Exploring

Thursday was my day to explore Stepney and Mile End. On each visit to London, I choose at least one area I don't know, do my reading and research before coming, and set out with map and camera to explore. I used a walk in Stephen Millar's series London's Hidden Walks for my guide. (I have all three volumes of the series and think the walks are great.) This walk starts at Whitechapel station and ends at Bow Church, but I knew I wouldn't do it all.

Along the way, I passed former breweries, hospitals, social housing, a workhouse, two Jewish cemeteries and various institutions of education and culture. Through the buildings and the geography, I saw the history of immigration to this part of the East End, as well as poverty and wealth, alcohol and temperance, work and home, life and death. One of my favourite stops was Stepney Green, with a lovely garden in the middle. Around the green are Georgian houses, two Victorian social housing blocks, some more recent social housing, the Stepney Jewish School and a sweet little memorial clock tower. Just a few meters from the busy, noisy Mile End Road. it's a green oasis of quiet.

I made it as far as the Green Bridge when I knew it was time to start making my way back to Spitalfields to meet Molly at 1:30, so I hopped the tube from Mile End to Whitechapel and worked my way northwest towards Hanbury and Pedley streets, passing Spitalfields City Farm as I walked along. My destination was the Nomadic Community Gardens in the derelict goods yard to the east of Shoreditch High Street station. With so much development going on in Shoreditch, mostly unaffordable residential tower blocks, my fear is always that I'll return to the East End one year to find a monstrosity on this site. Happily, for now, the local community has taken the land for gardening and other community use. I had a sit down at the Roving Cafe and ate tuna mayo on a bagel, then rushed to Bishop's Square to meet Molly under the white goat (only five minutes late).

I'd promised Molly we'd look at streetart around Brick Lane, but first we popped into the Bishopsgate Institute to use the loo and look at the library. After that, we zigzagged around for a couple hours, then had tea and a sit down at the Albion Cafe in Red Church Street. No time to walk round the Boundary Estate, but we did go over to Village Underground to see the latest streetart piece by Ben Eine, which is in tribute to the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Our final destination was the Walkietalkie, where I had booked us tickets for Sky Garden. We took in the view, had a drink and watched rain clouds move in from North London.

Stats:
£1.60 for cookies
£4 for lunch
£2.75 for tea
£3.20 for dinner (Sainsbury and M&S)
6 quid for a bottle of wine

30275 steps
13.33 miles

The Euston Road

Either the distance between points has gotten greater or I'm just not as speedy as I once was. Yesterday had me rushing from place to place in order to work everything in, but I managed to do it. Today's plan is probably overly ambitious given my slower mph, and I want to get an early start for my long walk on the Mile End Road, so this post will be brief.

Here's what I saw and did on Wednesday:

• Got to the Design Museum right when it opened. Saw two exhibitions -- Breathing Colour and California -- and took a quick look through the permanent collection. Also got a good look at the building, the former Commonwealth Institute, which is an amazing work of design.
• On to the V&A to see the Plywood exhibition and to look at the new entrance in Exhibition Road.
• Up to Regent's Park for the Frieze sculpture. Had to take shelter in the station to wait out a torrential downpour, then ducked under trees in the park as the sky changed from bright blue to stormy grey every five minutes. (Notice I have more to say about the weather than about the sculpture.)
• Met Molly and started our walk down the Euston Road. She likes Antony Gormley, so I promised I'd show her his four pieces along with the other public art I knew of between Regent's Park and King's Cross.
• Stopped in at the Wellcome Collection, one of my London favourite places, to see objects contributed by the public to represent their personal relationship with nature.
• Stopped at Platform 9 3/4 so Molly could get a snap of the punters getting their own snaps.
• Didn't make it up to Granary Square for a look around, but pointed out some of the refurbs and new development. I hadn't seen the buildings in the gasometers. Glad to see the beloved gasometers back in place, but not impressed with the look of the buildings. 
• Hopped the tube for the Barbican and walked to the Museum of London to hear the Gresham Lecture about the Thames by the bloke who used to be head of English Heritage. He told the history of the river through art, from the sixteenth century. Very interesting up to the end, when he covered the whole of the twentieth century with, "After the war, the Pool of London closed." No 20th century images. If he couldn't find a modern piece of art, I would have closed with a photo of the cranes lowering as Churchill's funeral barge passed, but I wasn't consulted.
• Back to Queen's Park for a pub meal at the Alice House.

Stats:

9 pounds for Design Museum exhibitions (50% off with Art Pass)

4 pounds 25 for quick lunch at EAT.

20 quid for dinner

23707 steps

10.17 miles

Art, Art and More Art

Tuesday was my day to be arty in central London. I arrived right on time to meet Judy at the Photographer's Gallery to see a large (all three floors of gallery space in the building) exhibition of large-format photos by Gregory Crewdson, called Cathedral of the Pines. The photos were all taken in Becket, Massachusetts, a town of about 2000 people in the Berkshires. Like all his work, these photos were highly staged, with great attention to detail, lighting and how people were posed. His aim was to depict intimate views of the working class residents of the town, in homes or in the landscape, and primarily in emotional and/or physical isolation. I had been looking forward to this exhibition and wanted to like it, but my overall impression was "meh." Less would have been more in this case.

We next moved on to two gallery shows, one recommended by a friend and one I had found on the ArtRabbit app. The recommended one was called Playground Structure and was at the Blain Southern Gallery in Hanover Square. A group exhibition of abstracts, all the pieces were in reference to or conversation with a large photo of a kiddies' climbing structure that formed various grids, lines and angles. Judy and I both enjoyed this show a lot.

Following the ArtRabbit app,  we wove our way around hoardings and heavy construction equipment to the nearby Ronchini Gallery to see work by Samantha Bittman, who combines weaving and painting to make vivid (and a bit eye-hurty) abstracts. Her technique is to first weave her pieces, I think in a jacguard pattern but I really don't know much about weaving, and then painting over some of the individual threads. I'm looking forward to showing photos to my friend Kay, a master weaver, who I'm sure will be able to explain it to me.

Zigging and zagging through Soho and Covent Garden, Judy delivered me at Somerset House, where I learned that the tour of the crypt was cancelled because the guide was ill. I tried to do the tour a few years back, but then too it was cancelled, that time due to flooding. So, we had a leisurely lunch that fueled me for my solo wanderings in the afternoon.

My Art Pass got me in free to the Courtauld Gallery, where I saw a small exhibition by the Bloomsbury Group and then meandered through much of the permanent collection.

Now in need of another sit down, I made my way to the Coliseum to meet Barbara for tea and a catch-up, which was lovely as always.

I had just enough time afterwards to pop into the NPG to see this year's BT Portrait Award exhibition and a very small exhibition of photos by the Douglas brothers before heading back to Queen's Park for a 7 pm Pilates mat class.

