Fifth Week +2: The recap & wind down

 As I come to the end of my London stay, I've been experiencing alternating waves of nostalgia about my home-from-home and pangs of homesickness for my Northampton. It's been a week of lasts -- last walk to the Parliament Hill Farmers' Market, last dash to Haverstock Hill to catch the tube, last loaf of rye bread with raisins and walnuts from Panzer's in St John's Wood, last pastel de nata, last meetups with friends. There are so many things that I'll miss about London, but I'm feeling a bit jaded and could do without the traffic and congestion, the crowded tubes (especially when there are unmasked people coughing away for their whole journey), unruly school groups in various cultural institutions, babies pushed in prams/chairs the size of Smart Cars, and tourists who stop in the entry to tube platforms without going left or right. But I try not to dwell on these things, rather to look back on all the fab stuff I've done here. And week five was no exception. 

Arts and culture recap:

• Fashion City exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands. This exhibition focuses on the rich history of the Jewish community in clothing design, manufacture and retail in London. It's so much more than just fashion, however, taking in immigration, education, social and economic history. The exhibition is arranged somewhat like shops, starting in the East End and then leading -- through a fake tube station tunnel -- to the West End. Even though I recognize only some of the fashion labels, I loved looking a the clothing and reading about the people involved. Many of the other people viewing the exhibits were Londoners in their 70s and 80s, and it was fun to catch snippets of their conversations as they reminisced about what they wore and people they knew. I spent a good two hours there and probably could have done more but my back wasn't having it. 

• A brief stop back at the Guildhall Art Gallery to see the Grayson Perry print 'Animal Spirit' that I'd missed when I was there previously. (Thanks to Jen for letting me know about this.) I also looked around at some of the permanent collection. 

• White Cube Bermondsey with my friend Judy to see large-scale paintings by Julie Mehretu, who is new to me. At first glance, the paintings -- particularly the dark ones -- looked very similar to each other. But the longer I looked at them, the more I saw. Different paints came forward or receded, revealing forms -- a hand here, a torso there. With no wall text to inform me, I had a hard time figuring out which paintings were in response to the war in Ukraine or the events of January 6 in Washington, DC, but I definitely sensed action and violence in several of them. 

• Judy and I continued on to the Fashion and Textile Museum to see Fabric of Democracy, an exhibition about how messages, codes, propaganda and slogans have been incorporated into fabric in aid of various causes. The exhibition is a bit disorganized, with something about the French Revolution next to World War II silk maps, and some exhibits worked much better than others. I enjoyed seeing all the scarves printed by Jacqmar of London in the 1940s with designs and slogans telling people that "you never know who's listening" or to Save for Victory.

• I took a day trip to the seaside town of Eastbourne, where this year's Turner Prize finalists are on display at Towner Eastbourne. The weather was crap for the train ride south, and it was drizzling a bit for the first hour I was in Eastbourne, but then the sun came out and, though windy, it was warm and pleasant enough to take a long walk along the shingle beach before going to the Towner. The exhibition began with videos about each of the four finalists in which they spoke about their creative process and showed more of the body of work that got them nominated. The videos were very informative, especially as the exhibition space is fairly limited and only a small selection of each artist's work is on display in their gallery. With a wide variety of works to look at, I liked some better than others and really couldn't say who I thought should win the prize (it will be announced on 5 December). 

• Friday was full of art in the East End, starting with Christo: Early Works, a pre-sale exhibition hosted by Gagosian, held inside 4 Princelet Street in Spitalfields. I met my friends David, Janie and Jane there, primarily to see the interior of this 18th century Huguenot silk weaver's house, and it was fun to take photos and mooch around, looking at the woodwork, windows and doors, bathtub and toilet. I had no prior expectations about the actual art works and must admit that I did like several of them. My burner phone's camera couldn't handle the low light, but you can see Christo's works in situ in the link above.

• The nearby, newly opened Gilbert & George Centre, where their exhibition Paradisical Pictures. In typical G&G style, these huge photo montages are colourful, comical and intriguing. The theme of this series is vegetation -- outsized and lurid -- with G&G peering out from amidst the leaves and tendrils. The purpose-built gallery is lovely and the perfect space for their work. 

