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
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
Friday, October 02, 2015
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, September 14, 2014
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!
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!
Saturday, September 06, 2014
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
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
Friday, September 05, 2014
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
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
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)