Back in my Airbnb, I heated up the mini quiche I bought Sunday at the farmers' market, then slept like a log.

Stats:
All the art was totally FREE
17 pounds for Pilates

24180 steps
10.52 miles

Camden Town, Highgate and Belsize Park

Monday was spent revisiting some old familiar places, while ticking off two more things I'd been meaning to do for a while. I arrived in Camden Town at 10 am, but needed to make a stop on my way to the Jewish Museum. My travel power strip/USB charger thing was acting up -- power kept going on and off, and it was feeling hot -- so I stopped at an electronics shop in Parkway, where I spent more than I wanted in order to charge my devices without burning down the flat.

I'm really interested in the history of the Jews in London, so had been meaning to go to the Jewish Museum. The special exhibition on Amy Winehouse, plus free entry on my Art Pass, moved it to the top of this year's list. The Amy exhibition, put together by her brother, centered on her childhood and teen years as well as her family history. It was fun (and sad) to see all the photos of her as a vibrant, healthy kid -- a nice Jewish girl from North London. The permanent exhibition was great, particularly the objects that people brought with them when they immigrated to Britain.

It was warm and sunny as I mooched around Camden Town, taking in Gloucester Crescent (where Alan Bennett had lived) and walked though Camden Lock Market and Stables Market for the first time in 10 years. It's crowded, expensive and overwhelming.

A quick tube ride got me to Archway, where I looked around in confusion among the multitude of bus stops before finding where to catch the 143 bus to Bisham Gardens. There, a short walk took me down the hill to the entrance to Highgate Cemetery where I met up with David to do the West Cemetery tour. I'd been to Highgate before, but only to the East Cemetery. Our guide was fantastic and I learned a lot about Victorian funereal motifs and about some of the people buried there. Just as the tour ended, the rain came pouring down, but we did manage to pop over to the East Cemetery to see Karl Marx, Elgar and a few other notable dead folks.

I then rode the C11 from Swain's Lane to Belsize Park, where I took refuge in a caff to wait out the rain. When it stopped, I meandered through some familiar streets and slowly made my way to the Finchley Road, where I had sushi for me suppa at the Udon Cafe. It was tasty and cheap.

Last thing on my itinerary was theatre -- a new play called Prism at the Hampstead Theatre in Swiss Cottage. It's about Jack Cardiff, a British cinematographer, who has dementia. Though I struggled a couple times to stay awake (due to my exhaustion, not because the play was dull) I thought it was witty, touching and well-acted.

The 187 took me back to Queen's Park, where I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow.

Stats:
33 pounds for 7 day zones 1-2 travel card
15 pounds for power adapter
Jewish Museum FREE with Art Pass
12 pounds Highgate Cemetery Tour
27 pounds for theatre ticket (Monday tix are the cheapest)
3 pounds 55 for falafel wrap at Cafe Nero
2 pounds 50 for tea at Gail's
5 pounds 80 for sushi for diner

26473 steps
10.93 miles

Don't Trust the Weather

I should know that by now, shouldn't I? I've always had such great weather in London in Septembers past, but it's let me down yesterday and today. Both days started out clear, bright and sunny, and both ended grey, wet and cold. Personally, l'd rather have the opposite and that's my hope for tomorrow. Whinge over.

During the bright and sunny part of today, I walked through Queen's Park (the actual park) before going to the farmers' market at the Salusbury Road Primary School. The park is a little green gem, with places for walking, running, doing some kind of fitness training, learning about trees, playing football, etc. There's a caff and a bandstand as well. I so envy the people who live close by. (There's also a Victorian cemetery near by, which makes this a prime location in my estimation.) My only complaint is that the squirrels and the kiddies got all the good conkers before I arrived.

At the market, I stocked up on all my favourites: goat cheese and veg pie, walnut and raisin bread, olive bread sticks. Also picked up a small roast veg quiche, tomatoes and a cucumber. I'm set for the next few days.

Then the adventures commenced. I got to tick off two places that had been on my list for yonks: Dulwich Picture Gallery and Eltham Palace. Thanks to Janie and David, and with mutual friend Judy, we got to see both (which probably wouldn't have been doable on public transport) AND we had a scrumptious lunch at an Italian family restaurant in leafy, lovely Dulwich.

The Picture Gallery is the first purpose-built public art gallery in the world. The building, designed by Sir John Soane, contains the tombs of its two founders in a small mausoleum smack in the middle. A bit creepy, but a good way to ensure they aren't forgotten. We did a quick look round the permanent collection of masterpieces by old masters.

Eltham Palace, once owned or visited by kings and queens since the middle ages, was a bit of a wreck when acquired by the Courtaulds in the 1920s. They restored the Tudor great hall, where Henry VIII had wined and dined, and they built their own home adjoining the hall. I'm not sure what to call the style of the exterior, as it's neither faux Tudor nor contemporary. Where they really expressed their style was with the Art Deco interiors, full of fantastic woodwork and all the mod cons of the 1930s. Built at a time when most Brits lacked indoor toilets, this was truly a Palace of Plumbing. During the Courtaulds' occupancy, they frequently held swanky parties with celebs and jazz bands. The gardens are supposed to be lovely as well, but the weather was not conducive to strolling through them on our visit. We did get to see the wall of the Tudor moat that surrounded the palace and that was pretty impressive.

Stats:
Spent about 12 quid at the farmers' market
Dulwich Picture Gallery FREE with my 10 pound Art Pass
Treated to lunch -- thank you, David and Janie!!
Eltham Palace FREE with Art Pass

17516 steps
7.23 miles

The Aer Lingus Experiment​

I'm declaring it a success for the following reasons:
1) Fare to London from Hartford is really not much more than from Boston
2) Bradley Airport (Hartford) is significantly closer than Logan (Boston) to my house
3) Convinced an OAP to give me rides to/from Bradley, saving cost of parking in the MassPort Framingham lot and Logan Express bus fare
4) Here's where it really gets good: Going through immigration/passport control in Dublin at 4:30 in the morning was quick and easy. No landing card to fill out and no queue to speak of. Landed at Heathrow as an EU flight into Terminal 2. No passport check whatsoever. Just got my luggage at baggage reclaim and went on my way.

The only downside was that I only got two hours of sleep on the flight before waking up to the announcement that we would soon be landing in Dublin. Consequently, I've been even more dazed and confused on arrival day than usual, but I managed it by sticking close to familiar territory.

