oyster until I buy a travel card
£5.95 for sandwich at Serpentine Pavilion (more than a Deal Meal, but worth it)
£2.85 for banana bread at the Wellcome Collection caff
£11.20 for groceries and bottle of wine from Sainsbury's Local in Tufnell Park

Travel Tips: London on the Cheap

When I tell people that I'm going to London, the response I often get is "I'd love to go, but it's such an expensive city." Sure, I say, if your travel expectations are for luxury accommodation, West End theatre and lots of tourist attractions, but that doesn't suit my style or my wallet. Over the past 15 years, I've developed a shedload of ways to have as good — or, I'd argue, better and more authentic — London travel experiences on a budget. Here are a few of my tips. 

• Before I even left, I saved myself a bundle through my credit cards. I booked my plane ticket and AirBnB with my travel rewards card (and made the down payment on the crown I need on a tooth I just broke) and got back about $150 in rewards to offset the cost of the travel and accommodation. I had let the reward points accumulate on my other credit card since my trip to Ireland last year and I'll be able to transfer about $200 to my bank account, which I'll use for walking around money in the UK. When I ordered a new raincoat and a few other things I needed for the trip from Amazon, at checkout I saw a banner advert saying I could open an Amazon credit card and immediately get $100 off my purchase. So I did. This is all free money!
• Accommodation: AirBnB or Vrbo have some good values for money, but it helps to start your search early. Forget about zone 1 — look at areas in zone 2 with excellent transport links, preferably a tube station and a couple of convenient bus routes. Two years ago, I stayed a five minute walk from Queen's Park station for $62/night. On my upcoming trip, I'll be spitting distance from the Tufnell Park station with easy access to Camden Town, King's Cross/St Pancras and beyond for $52/night. I look for a room with a private bathroom, wifi, cooking facilities and use of the washing machine. 
• Transport: Once you've settled in and walked to the tube station or bus stop, what's the best way to pay for transport? Whether you're in town for a few days or a few weeks, you need to get an Oyster card, but the type of card and what you load onto it will be different depending on the length of your visit. For less than a week, you're fine with a visitor's Oyster, which can be purchased online and mailed to you before your travel or purchased at Heathrow. If you're staying a week or longer, wait until you're in town and purchase a regular Oyster from any tube station or hundreds of news agents. What's the difference? Visitor cards function only as PAYG, so you need to pay attention to your balance and top it up when you get low. Regular Oysters have the added advantage of enabling you to load travel cards, sold in one week or one month duration, onto them. I load my Oyster with some cash and one-week zone 1-2 travel card(s). The cash will cover journeys into the farther out zones (Heathrow is in zone 6, so I always need some dosh on my card to get to/from the airport because I'm too cheap to take the Heathrow Connect or Express). 
• Food: Dining out in London can be expensive, but food is actually cheap. I rarely eat in restaurants other than to go for an Indian or a pub meal. I scope out the nearest farmers' market, street market, bakery and grocery store options. Tea and a roll or a chunk of tasty bread is all I need in the morning. For lunch, I prefer to bring something with me in my day bag or grab a Tesco Express and Sainsbury's Local meal deal — a sandwich, beverage and crisps for about £3 — and sit on a bench in a park or a churchyard to eat. Cafes are a good alternative — the ones in church crypts often serve healthy and hearty food. I often stop for an afternoon treat at a bakery or caff and then end the day with dinner on the cheap — a veggie pie, soup, salad or something else I can heat up easily at my gaff washed down with a glass or two of wine.
• Free outdoor spaces: London is full of places to walk and explore, including some of the best parks you could imagine, often with an historic home in the park or nearby. Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath is lovely, full of art and free. And the cemeteries are to die for! Highgate Cemetery is the only one of the Magnificent Seven that has an entry fee, but it's quite reasonable. It's often said that London is an amalgamation of many villages, each with its own character. I love spending time rambling around and taking it all in. And it doesn't cost a thing.
• Museums and other attractions: Most of the big-name museums, including the National Gallery, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, the Victoria & Albert, the Museum of London and the Natural History Museum, have free entry. They do, however, charge for special exhibitions and those entry fees have gone up considerably over the past few years. Some of the other museums, including the Royal Academy and the Foundling Museum, do charge entry fees. If you know that you'll be museum hopping all over London (and beyond), while soaking up a lot of art and culture, an Art Pass is a great investment, particularly if they have a three-month "taster" Art Pass on offer for 15 quid. The card gets you in free to hundreds of venues that normally charge and also gives 50% off the cost of special exhibitions. Cards need to be ordered online and sent in the post to UK addresses. I asked my AirBnB host if I could use her postal address for my Art Pass and she was fine with it. NOTE: This is different to the London Pass, which in my estimation is a total ripoff. 
• Events and performances: I've never been to West End theatre, so I can't give advice on how to score cheap tickets to those plays.  Smaller theatres away from the West End, like the Almeida (Islington), Arcola (Dalston), Hampstead (Swiss Cottage) or Kiln (Kilburn), are reasonably priced. The Hampstead has reduced-price tickets on Mondays. There are also scads of cultural events, including performances, talks and walks, that are free. Some of the churches have free noontime music performances or you can sit in on a rehearsal. I'll be in London for two fantastic free events: Open House weekend (over 800 buildings of architectural interest all across the capital city open to the public) and Totally Thames Festival, a month-long celebration of the river with exhibitions, talks and walks. I also like to check out free or reasonably-priced talks at cultural institutions such as the British Library and the Bishopsgate Institute as well as the museums. 
• Promo codes and coupons: I get a bunch of weekly email newsletters from London websites and am always on the lookout for bargains. In the past, I've had coupons for pub meals and attractions. I recently downloaded the app for a new ride-hailing company called Kapten and used a promo code from SkintLondon to put £15 in credit on my account. 
• Views: Why pay £25 to look down on London from the dizzying heights of the Shard when you can get views just as good for free? There are viewing decks on the new extension to Tate Modern and on the One New Change shopping centre in back of St Paul's Cathedral. For something a bit higher up and enclosed, there's the Sky Garden on the Walkie Talkie building (timed entry, book online up to three weeks in advance) and the new garden at 120 Fenchurch Street (no need to book ahead). I've seen great views from Primrose Hill, Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath, Greenwich Park, Richmond Park and several places in south London. On my upcoming trip, I'm looking forward to seeing the view from Dartmouth Park Hill, about a 10 minute walk from my AirBnB.

Two great sources of info about free and cheap things to see and do are the IanVisits website (sign up for his weekly newsletter of listings) and Londonist.

Watch this space for my chronicles of my journey, with scintillating details of where I went, what I saw and how much I spent. If you know of other tips, please pop them in the comments below.