• Continuing on down Brick Lane (after a lunch of Indian food at Meraz in Hanbury Street), we next stopped at the Whitechapel Gallery. The others peeled off and I stayed to see the exhibition Nicole Eisenman: What Happened. An extensive retrospective of this American artist's work across three decades, the exhibition of drawings, paintings and sculpture is arranged chronologically around themes of the NYC lesbian scene in the 1990s, introspection and self, art class, screen time, making with muck, and the rise of right-wing politics. While I didn't much like the early, cartoony and rather gross drawings, my appreciation increased as the exhibition progressed. The sculptures -- large heads, an artist at a revolving potter's wheel -- were fun. 

• Three more very brief stops at galleries in Whitechapel. I first saw photos from the Brady Photographic Archive of the Brady Girls' Clubs (community-based clubs for local girls) in the Atrium Gallery at London Metropolitan University. Next, Kevin Brisco Jr's exhibition But I Hear There Are New Suns at the Union Pacific gallery. This Louisiana-based painter's impressive works incorporate two plants -- sugar cane and four o'clock flower -- with connections to the transatlantic slave trade. Finally, a very brief look at a group exhibition called The last train after the last train at Public Gallery. Maybe I was just knackered, but this exhibition didn't float my boat. 
• On Saturday, I darted around trying unsuccessfully to avoid the rain, and saw two photography exhibitions. First up, Stepping Stones: Three Photographic Journeys at Large Glass on the Caledonian Road. I liked this exhibition very much, particularly the 'Coast to Coast' photos by Gerry Johansson, taken with a large-format (8x10) camera. Next to the Estorick Collection in Canonbury Square to see an exhibition by the Italian photographer Lisetta Carmi. The exhibition is divided into two sections -- industry (the docks of Genoa, steel works and cork factory) and groundbreaking photos of the trans community. There was a video running in a loop of an interview with Carmi in which she talks about working as a woman photographer in post-war Italy.

• And squeezing one last exhibition in, I saw Capturing the Moment at Tate Modern on Monday. This one is about the influence of photography on painting, painting on photography, and the melding of the two. The works (most of which I'd never seen before) were intriguing, the wall text was thought-provoking, and the galleries were blissfully free of children even though it's half-term and much of the museum was heaving with them.

A wee bit of history this past week:

• Tour of Oxford House, an East End settlement house founded in 1884 by Keble College, Oxford University as a place for students to live and work among the Bethnal Green community.
• A walk around De Beauvoir Town with my friend Lesley. I knew nothing of this small area tucked between Islington and Haggerston. I learned about the history, from the original manor house through Victorian housing development to what we see today. Lesley will have a version of this walk on offer soon and I highly recommend it. 
• A talk at the Primrose Hill Community Association on early travelers to the Gobi Desert. 
• When the rain departed and the sun returned, I did a guided tour of Brompton Cemetery (one of the Magnificent Seven). I do love a cemetery and I hadn't been to Brompton in yonks, so this fit the bill for a Sunday afternoon. Tours are offered by the Friends of Brompton Cemetery nearly every Sunday for only a tenner. 

• And a final guided walk around Hampstead Garden Suburb in Golders Green with Marilyn Greene. I did her excellent walk on modernist architecture in Hampstead last year and had been wanting to do the Hampstead Garden Suburb walk for ages. 

Now I'm on to organizing, packing and tidying up in preparation for my departure on Wednesday. As always, it's been a marvelous visit and I'm so very grateful to my friends who joined me for art and adventure and to my lovely AirBnB hosts who made me feel so welcomed and comfortable. Despite my grumpiness at the start of this post, I do love London and truly believe that a big part of me belongs here. Until next year, when I'll see you again underneath the arches. 