I arrived at my AirB&B (which is lovely and comfortable) by 11 am, unpacked, took a shower and was out the door by 12:30. I'm staying 3 short blocks from Roger's old flat. I headed up the Harrow Road to Ha'Penny Steps, crossed the canal and cut through Meanwhile Gardens (the site of my yarnbombing a few years back), then down through Golborne Road and Portobello Road markets. A bus ride took me to Bayswater where I got my UK sim card at the EE store. From there, I walked through Kensington Gardens under sunny, blue skies (though it had rained when I was eyeing the street food at Acklam Road) to the Serpentine Gallery. Friends David and Janie got there seconds after me and we queued for Grayson Perry's Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever! Lots of great recent stuff to see -- ceramics, tapestries, gigantic wood cut prints, sculptures made of assorted bits and bobs, a bicycle and a motorcycle -- all witty, satirical, biting and astute social commentary. Judging from the number of people and the enjoyment they exuded, I'd say the exhibition lives up to its name.

After, I took a quick look in the Serpentine Sackler, but I was really too knackered to take it in, so I walked north (in real rain at that point) out of Hyde Park, back to Bayswater, onto two buses that took forever to arrive, and to the Coop in the Harrow Road to buy something for me evening meal. I'm going to force myself to stay awake until 10 pm so I can get a good night sleep and awake fully on GMT, or BST, or whatever time it is here.

Stats:
20 pounds to top up Oyster
15 pounds for sim card and 30 day package
2 pounds for Portuguese custard tart
65p for water
1 pound 50 for Grayson Perry postcards
20p to use the loo in Kensington Gardens
12 pounds 50 for various groceries

18489 steps
7.61 miles

Deja vu

Here I am again today with another post. And there I was today, pretty much replaying Sunday of last year.
Sundays always start with a walk up to the farmers' market in the playground of the Salusbury Road Primary School in Queen's Park. I'd been thinking that I would leave from this trip without a veg pie from Pieminister, as I hadn't been near a market or shop where I could buy one. But I found a pie vendor at the farmers' market today who had a sweet potato, goat's cheese and red onion pie -- same as the Pieminister's Heidi pie without the spinach. So, that will be my dinner tonight.

Roger needed to go to school to work on something or other, so I went on my own to the White Cube in Bermondsey, walking down many of the same streets we walked last year when I was without a camera. This time, I was able to take lots of snaps of the interesting old warehouses, the leather exchange, and some wicked old houses. The exhibition at the White Cube was pretty good (I'll add links later) and I had fun taking photos of people taking photos of themselves and their mates with the art.

Last year, we zigzaged east and north to the river. This year, I went west and north, stopping in at St George the Martyr, which was open today, unlike years ago when I did my Dickens in Southwark walk. St George's is next to the site of the Marshalsea Prison, which Dickens' father did time for his debts, and is where Little Dorritt was married. I walked again past the garden and social housing in Redcross Way that was established by Octavia Hill, the social reformer, and past Crossbones Graveyard, where many prostitutes and outcasts were buried without the rites of the church. The community is building a little garden next to Crossbones Graveyard, but I could only get a glimpse through the locked gate.

I followed Bankside from Southwark Bridge west to Tate Modern, where I used the loo and took a look at the latest installation in the Turbine Hall, due to officially open on Tuesday. It's called "Empty Lot" and it looks like an allotment with triangular-shaped raised beds filled with dirt. Nothing growing but the occasional weed. Maybe they've planted seeds and the installation will grow during the time its there.

My next mission was to walk up and down Theed and Roupell streets, both of which contain small Georgian terrace houses, with unchanged exteriors, that date from the 1830s. Roupell Street shows up in scads of tv programmes and movies, and Theed Street is used for exterior shots of Chummy and Constable Noakes' house in "Call the Midwife." So, just like last year, my final photos (when I ever get around to posting them) will be related to the midwives.
I was really knackered at that point, so I headed back to the flat to eat my pie and pack.

Expenses:
£3 for veg pie
£1.35 for an olive bread stick
£1 for some falafel
65 p for Lockets (like Hall's throat lozenges) for my slightly sore throat
23,117 steps, 9.59 miles

Graves, buses and street art

I'm starting to wind down and my stamina is waning. But I'm pushing on, albeit at a slower pace. Saturday morning, while Roger went to the gym and did errands, I opted to skip mat class in favor of doing a bunch of stretching exercises before taking a long, leisurely walk up to Paddington Cemetery in Queen's Park. I actually passed the Pilates Studio on the way and felt a bit guilty about not being inside for class, but the cemetery was calling to me. I do love me a good graveyard. Although this one isn't counted among the Magnificent Seven, it dates from about the same time and, though small, has all the elements that I think make for an excellent cemetery ramble -- a central avenue leading to a derelict funeral chapel, wooded side paths, overgrown spots and broken headstones, interesting Victorian monuments, angels (at least one of them weeping), and -- something I hadn't seen in the grander graveyards -- iron bootscrapers and toilets. I made use of both.

The cemetery looks close to the Queen's Park station (about a 12 minute walk from the flat) on the map, but the only way into it is on the furthest corner. So, by the time I got back to the flat I'd already logged over 3 miles on my Fitbit. Roger and I had some lunch and then headed out to the East End via Westbourne Park station. Across from the station is the Westbourne Park bus garage, where TfL houses, washes and repairs hundreds of buses. One of their occasional vintage bus days was going on in the yard, where they had on display an omnibus that had been repurposed during World War I as a troop carrier or something (painted a khaki color), a late 1930s prototype double decker that didn't go into production until after World War II, and a 1950s era double decker. I'm sure that the bus enthusiasts among my followers will have more info to add once I post the pix.

From Liverpool Street station, we wandered along Brick Lane, taking various side streets to check out new street art. Along the way, we ran into FIVE street art walking tours, something I'd never encountered before. I hadn't roamed  around this area for two years, and at every turn I saw some new, horrid development that was complete or in process, including the old fruit and wool exchange building in Brushfield Street that's currently being demolished to make way for another abomination. Lots and lots of trendy clothing stores and cafes catering to the Hoxton hipster types have opened up. I don't have so much of a problem with that, as the shops are occupying existing storefronts, but there are now very few shops of any kind that meet the needs of the long-time residents of the area. Tons of expensive flats are being built for yuppies and wealthy international students. Unless the pace of development is slowed by the new mayor, whoever that turns out to be, I won't recognize the area at all in another two year's time.

We stopped into the Howard Griffin Gallery to see Pablo Delgado's exhibition, and then had a drink at the Old Blue Last, a pub that still appears as gritty as it would have 50 years ago, but was full of hipsters.

We ended the day up in Belsize Park, where we met up with Greg and Esther and then walked up to Hampstead to that great little French bistro where we've eaten before. I had the trout, and it was lovely.

Today (Sunday) we'll go up to the farmers' market at the Salusbury Road Primary School and then I'm off on my own while Roger does some school work. I'm thinking I'll go down to the White Cube in Bermondsey and then mooch along Bankside as I haven't seen enough of the Thames this week. This evening I'll be packing and then out the door early Monday for my flight. Not sure if I'll get another dispatch written until I'm home.

