30 June 2015 - Greenwich - on the day when a second was added!

It is summer!  It is 30 C and we are cautioned by public announcement at the stations: "As the weather is hot, please carry water at all times and get off the train at the nearest station if you feel unwell and ask for assistance".  Never get that type of advice where we come from!!

Canary Wharf

Lemmie the pigeon scaring Harris Hawk

Quite a nice sort of job I'd imagine!

 Greenwich, on longitude 0 degrees, straddling the east and west meridians, was on our list of "to do's".  We travelled there by tube and the Docklands Light Railway.  A beautiful cloudless day but hot travelling on the trains.  While we were waiting on the platform at Canary Wharf we saw a man with a Harris Hawk sitting on his arm.  On asking, his hawk: "Lemmie", was  a working bird used to deter pigeons on the platforms.  We certainly have noticed the huge pigeon population...and people still feed them!

 

 Walking along the streets from the station we passed by shops such as "Greenwich Book Time" and "The Lost Hour" which had me giggling to myself.

Prince Frederick's barge for travelling up and down the Thames

 We walked up to Greenwich Park and had our picnic under the shade of the trees before we ventured into the Maritime Museum.  After all the museums we have seen recently, this was quite different - open and light and plenty to do and learn.  We took time to watch some of the videos and I particularly enjoyed the presentation of buoys and lighthouses. 

I loved this display of figureheads!

Battle of Trafalgar - Turner

King Henry VIII - Holbein - royal founder of Trinity House

  Luke loved the fantastic play area :"Ahoy" and it was hard to drag him away.  The big kids played with him for a bit.  He immerses himself into the play acting and costumes so quickly and thoroughly.

 

Ahoy! Play area - balancing the ship

Ahoy play area - cooking crab soup!

Return to Australia!

Walk up Observatory Hill, Greenwich

Posing for a photo!

 From the Maritime Museum we walked up the hill to Observatory Hill to the East/West Meridian line and the Greenwich Clock.  This was quite a steep climb but we are used to walking.  Even midweek there were people everywhere but as we walked further into the gardens, the crowds dissipated.

The Greenwich Clock

Mean time - up close!

Straddling Eat and West Meridians - 0 degrees Longitude

The Observatory Gardens are lovely but a bit heat stressed and we wandered around a bit but our energy was flagging.  Finally we found a water fountain to replenish our supplies and made it back to Greenwich Village where we enjoyed a packet of ice creams from Sainsburys.

Climbing trees!

Finding peanuts hidden by squirrels!

Tree gnome

Alongside the withering flower beds in  the heat.

We were all glad to get home but wouldn't mind a fan up here on the third floor and especially for the big kids in their loft. 

29 June 2015 - Catching up with another friend at Little Venice

The summer is here (ish!).  London is warm and our upper floor flat heats up a bit, especially the loft where the big kids sleep.  Nothing like Australian summer of course but warm enough to make nights a little uncomfortable especially when Luke joins us in the night!

Early morning shopping tasks done and all tidied, I walked down to our local station to meet my dear friend, Fiona, from midwifery days in Dumfries.  She now lives in Gosport south of London.  She offered to travel by train so we could catch up.  So excited!

Well, who said selfies are good photos?

We recognised each other immediately and walked back to the flat so she could meet the family and vice versa.  Then Fiona and I walked down to Little Venice for a good old chat and catch up.  Little Venice is quiet and a lovely spot to sit canal side without crowds and enjoy the environment and talk!

And talk we did over a couple of cuppas and FOUR hours later, when the canal boat cafe was packing up their chairs, we realised how long we'd been talking!!!  And we kept talking and catching up on 25 years as we walked home past Alan Turing's and David Ben Gurion's houses in Maida Vale.

Well there you go, another well known name in our district!

Fiona was travelling back to Gosport so couldn't stay for long but Luke entertained her to the last minute as we had another cup of tea!

Luke giving Fiona a lesson on dragons

Annika had kindly cooked dinner for us which great!  I feel like I've had a real day off!  Thanks to all!