The stats:

Monday:

£6 Museum of London Docklands

£2.80 brownie

£5 EE package

15,427 steps

6.29 miles

Tuesday:

£1.25 pastel de nata

£7.50 Oxford House tour

£3 glass of wine at PHCA talk

20,251 steps

8.36 miles

Wednesday:

£5.75 Fashion and Textile Museum

£6.50 bread from Panzer's

11,381 steps

4.94 miles

Thursday:

£20 train to Eastbourne

£2 scone

£6 glass of wine at Towner Eastbourne

£1.10 packet of crisps

£11.70 groceries

20,731 steps

8.63 miles

Friday:

£10 lunch at Meraz 

£6 Whitechapel Gallery

£8.69 wine and veg

£30 top up Oyster card

14,410 steps

5.95 miles

Saturday:

£7.50 farmers' market

£3.75 Estorick Collection

16,239 steps

6.75 miles

Sunday:

£1.72 ibuprofen & Hall's from Boots

£10 Brompton Cemetery tour

19,909 steps

8.23 miles

Monday:

£9.50 Tate Modern

£2.10 pastel de nata

13,818 steps

5.62 miles

Tuesday:

£10 Hampstead Garden Suburb walk

£1 pain au raisin 

£12.95 fish & chips

21,199 steps

8.76 miles

Fourth Week: Living Like a Londoner

It's been a week of doing small things -- the sort of things that generally wouldn't be prioritized by a tourist in London for a short visit -- and of catching up with friends. I'm in a real routine now, planning ahead a day or two at a time (but for things I need to pre-book), depending on the weather, my mood and interests. There's been time for doing the shopping and laundry, as well as walks here and there. It's sometimes hard to remember my old routine back in Massachusetts as I've totally taken to life here, but I know I'll soon start missing home and be ready to head back.

Before I tell you about my Week Four activities, I thought I'd answer some questions I'd received about the gear I'm using on this trip. My most significant piece of new gear is a Peak Design Everyday Sling 3L, which I'm carrying instead of the Eagle Creek cross body field bag I'd been using for years. When I travel, I've always had trouble with lower back pain, particularly when doing a lot of stop-and-start walking and leaning in to read something. Museum and gallery visits really aggravated this. My thinking (and my chiropractor agreed) is that, given my scoliosis and lower back issues, it would be better for me to carry a bag that located the weight more over my core than on one hip like the field bag did. So a sling bag, though not the most stylish thing in the world, seemed a better option. I was wary of this bag at first as it's smaller than my field bag and has less internal organization, but I'm coming to love it and my back is thanking me for it. The small size is forcing me to be more judicious about what I tote around with me every day, but I can get the essentials into this sling. It's extremely well padded and utterly waterproof (including the amazing zippers), and has a customizable internal divider. My camera fits perfectly inside and I don't have to put it in a case, so I can pull it out very easily. 

In addition, I bought a Bellroy City Pouch for carrying the bare minimum of things I need when I go out at night or run down to the shops -- phone, keys, Oyster card, wallet. Again, it's made with waterproof material and zippers, which is a necessity in such a rainy climate. Whichever bag I carry, I always pop my Nanobag inside. It's a fantastic ultra light, extremely strong, sustainable and reusable shopping bag with 19L capacity. Nanobags come in a variety of patterns and colours -- mine is a cheery floral print that looks fab with my coat. Lastly, I always attach a HeroClip Mini to my bag -- it weighs next to nothing and comes in handy for attaching things, hanging my bag from a toilet stall door if there's no hook, or securing my bag to a chair in a restaurant. 

Now to the week's activities:

In the arts and culture category, the following:

• Mondays are a bit tricky to plan for, as many galleries and museums are closed, but the V&A is always open and so I spent several hours there. First, I saw the Prix Pictet 2023 finalists exhibition. This is an annual prize for photography and sustainability, and this year's theme is Human. Each of the dozen semifinalists from around the world had 8-10 absolutely stunning photos on display showing their unique take on the theme. I then wandered around in the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries (European art and culture from 300-1600). I don't know much about those centuries, but I enjoy and marvel at the skilled artisanship that went into crafting the beautiful objects. And the MedRen Galleries are usually quiet, not crowded, and nearly child-free. Lastly, I looked at the displays in the recently reopened Photography Centre, where I saw Energy: Sparks from the Collection and Between Two Worlds: Vanley Burke and Francis Williams. Oh, and I took a quick spin through the Cast Courts and stumbled upon the Leighton Frescoes while trying to find the loo.

• Not wanting to spend any more time indoors, missing out on what was a drop-dead gorgeous autumn day, I headed up to Kensington Gardens to see this year's Serpentine Pavilion where, as is my annual custom, I ate my packed lunch. This pavilion is designed by a woman and is much more airy and light than last year's black hole, though it does look a bit like it was constructed from Ikea flat packs. After my late lunch, I took a leisurely stroll along the Serpentine Lido and Rotten Row, finishing up with an overpriced gelato before getting back on the tube at South Kensington.