Expenses:
£1.25 donation to St John's Ambulance at the vintage bus event
£1 for cookie at the Town House gallery and cafe in Fournier Street
£22 for dinner
25,228 steps, 10.42 miles

Two friends, another walk and more art

My faithful readers will remember the second Friday of my 2014 visit, the day my camera died as I was taking a long walk through Poplar to Trinity Buoy Wharf. This year, a fortuitous opportunity to return to Trinity Buoy wharf fell into my lap. I'd found out several months ago that Wilton's Music Hall sponsors a free, weekly Friday walk to somewhere in the Tower Hill/Tower Hamlets area. I'd wanted to join the walk during this visit, and I signed up without knowing where they'd be going on 9 Oct. My Flickr and Facebook friend Kathy saw my post that I was planning to do this, and since she'd never seen Wilton's, she was keen to go along. We then found out the destination would be Trinity Buoy Wharf (via DLR, not walking the entire way), which Kathy had also never seen and I was robbed of my chance to photograph last year.

So, out the door I went at 8:10 am, arriving right at 9:20 when we were told to assemble. The group walked to Shadwell station and boarded the DLR for Canning Town. Our guide for the walk was Alan, an artist who knows the area well. It's not easy to reach Trinity Buoy Wharf, as it's always been an isolated spit of land between the River Lea and the Thames. Alan told us that part of the area had been called Bog Island in the 19th century, and of the 140 kids who attended the local school, 100 shared the same surname.

When we got to the wharf, we were met by David, who works for TBW and was there to give us a tour of the lighthouse, normally only open at the weekend, where there's a sound installation of Indian bowl music that's on a loop that will not repeat for 1000 years. The narrow steps up to the top of the lighthouse were a bit scary, but worth the anxiety as the views were great -- the O2, Canary Wharf, and parts of Poplar.  Instead of the usual free tea and cake back at Wilton's at the end of the walk, we were encouraged to make a donation to the lighthouse and to purchase something at the little caff (the one where Jen, Jane, Malcolm and I had lunch last year). Kathy and I got food and tea, and we were joined by an older gent who was on the walk. Quite a talker he was, and we ended up getting a late start back to Canning Town. The walk was a good fun, and Kathy and I will do it again next year.

The Jubilee line took me from Canning Town to Green Park. A short walk from there, I met my friend Judy at the Royal Academy to see the Ai Weiwei exhibition. It's popular exhibition, and a bit crowded, but no school kiddies. Photos were allowed (Judy said that Ai Weiwei encourages people to photograph his work and post it on social media) and happily I didn't see one single selfie stick. I'm not sure if the sticks were expressly banned or if the RA just draws a crowd that isn't obsessed with selfies.

We then took the 14 bus to the Victoria and Albert, got some lunch nearby, and walked up to the Serpentine Gallery and this year's Serpentine Pavilion. We both agreed that this year's pavilion is a good one. I liked it better than last year's pod, but not as much as the cloud pavilion in 2013. We had a good time taking photos before checking out the exhibitions in both of the galleries.

Next, we strolled back down Exhibition Road to the V&A to see the Tower of Babel. (I'll add a link when I get home, or you can Google it in the meantime.) The artist spent two years on his bicycle, photographing shops -- from chicken shops to nail salons to hardware stores to fancy places like Harrod's -- and then worked with ceramicists to transfer the photos onto 3-dimensional ceramic blocks. The shops, some 3000 of them, were then stacked in a hierarchical tower, with the lowly ones at the bottom and the chic boutiques at the top. The individual shops are for sale on his website, starting at 95 pounds and going up to several hundred pounds each. Judy saw a man who was choosing several of them to purchase. I'd love to have one, but I think cost and logistics are prohibitive.

After a sit-down, Judy needed to head back home. Since Roger was going to be out at Sadler's Wells, I figured I'd do some of the Friday Lates (many of the museums stay open late on some or all Friday evenings). The Natural History Museum's lates is the last Friday of the month, but I had just enough time before closing to walk around inside for a bit (I'd never been in, but had seen it in photos and movies, most recently in Paddington Bear). Then I went to the Science Museum next door -- the Media Space, which is generally of interest only to adults, stays open till 10 on Fridays. I saw two photography exhibitions. The first was a large exhibition of the work of Alec Soth, an American documentary photographer. He takes large-format photos of American people and landscapes. In style, his landscapes were portrait-like, and his portraits all told something of the time and place that the people inhabited. Somewhat distressing and depressing, all beautifully done. I also saw an exhibition of the photos of Julia Margaret Cameron, who did portrait photography in the mid-nineteenth century. These were also moody and evocative.

My energy was fading, so I nixed my plan to go back to the V&A for the Fabric of India exhibition and/or back to the Serpentine Pavilion for some night photos. Instead, I got the tube and the a bus back to the Harrow Road, picked up some soup and rolls at the Coop, and went back to the flat for dinner, another episode of Outnumbered, and sleep.

Expenses:
£1.25 donation to the Trinity Buoy Wharf lighthouse (all the change I had at the time)
£3 bagel with hummus at the caff
£6.30 for the Alec Soth exhibition
£4 for my dinner food plus Hobnobs and Gingernuts to take home with me
27,223 steps, 11.67 miles

Gallery, gallery, gallery, cuppa, gallery, walk, walk

I just walked in the door after a very long, full day and I have to be up and out early tomorrow, so this post will be brief. My day, distilled down to the essential info, included:

• The Photographers' Gallery: Burden of Proof exhibition. Very interesting, often powerful, though the bit about the Shroud of Tourin could have been left out.

• Got take-away lunch from a place in Newman Street called Caffix, where everything they have on offer costs 1 pound. Got quinoa salad and curried lentils and chickpeas -- yummy. Ate sitting on a sunny bench in Soho Square.

• White Cube Gallery: exhibition of textile art, including quilts, embroidery, some carpets and a couple knitted pieces. A mixed bag.

• Walked up The Mall, saw the tacky Queen Mum memorial and the grave of Giro the German dog.

• National Portrait Gallery: Faces of Britain exhibition. Really well curated and well worth seeing.

• Tea and catching up with Barbara. Lovely time, as always.

• Wallace Collection: old masters, old furniture, old china, old armor. I liked the room with all the paintings of Venice.

• Roamed around, got two samosas in the foodhall at Selfridges, walked through Grosvenor Square (ugly American edifice) and Mount Street Gardens (a beautiful, peaceful spot with benches, palm trees and birds) and up to Cavendish Square.

• Guided walk: Sherlock Holmes in Marylebone with Jen as our guide. A very well-planned, interesting and amusing walk that kept us moving, pondering and deducing the entire time. 

