If it's autumn, it must be London

Apologies for not having posted sooner. I've been back in London for 12 days and have been pretty much on the go the entire time. The weather has been incredibly lovely -- sun, blue skies, warm air with a little hint of autumn -- and I've wanted to be outside as much as I can. Rain is rolling in for the upcoming week. Today is Sunday, with off-and-on rain, and I'm now taking time to do my laundry, recharge my body and my devices, and write this post.

I'm in Belsize Park, staying in the same place for the third year now. It's so comfortable and convenient, with utterly lovely hosts, that it's become my home-from-home. My first day was spent unpacking (my checked bag arrived on the plane with me this year!), grocery shopping, and setting up technology. Once I had that mostly sorted, but for transferring my mobile from EE to Vodafone and installing an eSIM (more on that later), I gradually reintroduced myself to things I enjoy doing in the Borough of Camden. 

For this post, I'm going to give you my activities in categories rather than a chronological account. Let me know in the comments below which format you prefer.

Exhibitions: Many small exhibitions were due to close soon after my arrival, so I aimed to work as many of those in as possible. 

• Pangolin Gallery in King's Cross, where I saw ceramics by Hannah Lim, which was closing imminently, and an ongoing exhibition by Zachary Eastwood-Bloom. 

• Afterwards, I hustled up the Euston Road to the nearby Wellcome Collection, one my favourite places to see exhibitions and take advantage of the facilities (excellent toilets, free lockers if you need one, great cafe if you're peckish). The exhibition there -- Jason and the Adventure of 254 -- doesn't end until December, but it was a good time for me to check it out. The Wellcome Collection's exhibitions are always about the intersection of art and medicine.Artist Jason Wilsher-Mills has filled a large gallery room with pieces that take us through his experience at the age of 11 when, after having chickenpox, he developed chronic polyneuropathy and loss of motor functioning. He depicts the year he spent in hospital, where he learned to draw and paint by holding a pen or brush in his mouth, through various 3-D pop-art works, with lights and sound, including a narration by Jason of many of the pieces. 

• All Rendered Truth, an exhibition by the African-American artist Lonnie Holley at Camden Art Centre. This was phenomenal and I'm so glad I got to see it two days before it closed. I'd heard of Lonnie Holley from a podcast called Unreformed, which was about Mt. Meigs, the industrial school that he was sent to as a boy. There was mention in the podcast of him becoming an artist who used found objects -- what most people would consider junk -- to make pieces that expound on the experience of incarceration and systemic racism. Each painting and sculpture is a work of profound pain and of beauty found within the reclaimed objects. 

• On a similar note, I saw Homelessness: Reframed at the Saatchi Gallery in Sloane Square, again just before it closed. In this small exhibition, a dozen people who had experienced homelessness presented drawings, paintings and sculpture, some made in collaboration with children, that expressed an aspect of that experience. 

• The Garrison Chapel and the King's Foundation presented an exhibition of embellishment for haute couture by graduates of the Métiers d’Art Embroidery Fellowship (one of the many high craft fellowships that King Charles supports). Amazing workwomanship. 

• I saw a few Chihuly glass pieces in Mulberry Square, outside the Garrison Chapel.

• Sculpture in the City. I wandered around in the City looking at many of the pieces on this year's sculpture trail, but forgot to take any photos with my phone. I'll probably go back to look for the ones I missed on the first go.
• Frieze Sculpture. I joined the Primrose Hill Community Association regular Thursday walk, which this week was a ramble down to Regent's Park to see the annual sculpture show. I didn't see all of it (I'll go back), but my initial take is that this year's not as good as last. Frieze uses the Bloomberg Connects app to give viewers additional info about exhibitions, etc. The content for Frieze Sculpture is usually really helpful and often includes 2-3 minutes of the sculptor talking about their work. Unfortunately for me, the day I was looking at the sculpture was exactly the time that the switch of my mobile number from EE to Vodafone was taking place, so I had no connectivity. I've since activated my Vodafone eSIM on my Pixel dual-sim phone and I'm back in business. The process was a bit nerve-wracking, but I'm really pleased with myself for figuring it all out. 
• The Brunei Gallery at SOAS in Bloomsbury, where I saw Hudood: Rethinking Boundaries. Again, no photos.
• Continuing on the theme of boundaries, I saw Polly Braden: Leaving Ukraine, an exhibition of photos and video at the Foundling Museum, about women and children who have fled Ukraine and made new lives for themselves in other parts of Europe. The Foundling Museum is one of my faves -- they always have very moving exhibitions about mothers and children, identity and loss. 
• The October Gallery for Vital Force, a small show of the artists they represent, including El Anatsui. 
• Eva Rothschild at Modern Art. Reclaimed materials made into art. Maybe I'm just tired, but this didn't do much for me. 

Talks -- Seems I booked a number of free talks, a varied bunch and all very interesting.

• Expressionists - Der Blaue Reiter, a talk about the exhibition currently on at Tate Modern at the Guildhall Library. The talk gave me a good introduction to what I'll be seeing.
• Creative Sanctuary: Artist Refugees from Nazism in 1930s Hampstead at Burgh House.
• Ben Aaronovitch talking about his new book at the Kensington Central Library. I went with my mate Malcolm, and afterwards we had pints of Doom Bar at the Windsor Castle. Doom Bar is one of the beers I was determined to try on this trip, along with Timothy Taylor's Landlord, Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter and Anspach & Hobday London Black. 
• Victorian Workhouses of London - Talk and Document Viewing at the London Archives (formerly the London Metropolitan Archives).