• South London Gallery with my friends Barbara and Simon to see Lagos, Peckham, Repeat: Pilgrimage to the Lakes, a group exhibition looking at the connection between Lagos, Nigeria and Peckham (southeast London), which is home to a very large Nigerian community. The three of us then went to a local caff for beverages and a natter. 

• Tate Modern for El Anatsui's installation in the Turbine Hall (huge! amazing!) made of flattened metal liquor bottle caps and the exhibition A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography. The photography exhibition is organized around the themes of identity and tradition, counter histories, and imagined futures. Within each category are a range of subjects and techniques -- the pieces being large, colourful and like nothing I'd ever seen in a gallery or museum before. By a very happy coincidence, my friend Kathy was at Tate Modern that same afternoon to see a different exhibition, so we seized the opportunity and spent a lovely hour catching up over tea on the terrace. 

• Another look at (smaller) pieces by El Anatsui at the October Gallery in Bloomsbury. As much as I was awestruck by his gigantic pieces in the Turbine Hall, I found these smaller pieces much more intimate and accessible. Both are well worth seeing. 

• Espacio Gallery in Bethnal Green to attend the opening reception for my friend Jen's photo exhibition. She's a member of the Royal Photographic Society and this was the London Regional Projects Exhibition, a group show of about 50 or so members, each displaying one panel. Photos were organized around three themes: the Magnificent 7 + 1 cemeteries, independent traders and the coronation. Jen had a panel of great photos of graves in Highgate Cemetery. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the panels and meeting several of Jen's photographer friends. I came away inspired and with a couple of ideas to pass along to my photo group at home. 
• Lisson Gallery's exhibition by Ryan Gander called PUNTO! Very different to anything else I'd seen thus far. Watch the short video in the link. 

• Centre for British Photography, a new gallery in Jermyn Street that opened in January of this year, had five different exhibitions going all at the same time. I went with my friends Jane and Malcolm, and all of us found things to enjoy in the photography. My personal favourite (and perhaps that of my mates as well) was Daniel Meadows: Free Photographic Omnibus, 50th Anniversary, a retrospective celebration of the photos Meadows had taken when he traveled around England in a bus that he had converted to his home and darkroom. The other exhibitions were Charlie Phillips: How Great Thou Art, 50 Years of African Caribbean Funerals in London, Dorothy Bohm: London Street Markets (photos taken in the 60s and 70s), Grace Lau: Portraits in a Chinese Studio (she has recreated a photography studio with a bunch of "fake props" -- her term; we talked to her -- and people book to have her take their photos, a selection of which she has displayed on the walls in what was my second favourite exhibition), and Arpita Shah: Modern Muse. The space occupied by the gallery (half of what was/is the Dunhill shop, a fab 50s modernist building) is far roomier than what the Photographers' Gallery has, making for a much more pleasant viewing experience. I'll definitely be going back in future years. 
• Auction preview at Christie's. After seeing the above photo exhibitions, we popped into Christie's to have a butcher's at what was coming up for sale, which was Modern British and Irish Art. They had some lovely pieces, several of which we each thought would look dandy in our homes. A live auction was going on at the time in an adjoining room and it was fun to peek in at that.

A couple of things in the history department:

• Revisited the Charles Dickens House to learn all about the fog that used to plague London. I love this little museum, and it's free with my Art Pass so always worth popping in.

• Went to a talk about women incarcerated in Holloway Prison, held at the Primrose Hill Community Association as part of their Wednesday Open House series.

• A guided walk about the navvies (the navigator engineers who did the grueling manual labour to dug the canals and lay the railroads) in Primrose Hill and Camden Town, arranged through the Primrose Hill Community Association.

Two day trips out of London:

• Bexhill-on-Sea and St Leonards-on-Sea. My friends David and Janie, who have generously treated me to some fine days out of London, took me down to the East Sussex seaside on what turned out to be a grey and blustery day. We first visited the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, an art deco building on the seafront that houses exhibition and performance spaces, a gift shop and a vinyl record stall (who knew there was such a thing?), and a restaurant. We looked at the art installations, had a yummy fish and chips lunch in the restaurant, and were buffeted by the wind as we walked along the shingle beach, with David and me both trying to get some photo ops. Back in the car, we drove a wee bit east to St Leonards, arriving to less wind and more pleasant conditions for a wander along the beach and through the streets of the town. Bexhill seems a bit tired, while St Leonards feels like a more vibrant, arty/funky place, perhaps one for a return visit.