• Beer with Jen and Malcolm and a few others who came on the walk.

• Bakerloo back to Queen's Park. Knackered. Good night.

Expenses:
£2 for lunch
£2.90 for samosas
£10 for Footprints of London walk
31,773 steps, 13.64 miles (I believe that's a personal best)

The Magnificent Seventh

It was a bit misty yesterday when I walked up to Queen's Park for the 10 a.m. mat class at the Pilates studio, but it had stopped by the time I finished class. I checked the weather report when I nipped back to the flat to change my clothes, and the forecast said rain would be ending by 11:45. I also checked Citymapper, which said that the earlier signal failure that was disrupting service on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines was cleared. Both were wrong.

I waited nearly 15 minutes on the platform at Westbourne Park and took the first eastbound train that came along, unfortunately a Circle line train that got me only as far as Liverpool Street. But the walk from there to the Whitechapel Gallery wasn't really that much further than had I gotten the H & C to Aldgate East, and I ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich along the way.

At the gallery, I looked at some of the Emily Jacir exhibition, entitled "Europa" -- I saw parts of the large section on the assassination in Rome of Palestinian writer Wael Zuaiter by Mossad agents in 1972, and  "stazione" (something she did for the 2009? Biennale in which she added Arabic lettering to the names of many of the vaporetto stops in Venice as a way of highlighting the connections between Venice and the Arab world -- the work wasn't completed because it was deemed too controversial or dangerous or something). I also saw part 1 (three more parts will come over the next year or so) of Arabic art from the collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation -- modern works (1900-1968) by artists from Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. In the small children's gallery was a bittersweet exhibition called "The Name of Fear." A Brazilian artist had asked London school kids to tell her what they feared, and she made a series of capes of fabric and other materials, with lettering spelling out the fears such as "strangers," "the end of the world," "nightmares" and "biscuit crumbs."

When I left the gallery, the mist had returned, but I was still optimistic that it would pass. But it was my optimism that passed, for it was coming down steadily by the time I reached Brockley station and my walk to the gates of Nunhead Cemetery was a soggy one. There I met up with David and Janie, who for the second year have very generously accompanied me as I tick off another of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Nunhead sits on a hill, with a view of the tall buildings at the Elephant & Castle visible in the distance, framed by the trees and the cemetery gates. There's a lovely ruin of a funeral chapel (not quite as creepy as the one at Abney Park) and winding, tree-lined paths around the (mostly) Victorian gravesites. The gloomy day certainly made for an atmospheric stroll among the headstones. We found a couple of the noted memorials -- one to the nine boy scouts who were drowned in boating accident on their way to a camping trip in 1912, and the other a massive tomb in a Greek or Turkish style (David will know, as he recognized the shape) of someone named John Allan. So now, I've done all seven of the great Victorian cemeteries. It's taken me only ten years to do it!

Damp and in need of refreshment, we then headed for the Ivy House, a nearby pub that was saved from developers when locals had it declared a community asset and developed a share-based funding scheme in order to purchase it. I'd heard an episode of the Londonist Out Loud podcast about the pub, which was a popular music venue in the 70s and 80s. Ian Dury, Elvis Costello and Joe Strummer all played there. Just as we were walking to the pub, a line of about 30 school kids and their minders marched up the pavement and right in the pub door. We followed. The kiddies were headed to the back room with a little stage where they took part in an after school program of arts and theatre. We got 1/2 pints and crisps and settled into a booth in the other back room, a room with booths, tables, dark wood paneling and a fireplace (not lit, alas). Soon, some girls about 10 years old came into that room for their dance class. It was great to see the pub being used to fill the needs of the community in this way. I'll have to listen to the podcast again, but I seem to remember that different adult groups meet there during the day. The pub really functions as the community's living room, something we'd never see happen in America, unfortunately.

By the time we left, the rain had stopped for good and it looks like I'll have good weather (cool but dry) for the rest of my visit. Thanks again to David and Janie. Next year, we'll go to Highgate.

Expenses:
£15 for Pilates class
80 p for two biscuits on my way to Westbourne Park station
18,961 steps, 7.91 miles

Venice

Up until now, the closest I'd ever gotten to Venice -- or to Italy, for that matter -- was the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas with the fake canals and gondolas. The real Venice is much better.
We arrived from London at about noon on Saturday, and were met at arrivals by Cia-cia, who would be our shepherd at various times throughout our stay in Venice. Cia-cia (real name Paolo Martinuzzi) is a retired river taxi driver, who is a great friend of the parents of one of Roger's students. He picked us up at the airport in his friend's water taxi and dropped us off at the Arsenale vaporetto stop, where we were met by the young woman who showed us to the flat that Roger had rented for our stay. It was a 2-minute walk to the flat in Calle de Pestrin, in Castello and very near the venues for the Biennale where we planned to spend a lot of time looking at art (weird, edgy, inexplicable, all of the above). Anyway, Cia-cia will return in this story and will be a central figure in our Venetian experience.
So, on Saturday afternoon, we mooched around the Arsenale venue of the Biennale. Some of the art was cool, but a lot of it seemed pretty pretentious and selfindulgent. I was just happy to actually be inside the Arsenale and see the architecture of the place, which is normally inaccessible except during the Biennale. This is where, for centuries, the great ships of the Venetian navy were made by incredible craftsmen.  At its peak time of operation, there were 16,000 skilled craftsmen working in the Arsenale, turning out a boat a week.
I really wanted to see the Jewish Ghetto more than almost anything in Venice, so that was our destination for Sunday morning.  First, we bought 2-day vaporetto tickets and headed up the Grand Canal. A short walk took us into the ghetto, where we saw the 6-storey houses (because the area was so confined, there was no where to go but up, and even then families had to sleep in shifts for lack of room) and the oldest pawn broker shop in Europe (or the world, I forget which). The pawn broker was Banko Rosso, which issued red receipts for goods, hence the term "in the red."
From there, we wandered along various canals which were blissfully devoid of tourists until we reached Fondamenta Nove vaporetto stop, where we got the water bus to San Pietro and then walked down to the Giardini venue of the Biennale. More weird, edgy, inexplicable art, but a few things were incredibly cool. Stay tuned for photo evidence, which will eventually turn up on my Ipernity photo site. Just as we were leaving at around 6 pm, we got caught in a torrential downpour, which turned out to be the only truly crap weather we had. We waited out the worst of it back at the flat, where I used the hairdryer to dry off my only pair of slacks, until the rain let up and we wandered out for dinner, finding a lovely trattoria near the flat.
Monday was our day on Cia-cia's speed boat, being shown around wherever we wanted to go, all as a treat from Roger's student's parents. Cia-cia and his co-pilot Tony met us at 10 at the dock by San Giorgio Maggiore. We boated from there to Murano, where Roger and I got out to visit a glass foundry and to mooch around the island for a little bit. The next stop was Torcello, where we saw an amazing Byzantine church with a huge mosaic depicting the last judgment. Then, on to Mazzororbo for an incredible three-course al fresco lunch -- sardines, risotto, sole, eel, lots of prosecco, dessert and espresso. Roger and I staggered from there over a bridge to Burano, were we gawped at the multi-colored houses and then met the boat for the ride back to San Giorgio.
I can't believe that we had room for more food after that lunch, but we did venture out in the evening to a great place for pizza. We had enough strength to stop in St Mark's Square for a bit before our exhausted, sated bodies fell into our beds beds back at the flat. During the night, I was attacked by mosquitoes and woke up with blood blotches, but thankfully no hangover.
Today -- our last day -- Roger and I each went out early to explore on our own for a bit. I wanted to find the spiral staircase at Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo. I reckon I hadn't walked five minutes from the flat before making a wrong turn. Instead of going west, I found myself at the magnificent entrance to the Arsenale, which was east of where I started. A happy mistake, for sure, because I got to see the lions that guard the entry.  Somehow, I made my way back westward, finding the church of San Zaccaria (I didn't go in because early mass was going on) and then to St Mark's Square, where I found Roger. We worked our way in the direction of Palazzo Contarini, but Roger decided to head back on his own, perhaps not trusting my ability to find it or just how cool it would be to see. I zigged and zagged, found some signs, and then found the Palazzo as the rain started to fall. But I got my photo op and the satisfaction of mission accomplished.
Cia-cia then picked us up in the water taxi at the Arsenale vaporetto stop and delivered us to the airport in plenty of time for the return flight to London. Did I see all that there was to seen in Venice? No, not by a long shot. But I saw some of the iconic places, wandered off into places where few tourist venture, and had a great time. I will return.
Expenses:
250 euros, including lodging, meals, Biennale, vaporetto 2 day ticket, etc.
About £44 for Gatwick Express for Roger and me
£32.10 for 7-day travel card on my Oyster card when we got back to Victoria Station today
Steps:
Saturday -- 19,731 steps, 8.18 miles
Sunday -- 22,110 steps, 9.11 miles
Monday -- 20,225 steps, 8.33 miles
Tuesday -- 14,645 steps, 6.13 miles