28 June 2015 - Back to HTB and the National Gallery

We decided that we would head back to Holy Trinity Brompton for the 11.30 AM service.  It was introduced by none other than Nicky Gumbell of the Alpha Course fame and then the sermon was given by Nicky and Sila Lee, the pioneers of "The Marriage Course" and various parenting courses.  It was amazing to hear the voices and see them in person having seen these people on various DVD's over the years!

The Sermon was on Luke 7: 36-50, with theme of hospitality : "Pray, Eat, Love" - a slight twist on the title of the popular book "Love, Eat, Pray".  The challenge was to welcome our neighbours with love no matter what our homes are like.  After the service, in the cafe in the crypt we met an American couple: Ashley and Gary who work for Serge, a mission organisation for the Presbyterian Church.  They are in London for 5 years and have been here for 5 months so far. It was lovely to talk to them.

Wellington Arch

We had planned to meet Tim after church but he waited outside the wrong church, unfortunately, and eventually went home.  He is unwell and has a fever, poor lad.  He is having a bad run so at least with the term over, he can rest.  Mind you he often walks/runs 10 plus kms and pushes himself physically.

Inside the Gallery

Karl and I really wanted to get back to the National Gallery to see the rooms that have been closed due to industrial action but would be open on Sundays!  Annika wasn't keen and Luke was tired, but we did walk there and they did endure a bit of the gallery for which we were thankful.  We had our picnic in Green Park just near to Buckingham Palace.  Luke kept busy on pigeon duty for some of the time and we found a nice seat to sit on!

A Picnic - Goya

The Marriage of Frederick Barbarossa - Tiepolo

Our goal was the 17th-19th Century Rooms where all the Gainsboroughs, van Goghs, Renoirs and others were displayed and we were not disappointed.  The six or so rooms we saw exhibited some of the wonderful well known paintings we love so it was well worth it.  

One of many paintings of Venice by Canaletto

Mr and Mrs Andrews - Gainsborough

Nice to see some female painters: Self portrait in a straw hat - Elisabeth Louise Vigele Le Brun

A Child with an apple - Greuze

Bathers at Asnieres - Seurat

The Louvre under Snow - Pisarro

The Skiff - Renoir

Snow Scene at Argenteuil - Monet

Gare St Lazare - Monet

The Seine at Port-Marly - Sisley

The Water Lily Pond - Monet

Van Gogh's Chair - van Gogh

Sun flowers - van Gogh

Two crabs - van Gogh

Portrait of Cezanne - Pisarro

Head of a Peasant Woman - van Gogh

Men of the Docks - Bellows

Ballet Dancers - Degas

Combing the hair - Degas - somehow familiar!

One of my favourites!!Three Dancers in Violet Tutus - Degas

On our way out, it was important to spend some time looking at the lovely floor mosaics.  Luke, being Luke got right down and checked them out!  There are so easy to miss and so wonderful to stop at! 

Floor mosaics - magpie - different from Australian magpies

Finch and spider in web - pays to look down!

Afterwards we were keen to just get home and took the tube home.  The kids are confident finding their way down the escalators and along the corridors.  So far, the Bakerloo Line has been reliable and efficient.

Down, down , down to the tube!

As most of the supermarkets close at 5PM on Sundays we had to shop at Tesco Express which has longer opening hours.  Unlike Australia where our shops are open for longer and even 24 hours in some circumstances, we have to remember the reduced hours and be prepared.  As our fridge here is tiny, we really have to shop every day.

27 June 2015 - The Wallace Collection

After researching when St Augustine's Church, Kilburn, would be open we discovered that it is open on Saturday mornings so we thought we would go and look as it was listed as "London's Cathedral of the North".  It so happened that today the church fare was being held there so we walked into a noisy fun atmosphere where we enjoyed good old fashioned community spirit, second hand books, coffee and tea and home baking as well as access to the church and a guided tour of the beautiful Gothic building which was built in 1880.

St Augustine's Church - St Michael's chapel

 The church is a "high" Church of England gravitating towards Roman Catholicism with chapels of St Michael and Our Lady flanking the main area.  The marble tiles on the floor reminded me of beautiful patchwork quilts in their design and colours.  The frescoes, both Old and New Testament scenes, and stained glass were magnificent.  The high arches were indeed Gothic and similar to others we have seen.  Apparently there is a choir each Sunday and a huge pipe organ. The member of the congregation who was our tour guide gave us plenty of time to ask questions and was really informative...and that was just the beginning of our day exploring!