Open House -- Don't get me started on how much I dislike the new Open House booking system. For many years, I set out with a carefully crafted plan and knocked off 20 or so venues over the course of the weekend. Now it's a 10-day event, with much of the good stuff requiring advanced booking, something that was extremely difficult and frustrating to do. I managed one pre-booked site (Bevin Court housing project by Lubetkin) and a couple of other drop-in sites:

• Heatherwick Studio -- kinda cool, but very crowded

• The Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury -- who knew there was a vintage clothing collection on the upper floor? It was cool to ascend the steep, curved ramp that the horses would have walked up. 
• Museum of Life Sciences, King's College London -- lots of skeletons and stuff in jars
• Highgate Literary & Scientific Society
• St Augustine's Church, Kilburn. The spire is the third highest in London, after St Paul's and St Mary Abbots.

• The Tin Tabernacle, Kilburn, now home of the Willesden Sea Cadets

And last of all, I did several rambles that included obligatory stops at cemeteries, burial grounds or gardens of remembrance:

• Hampstead Cemetery in Fortune Green -- This cemetery was created when the churchyard of St John at Hampstead ran out of space for new burials. It's really lovely and has some interesting tombs. I think I missed a few of the good ones, however, so I'll need to return.
• Bunhill Fields -- a Nonconformist (i.e. not Church of England) burial ground near Old Street. William Blake, John Bunyan and Daniel Defoe are buried there. 
• St Nicholas, Deptford -- I did a long walk across Deptford, from Canada Water to Deptford Creek. The church wasn't open, but the churchyard was sufficiently strange and spooky. 

• Highgate Cemetery -- I wandered around the East Cemetery for an hour or so. 

Miscellaneous museums and other activities:

• Islington Museum -- I saw some of the book covers that Joe Orton defaced
• Exhibition about Tower Bridge at the Guildhall Art Gallery
• Chelsea Physic Garden -- only 10 quid on Mondays and Tuesdays in September
• A free Qi Gong class at the Primrose Hill Community Association. The class is running for four weeks (I missed the first as it was just before I arrived), but I'm planning to go to the remaining classes. It was a bit out of my comfort zone, but I felt taller and more relaxed after. 
• And I went with my friend Jen to an excellent gig by a Scottish band called Tide Lines at the Union Chapel in Islington. The front man has an amazing voice and writes most of their songs. He said that this gig was a stripped down (more acoustic) version of what they usually do -- perfect. 
• An open day at 13 Princelet Street, a renovated Georgian house now owned by the Landmark Trust and available to rent for holiday stays if you can afford it. 

I've probably missed telling you about a few other things, but that pretty much sums up my first week and a half back here in Blighty. Do you like this format? Would you rather see a day-by-day account? Do you want me to include my expenses and steps/miles? If so, I'll add them in. Let me know in the comments below. 

Addendum: Seems you DO want to see the stats for my expenses and steps/miles, so I'm adding them below.

Wednesday (arrival day):

€3.24 bottle of water at Dublin airport

£25.42 groceries and wine

£2.10 pastel de nata

£20 top up Oyster card

£79 National Art Pass

12,037 steps

4.93 miles

Thursday:

£3.75 sushi from Wasabi (they charge 10p each for soy sauce, ginger and wasabi!)

£8.50 bread & cake from farmers' market

Pangolin Gallery - free

Wellcome Collection - free

20,837 steps

8.35 miles

Friday:

£5.05 groceries

Camden Art Centre - free

Hampstead Cemetery - free

18,442 steps

7.55 miles

Saturday:

£11.70 bread & veg from farmers' market

£4 lunch

£20 top up Oyster

£28.13 Tide Lines (gig at Union Chapel)

Open House venues (Bevin Court, Heatherwick Studio, Horse Hospital) - free

26,146 steps

10.94 miles

Sunday:

£4.25 cake

Mudlarking exhibition at St Paul's - free (Totally Thames festival)

Open day at 13 Princelet - free

Highgate Literary & Scientific Society - free (Open House)

16,460 steps

6.74 miles

Monday:

£10 Chelsea Physic Garden

Saatchi Gallery - free

Garrison Chapel - free

£15.07 groceries & wine

£2 bath soap

20,376 steps

8.34 miles

Tuesday:

£1 pain au raisin

15p ginger root

£164 one month travel card (zones 1-2)

Sculpture in the City - free

Talk at Guildhall Library - free

Tower Bridge exhibit at Guildhall Art Gallery - free

19,920 steps

8.16 miles

Wednesday:

£3.70 bread from farmers' market

£3.65 lunch

Museum of Life Sciences - free (Open House)

£7.21 talk at Burgh House

£5 wine at Burgh House

£8 tuna bento box (got 2 meals out of it)

29,058 steps (my walk across Deptford)

11.9 miles

Thursday:

£2.95 maki roll

£2 pastel de nata

£4.58 groceries

£10 one month PAYG on Vodafone

Frieze Sculpture - free

Brunei Gallery - free

October Gallery - free

Foundling Museum - free with Art Pass

Ben Aaronovitch talk - free

24,874 steps

10.18 miles

Friday:

£2.45 lunch (Forgotten Ends - price increase!)

£10.73 groceries & wine

£6.41 Victorian Workhouses talk at London Archives

Islington Museum - free

Modern Art Gallery - free

Bunhill Fields burial ground - free

14,654 steps

6.0 miles

Saturday:

£10.90 farmers' market

£6 Highgate Cemetery

£7.95 slacks from charity shop

£1.08 ibuprofen

24,644 steps

10.35 miles

Sunday:

£10.94 groceries

£1.50 cake

90p Hall's

St Augustine's Church - free (Open House)

Tin Tabernacle - free (Open House)

10,461 steps

4.29 miles