I'm Baaack

Here I am, back in Blighty. I've brought my bluetooth keyboard.  It's  pain in the arse to type on, so I reckon my blog posts are going to be shorter than they've been in the past. This is all because I don't have unlimited access to the desktop computer at Roger's flat, but that's a whole 'nother story and I'm not going into it.

I flew over in steerage on British Air and spent at least an hour this morning in the immigration queue at the UK border. But once I cleared that, it was easy-peasy to grab my bag and get on the tube to Paddington via Hammersmith (I hadn't changed there before, but opted for a route with step-free access). I topped up my Oyster card at the news agent on Praed Street (because it was a step-free alternative to the in-station machine), got on the #36 bus, and was at Roger's flat about 9:45 am, too late to take a Pilates mat class, but plenty of time for exploring.

My adventures today took me to some new places and some old. I took the 187 bus to somewhere in Maida Vale and walked down through Lisson Grove. My first stop was the old aeroworks factor (now luxury flats, natch), which is a lovely art deco building. As I was snapping photos of the facade with the fantastic deco airplanes and Egyptian deco columns,  a nice middle-aged gent in a high-vis vest saw me with my camera and chatted me up about the building and how very few people even notice it.

The next stop was another new-to-me destination -- Church Street. I mooched around the street market and the antique shops before getting a sandwich at Tesco Metro, which I ate in a nearby park. Then on to the Lisson Gallery for an interesting gallery show called Fieldworks (link to come when I figure out how to do that with this keyboard). At Edgware Road, I went in search of the Joe Strummer Subway (found it) and the Subway Gallery (no luck there, I think it's closed). From there, the number 18 bus took me to the Wellcome Collection, one of my all-time favorite places for interesting, albeit strange, exhibitions. This one was by Alice Anderson, who explores how we make memories through her use of fine copper wire to "mummify" various mundane and/or iconic objects, such as a Mustang car chassis, plasma tv, various tools and electronic devices. I thought about doing an hour stint helping to mummify stuff with wire, but decided I needed to push on.

The Crypt Gallery in St Pancras Parish Church was my next stop. On my way there, a German or Dutch couple asked me for directions to their hotel in Tavistock Place, and I was able to help them out. The exhibition was kinetic sculpture/installations that came to life -- with lights, gunfire noises and Germanic (Nazi?) voices -- and made a lot of racket. Things in that gallery space are always hit or miss. I'd say this was somewhere in between.

Pushing on, as my aching back was improving from Advil and arnica, I went to King's Cross Station in search of Harry Potter kitch for my Pilates instructor's 6-year-old son. I thought I'd just be able to walk up to platform 9 3/4 and take a snap. No! There was a queue of at least 50 people, waiting for their photo op. I waited at the side for the interval between two selfie-seekers and got a quick photo. Next, I managed to get in and out of the shop with a Griffendor patch in less than 5 minutes. Online pre-shopping is the way to go.

Why I decided to push on from there, rather than doing  hasty retreat back to Maida Hill, is beyond me. I was drawn to a structure behind King's Cross that said "Viewing Platform" on the side. The views were of all the development -- tons since I'd last been there. I was hoping to see the gasometer being reconstructed, or where the swimming pond is, but if they were there, I couldn't find them. What I did have was a nice chat with a uni student from Tanzania who is studying fashion at University of East London. They have Fridays off for sports day, but he and his mates were exploring the town instead.

Now I'm back at the flat and about to eat dinner.

Expenses:
£25 to top up Oyster
£1 for lunch
£5 for Harry Potter patch
20,876 steps, 8.59 miles

Sunday in Bermondsey, and Summing Up

My last day in Blighty was a bit slower than previous days, but no less interesting as I explored another area I didn't know very well. We set out to do the first half of the Bermondsey walk in London's Hidden Walks v. 2, starting at London Bridge Station and ending at the Angel public house on the Thames. Spooner snapped a lot of photos, so I might be able to post a couple of those later. Cameraless, I was happy just to take in the sights: 17th century houses, old warehouses used when Bermondsey was the hub of the leather trade in England, the Time and Talents Settlement House, and St Saviour's Dock (formerly a squalid area in which Dickens set Bill Sikes' death). 

Along the way, we made a couple of stops for art, refreshment and use of the loo. Our first stop was at the White Cube gallery to see a massive exhibition by Gilbert & George called Scapegoating Pictures for London, which we both enjoyed a lot. You can see some of the works here and read a review here. 