• Canterbury -- I seized the opportunity for a sunny day without rain (though very cold!) to take the train to Canterbury so I could tick off another cathedral city. When I first arrived on the train, as it was too early for the 12:30 pm Sunday opening of the cathedral, I walked along some of the old city wall, with its battlements and a very high mound, and through Dane John Gardens. Mooching my way toward the city centre, feeling a bit peckish after my train journey and lured by the display of baked goods in the window, I stopped at the Tiny Tim Tearoom and bought what has to be the best scone I've ever had in my life. Called a "Plump Pilgrim," it's full of citrus bits and topped with a big dried cherry. At the cathedral, I shelled out the 17 quid entry fee and made sure that I saw every bit of it that I could, including the spot where Thomas Becket was murdered and his memorial. I spent a lot of time looking around in the crypt, which has a chapel with medieval paintings on the walls and columns with all kinds of creatures carved on the capitals. At the spot in the crypt where they believe Thomas Becket was killed hangs a sculpture by Antony Gormley, the outline of a body made entirely of nails pulled out during a renovation of the cathedral. I had seen some signs saying that there was no photography allowed in the crypt -- owing, I think, to the fact that it's a spot of ongoing prayer -- but none in the section with the nail sculpture. I had just pulled out my camera and taken a snap of it when a teller-offer appeared at my shoulder to remind me that photography was not allowed. So, no phone photo of it for the blog. Sorry. Other than the cathedral, there's really not much to do in Canterbury. The streets were rammed with people, I reckon a mixture of tourists and locals, and there was a food and crafts market in one of the pedestrianized streets. I looked for someplace that would show me the history of the pilgrims and pilgrimages to Canterbury, but didn't find anywhere. What I did see were a lot of Ye Olde Half-Timbered Cottage Lane Shoppe kind of places -- charming at first, but too much after a while. Five hours was more than enough for my visit. 

And finally, more theatre, this week the play Octopolis (again at the nearby Hampstead Theatre) starring Jemma Redgrave. This performance is in the wee black box space downstairs, holding probably about 80 people. It's a two-hander and full of emotional stuff, interpersonal relations and conflict, grief, etc. -- it often flew at me too quickly to process, but the performances were commendable with the dense -- and sometimes funny -- material. 

After so many warm and sunny days, it's suddenly turned cold. Last year, I stayed into mid-November and it wasn't as cold as it is here now. A week or so ago, I had stopped into the Mind charity shop in Haverstock Hill again, just to see if they had any warm jumpers in case I might need one, and saw an olive green, light weight puffer jacket for 12 quid that I thought might fit the bill if we had a cold snap. When I woke up Saturday morning and found that the temps had plummeted, I got a wiggle on and went back to the shop. The puffer jacket was still there and now it's mine. The weather this coming week will be back to seasonal temps, but there's rain coming. And so it goes on this damp island.

Stats:

Monday:

£4.75 gelato

£2.80 loaf of bread

19,332 steps

7.87 miles

Tuesday:

£3.80 sandwich

£8 bottle of wine

£8 Tate Modern exhibition

21,013 steps

8.58 miles

Wednesday:

£2.05 Forgotten Ends sushi cup

£1.80 pastel de nata

£12.80 groceries

19,906 steps

8.13 miles

Thursday:

£15 Hampstead Theatre ticket (OAP matinee price)

£11 groceries

15,630 steps

6.39 miles

Friday:

(No expenses -- I was treated to the daytrip to East Sussex!)

17,221 steps

7.1 miles

Saturday:

£ 4.80 farmers' market

£12 puffer jacket at charity shop

£6.75 pint of Guinness

£8.85 ginger nuts and bottle of wine

85p more throat lozenges 

19,301 steps

7.97 miles

Sunday:

£29 return train ticket for Canterbury

£17 Cathedral ticket

£2.45 scone

£3 glass of wine

22,926 steps

9.34 miles