The wedding at Cana - water into wine

Beautiful fresco

Stained glass windows

Marble carved pulpit

Nativity fresco

Marble mosaic - like patch work quilts!

Amazing, all from naturally occurring stone!

Looking toward the altar

In one word: Grand!

Who'd believe we were in the heart of London when it looks like a country church fair?!

One of the bell towers

Pushing through the Pride March

My Dad had told me about the Wallace Collection and we were keen to see it.  We walked to Manchester Square, not far from Baker Street which was about 5 kms but we were used to walking so we hardly noticed!  There were road blocks and all sorts of noise and cheering ahead of us as we turned towards Baker Street and we had inadvertently stumbled across the gathering crowd at the Pride March - rainbow colours everywhere and lots of merriment.  We walked through the crowd, found Manchester Square and sat in the grounds for our snack and then entered the gallery.

Hertford House, home of the Wallace Collection

Hertford House, The Wallace Collection

So very posh!

The Music Party - Watteau

Mantel clock

 Wow!  The Wallace Collection is a unique art collection comprising paintings, ceramics, furniture and even an armoury, displayed in Hertford House.  It was a private collection of  the 4th Marquess of Hertford, who left it to his illegitimate son, sir Richard Wallace, whose widow then bequeathed the whole collection to the nation with the condition that no object ever leave the collection, even for loan exhibitions! So, what we were privileged to see today, can only be seen at Hertford House.  What made this magnificent display even better was the fact it was exhibited in the glamorous house with its beautifully rich decor,, exquisite curtains and perfect light.  We saw Flemish and Dutch Masters, Rubens and Rembrandts and many others.  The miniatures were hidden under leather curtains and superbly preserved and then there were Limoges Enamels and Italian Glass, the shields and suits of armour and also French furniture.  Candy for the senses!  This collection along with the V and A Museum are my favourite art galleries in London and are free! 

East Drawing Room

The Good Samaritan - Rembrandt

Self Portrait - Rembrandt

The Artist's son - Rembrandt

Merryment in a tavern - Jan Steen

The Alchemist - Jan Steen

The Harpsicord Lesson - Jan Steen

 I loved the depiction of daily life, in particular the Jan Steen paintings, known for chaos and reality of life in those times.  They really capture a "fly on the wall" moment in time.

Luke was checking out all the animal feet on the base of cabinets.  He found lion's, goat's and possibly cow's feet on the 18th Century French cabinets.

French chest of drawers - 1710 - note lion's feet!

Perseus and Andromeda - Velazquez

The virgin in glory with saints adoring - Murillo

Don Baltasse - Velazquez

Mary and Elizabeth - Rubens

The Rainbow Landscape - Rubens

Portrait - Prud'hon

West Gallery

West Gallery II

Miniatures

A stately place, looking to courtyard

Another drawing room

More clocks showing Roman IIII

Clock I in Study

Clock II in Study - French 1725

24 Stations of the Cross - exquisite Limoges Enamel

Limoges Painted Enamel platter

Italian Maiolica - Renaissance Tin-Glazed Ceramics

3 Galleries of armour!  Luke was enthralled

Glad to see some horse armour

Note unicorn spike on this one!

Shepherd's Dog - Bonheur

 We set off homeward bound to the loud music of the Pride March which was in full swing.  Some of the costumes were extraordinary and rather risque...need I say more.  The images may never leave me!

Pride March

Just casually on a wall in Baker Street!

 Baker Street, made famous by the fictitious Sherlock Holmes and his residence at 221B, had quite a queue lined up for the museum there.  We have grown accustomed to the crowds on the streets but it is hard work walking on the pavements in London at times dodging people and traffic.  Our journey home took us past Lords Cricket Ground and the Abbey Road (Beatles) crossing (again - more tourists today!) and finally back to Kilburn.

Outside Lord's Cricket Ground

Take away chicken and salad for dinner and a family movie: "Blank Cheque".  We probably clocked up about 12 kms today so, I for one, am ready to sit!