We next headed to Maltby Street Market, where we each got something to eat from the vendors and shared a large bottle of Spanish cider in a tapas bar. The market is small -- located in a ropewalk next to the arches under the railroad tracks -- but is packed with great food. 

Afterwards, we headed north to the river, walking east along the Thames Path to the Angel pub, which is along Bermondsey Wall East but is actually in Rotherhithe. It was a beautiful day to stand along the wall, look out at the Thames (and consume more beverages). We were a bit disappointed that none of the tall ships that were down in Greenwich over the weekend sailed past us up to Tower Bridge, but that didn't stop us enjoying the sunshine and the river. The tide was pretty well out, so we went down the slippery old stairs to the foreshore and did a bit of mudlarking. We didn't find any treasures, but I came home with a bag of clay pipe and pottery bits. 

Expenses:
£2.50 for spinach croissant at Maltby Street Market
£2 for 1/2 pint of bitter at the Angel
£2.40 for 2 packages of Hobnobs to bring home
£5 to top up Oyster card for journey to Heathrow on Monday 

15,011 steps, 5.92 miles

UPDATE:

I was out the door early Monday morning for the long (15 hour) journey home.

Expenses:
30p to use the loo at Paddington Station
$77 for parking at the Massport lot in Framingham
$2.45 toll on the Mass Pike

7581 steps, 2.99 miles

SUMMARY:
£5 remaining on my Oyster card (the 7-day travel card save me a lot of money)
630 photos taken before my camera died
74.24 miles walked

It was another fabulous visit, and I really appreciate the hospitality of my host Spooner and the friendship of all my mates with whom I had adventures and meetups.  Until next year!

Poplar, Shoreditch and a Metaphor (or Two)

Friday, I set out on my over-planned, long-awaited walk through Poplar, looking for references to people and places of Poplar past -- Chinatown, the docks and sailors, the nuns and midwives. I'd done scads of research, and mapped the whole thing out on Google maps. You can see the map here -- it's really worth a look, as the notes contain tons of info gleaned from my research with some good links. The plan was to walk from Limehouse station to Trinity Buoy Wharf, with a stop at the Museum of London in Docklands to see an exhibition on bridges that coincides with the 120th anniversary of Tower Bridge. Just before I left for London, I read about a video exhibition at Balfron Tower that was to open the very day I was there, so I ambitiously booked myself for the first timed-entry slot at 12:15 pm. When I arrived in London, I made plans to meet up with three of my mates right after the video -- they would join me for the Trinity Buoy Wharf bit. 

I reached Limehouse about 10 minutes behind my schedule. But I knew where I was going and I set out with map in hand. About 15 minutes into the walk, things started to go all pear shaped when my camera began to act up. It had done something funny a couple times the day before -- the display went black, but for a message saying "Change camera settings." I had been able to turn it on and off a couple times and get it working on Thursday, but this day it just went from bad to worse. So I sat on a bench on the Commercial Road for about 15 minutes, as the traffic whizzed by, while I fiddled with every button and knob that I could to no avail. Realising that I was getting way behind in my schedule -- and deciding I needed to find a loo -- I pushed on, skipping several things on my map but still working many of them in. I nipped into the Museum of London to use the loo, crossed the multiple lanes of traffic on an overhead walkway at Poplar Station, and walked up Hale Street to reach East India Dock Road. Just before the corner, I passed a disused public toilet and took out my camera to see if I could get a snap of the ladies' loo sign. My camera came alive and worked for the one shot before going back to black. 

At this point I was really worried that I wouldn't be on time for Home on High, the video installation at Balfron Tower. I could see the steeple of All Saints Church up ahead, and Balfron Tower a bit beyond that. Between the church and the tower was the most important destination on this trek -- the real "Nonnatus House" (actually called St Frideswide's Mission House) where the Anglican nuns and the lay midwives ("Call the Midwife") lived. I'd found it on StreetView, but I really, really wanted to see it with my own eyes. Sweaty and out of breath, I arrived in Lodore Street a bit before noon. So, there I was and desperately wanting a photo. I took out my camera again, punched a few buttons and managed to resurrect it one last time for a few shots of the mission and Balfron Tower around the corner. Was it divine intervention? Or the spirit of the nuns and midwives who did so much good for the women of Poplar in those difficult years just after the war? I think it was just down to stupid luck. 

I actually reached the assembly point at Balfron Tower about ten minutes early and had a nice chat with Gordon (aka Loopzilla), a Flickr mate who was serving as an invigilator (guide) for the video. Up we went to the 24th floor and watched the video in which a man and his son, former residents of the flat we were in, talked about what it was like living there from 1959 to 1970-something. The rest of the time was spent looking around the now-vacant flat and the views. Balfron Tower is currently occupied by many artists whose flats are also their studio space. Soon, all the residents will be moved out and the entire tower will undergo refurbishment. When the first residents moved in, it was such a time of hope -- clean new flats in a state-of-the art building, as part of a vibrant community. So much has changed as the building became more and more shabby and the original residents moved away. But it seems poised for a new beginning and a renewal of that optimism and community spirit. 

My next stop was East India station to meet Malcolm, Jenny and Jane for our ramble to Trinity Buoy Wharf, a place you can't really get to from anywhere, where interesting and creative things are happening. Thankfully, Jenny had been there before and knew a riverside route that I hadn't been able to work out on StreetView. Once a place of working docks and squalid housing, TBW is  now home to a container city of artists' studios, a warehouse for ENO's stage sets and flats, a school, a parkour academy, a lighthouse, an American diner (the last one made by the Worcester Lunch Car Company), and various quirky arty things scattered about. We first had a good, cheap lunch at the Bow Creek Cafe (I had a tuna & sweet corn sandwich, which is a requisite of any of my trips to London) and then poked around the buildings and sculpture and had a telling-off from a teller-offer security guard about taking photos (not me!) and generally being too close to a wedding party. The views of the river were great, and we saw several tall ships sailing up toward Greenwich or back down (there's a tall ships festival on this weekend). After this leisurely ramble, Malcolm and I took in the bridges exhibition back at the MoL in Docklands. 

From there, I headed to the Angel to meet Roger for dinner and theatre. We had a fantastic dinner at a Turkish restaurant called Gem in Upper Street and then saw Little Revolution at the Almeida. It was a lot better than the last thing we saw there. 

Saturday started with Pilates mat class up in Queen's Park, and then Roger and I set out to do some errands and see a new artists fair at the Old Truman Brewery. This was the first time I had gone out on the streets of London without a camera, and I found it liberating. I'd been remarking on how, when I didn't have use of my camera on Friday, I paid more attention to the bigger picture and to the company of my friends. Not doing that OCD thing of snapping every little bit that caught my attention seemed to put me more in tune with the flow of the streets and the people. Today, I really felt like a Londoner rather than a tourist. We had a great lunch of Ethiopian street food in Brick Lane, stopped in at the Howard Griffin Gallery to check on a print Roger had ordered, popped into a bookshop so Roger could get wrapping paper, and stopped at a (not very good) sale of upcycled crafts in Meanwhile Gardens on the way home. 

Now I'm back at the flat while Roger is at a wedding. I'm going to take a long soak in the tub, heat up the soup I just bought at the Coop, drink wine and relax. If you've made it to this point in the post, I thank you for hanging in. Only one more day and one more post to go. My back is holding up remarkably well, but I'm slowing down.

Friday Expenses:
£3 tuna and sweet corn sandwich
£10 dinner at Gem
25,934 steps, 10.23 miles

Saturday Expenses:
£15 for Pilates mat class
£5 street food in Brick Lane
£15 for two bottles of wine (one for me and one for a house present)
£2.40 for a pint of soup for my supper
14,903 steps, 5.88 miles

Lunch in a Loo

Thursday was another day for exploring new places. My day started on the overground, traveling to Hackney Central. I walked south from the station, past the Hackney Empire theatre to the Hackney Museum to see a marvellous exhibition of photos by Colin O'Brien. He started taking photos when he was a young boy, and has captured little moments of a long-gone London.

A quick walk north brought me to Sutton House, which is the biggest Tudor home in London, or the finest, or some other superlative that I can't remember. I mistakenly thought that it was the home of Thomas Sutton, the founder of the Charterhouse (see my post about my tour there on Tuesday), but it isn't. So why the heck do they call it Sutton House? Seems Thomas Sutton lived in a house next door, which was demolished so that the Charterhouse could build a row of 16 Georgian terrace houses on the property. Originally the Tudor home was known as Bryck Place, as it was one of the first brick houses in the area when it was built in 1535. I think I was the only punter in the place, so I was able to wander alone throughout the house, from cellar to top floor. It's amazingly intact, given how many families -- and a bunch of squatters in the 1980s -- lived in it through the centuries. 

For my lunch, I headed to a place I'd read about in a Londonist article on bars and restaurants in converted public toilets. The Convenience in Brooksby's Walk is run by a group of women over the age of 55 (the "Nanas") who make and serve comfort food in a former toilet block. I had a lovely bowl of carrot and parsnip soup on their rooftop terrace. The restaurant is in the former gents' side of the loo. The ladies' is now unisex, with fixtures that look like they date from the 1930s or 40s. On the back of the stall door, I saw a notice from the Hackney Council on how to prevent and treat venereal disease that must have been there at least 60 years.

Next, I hopped on a bus that took me up to Stoke Newington Station, the meeting point for Sam Roberts' ghostsigns tour. I'd known Sam via the internets for years -- following his blog and contributing photos of ghostsigns to the archives he founded through the History of Advertising Trust -- but had never met him in person. He is passionate about these fading adverts of days gone by, and gives an enthusiastic and enjoyable tour of about 20 of them around Stoke Newington High Street and Church Street.   

The number 73 bus took me from Stoke Newington Town Hall to the Photographers' Gallery, passing a couple of ghostsigns on the way (one in Newington Green and the other in Grays Inn Road near the Pentonville Road). At the gallery, I had a quick look at an exhibition of colour photos from Russia. Ho, hum.  

Pushing on, I arrived at the Hoop and Grapes in Farringdon Street for a meet-up with friends from Flickr and Ipernity. It was a lovely evening, and I'm so happy to have met and stayed in touch with this lot over the past years. 

Sorry this post has been a little thin on details and observations, but I've got to take a shower and head out soon for my long walk in Poplar. I'll try to write a more extensive post tomorrow. Here's a teaser:  Ships ahoy and Call the Midwife!

Expenses:
£3.50 Sutton House 
£3.50 lunch in the loo
£12.50 ghostsigns walking tour
£7.50 beer and falafel burger

17,034 steps, 6.72 miles

Down South

I'd reached the point in my visit when I was really in need of a more tranquil day, without all the rushing around, and Wednesday's outing was the perfect antidote to the crowds and the noise of central London. The plan was to meet friends David, Janie and Ray at half past noon in south London for a bucolic ramble, and we couldn't have had more brilliant weather for our outing -- a perfect September day.


Since the best route for me to get to Forest Hill was via Whitechapel, I timed it so that I could stop in the Whitechapel Gallery for a bit before catching my overground train. The gallery displays primarily contemporary art, often a bit edgy and incomprehensible. The major exhibition at the moment is Giulio Paolini: To Be or Not to Be, which looked like it must have some deep meaning but I didn't get it. I did, however, like the piece in the space where they have an annual installation  (Continuum of Repair: The Light of Jacob's Ladder) and some small dinos that were inspired by the ones at Crystal Palace Park (more on that later). 

Getting down to Forest Hill/Sydenham was so easy that I really don't know why I've never gone before. Ray and I came in to Forest Hill by different trains and were met by David for the walk up the hill to the Horniman Museum where Janie was waiting for us. After a tasty meal at the cafe, we walked around the grounds and took in the amazing views back down on London. It was too nice a day to spend inside in the museum, and we had other destinations, so we pressed on by car from there.

Our next stop was West Norwood Cemetery so that I could tick off number six of the Magnificent Seven that I've now visited. (Only Nunhead yet to see.) Opened in 1837, this is the second of the Victorian cemeteries to be built outside central London. Each of the Magnificent Seven has its own character, and West Norwood seems less formal (no grand central avenue) than some of the others. It also seems better maintained, perhaps because it was open to new burials until fairly recently. Like all of the cemeteries, it has some great architectural monuments and tombs, twisty drives and paths, and a good canopy of shade trees (not like a lot of American cemeteries that are mainly flat grass with few trees). 

Then, on we went to Crystal Palace Park, a real gem of a place that also dates from the mid 19th century. The Crystal Palace itself once stood here, after being moved from its original site in Hyde Park where it was built for the Great Exhibition of 1851. It subsequently burned down in 1936. I'd seen photos of it, but I had absolutely no idea of the scale until seeing the remains of the foundation. Apparently, some Chinese investors have plans to reconstruct the palace, but I think I'd rather that they left it just as it is. One of the must-sees in the park is the dinosaur court, a little pond with life-size (maybe) dino statues. These were the first dino sculptures in the world, and are probably inaccurate to our current knowledge, but it's astonishing to think that they were made before Darwin's seminal writing on evolution. 

Big thanks to David and Janie for treating met to this grand day out, and to Ray for coming up from Wokking to do it with me. 

Expenses:
None to report (I was too knackered to go to Pilates class)

19,114 steps, 7.54 miles