London


Travel - For us, it is always LNER train travel, from York To London in under 2 hours


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Accommodation - the best value hotels in the best locations are Premier Inn, they have hotels across the city that are always comfortable. Recently we have also stayed at the Ibis Styles in Southwark and that was very good, the decor more fun than the Premier Inn, and a great continental breakfast was included. 


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We stay in London as often as we can, as it is such a vibrant, fun and exciting city, with the widest, broadest range of cultural experiences. No matter how often we go, we always see and experience something new.


We particularly enjoy staying at Southwark, which is close to Borough Market, the River Thames, the Tate Modern, Southwark Cathedral, the Imperial War Museum, the Golden Hind and St Paul's Cathedral. There are also some great places to eat out and Borough Market has great food.


There are a few train stations you can use around there including Southwark and London Bridge.


There is also the benefit of walking right alongside the River Thames for as far as you would like to go. It is 2.5 miles from Southwark Cathedral to the House of Parliament, and you could always catch a boat back. Seeing London from a boat along the Thames is another great way to appreciate the city.


Borough Market has foods from around the world and is a great place to get an excellent lunch.


Very close to Borough Market is Southwark Cathedral. It is worth a visit, in addition, they sometimes have Mudlarking Exhibitions, and they have a great cafe with facilities.


The Tate Modern (free), has a wonderful range of modern art that will challenge all your perceptions. The Tate Modern building was originally a power station, it is huge and inside is the great Turbine Hall which often has very large exhibits, a favourite of mine recently was flying aliens. Also there are great views from the top floors, if they are open, otherwise the second floor has a cafe with fabulous views over the River Thames across to St Paul’s Cathedral. 


The Imperial War Museum is at Southwark and although I am not particularly interested in wars, it is a fantastic museum which makes you think about the social aspects of war, along with learning more about the machinery and equipment used.  It is all very well presented.


The National Gallery is on the iconic Trafalgar Square behind Nelson's Column, an area that is always a hive of activity. The National Gallery (free) has a number of world famous paintings, its galleries are displayed in a chronological fashion from the religious paintings of the 13th to 15th Centuries through to the 20th Century. 


My Top 5 National Gallery paintings are:

  1. Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Artemisia Gentileschi. A highly talented female artist who faced adversity herself, and painted iconic heroines from history.
  2. The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger. Make sure to look at the skull and enjoy the complexity of this painting, along with the imagery within.
  3. Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian. Enjoy the storytelling of the famous myth, the expertise of the composition, and the splendid deep blue background, with its generous use of lapis lazuli.
  4. The Fighting Temeraire by JMW Turner. The era of the towed old ship has passed, and in the background the colourful sunset of yellows, golds, oranges, pinks and browns. Arguably, Turner’s best painting. 
  5. The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius by Carlo Crivelli. The story, the geometric design, the colours and the symbolism, all make this a really fascinating picture.


The National Portrait Gallery (free) next door has recently been refurbished, I much prefer it now, it reflects a more diverse society and history. Again, the paintings are displayed chronologically from Tudor Times, all the way through to Contemporary times. 


My favourites are the Elizabeth I paintings, with the strength of her persona and the fine detail of her clothes. I also really enjoy the famous people over time from Isaac Newton to Lord Byron. The painting of William Wordsworth by Benjamin Robert Haydon, is a favourite, it shows William Wordsworth in thought, in a countryside setting, and thinking about the words for his next poem. Another one I particularly like, is ‘The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge,’ now the Prince and Princess of Wales by Jamie Coreth, it captures them both exceptionally well, Catherine looks confident, strong and beautiful, but it is her dress that stands out from a plain beige background, with its bright, green, metallic, effervescence. She is definitely the peacock to the peahen in this painting. 

 

The Royal Academy of Arts is another favourite in a fabulous location, near to the exciting Piccadilly area, the Ritz Hotel and fine food store, Fortnum and Mason. The best time to visit is in the summer for their Summer Exhibition, which is a collection of arts selected especially for the exhibition, that includes sculptures and architecture as well. You can buy many of the items that start at under £250, but your favourites will probably cost considerably more. There’s a sense of being seen at the exhibition, that adds to the atmosphere and enjoyment. There is also a nice cafe downstairs. 


If you are visiting London you cannot really miss the British Museum (free), with its vast range of ancient artefacts from around the world. 


My British Museum Top 5 are:

  1. The Egyptian Mummies - this collection is vast, with mummies, coffins and burial objects. An insight into life in Egypt at that time.
  2. The Easter Island Moai - an impressive, decorative sculpture with a tale about his capture and a consideration of his future.
  3. Sutton Hoo - the early AD 600’s ship burial found in England and the intricate gold and red garnet jewels found inside. See the film ‘The Dig,’  for further details or visit Sutton Hoo National Trust property in Suffolk.
  4. The Rosetta Stone - with three different languages repeating a Decree about the King carved onto the stone, this was a valuable key to deciphering the hieroglyphs.
  5. The Portland Vase - dates AD 5-25, it demonstrates the incredible craft and skills of the Romans. It inspired Josiah Wedgwood, the famous potter, to spend three years trying to copy the vase, which he finally recreated in 1789, the first person to see the recreation was Erasmus Darwin, the grandfather of Charles Darwin.


Any of the exhibitions at the British Museum are always worth a visit, they are superbly presented and always introduce you to something new in history. 


The John Soanes Museum (free) is well worth a visit, the exhibits here reflect the passion for architecture that John Soanes had. They include an Egyptian coffin with hieroglyphs, classical sculptures, and a myriad of objet d’arts. It feels very personal and is displayed in what was once his home. 


The Wallace Collection (free) is a wonderful place to visit, with paintings from Titian, Velázquez, Rubens and Van Dyck and one of the finest collections of 18th-century French paintings and decorative arts. There are also medieval and Renaissance objects, including Limoges enamel, maiolica, glass and bronzes. These are all displayed within Hertford House, the former home to Sir Richard and Lady Wallace, which adds to the feeling of a home rather than a gallery. 


The absolutely magical painting I love the most here is The Swing by Fragonard (1767-68), which is said to have inspired Walt Disney. It is set in an idyllic green garden with a beautiful young woman wearing an apricot dress and matching hat, on a swing, as she throws off her tiny shoe in a flirtatious manner towards an admirer. The garden putti statues look alive, and their eyes are all focused on the girl. 


The Kensington Museums - all free

The exhibitions at these museums are always fantastic, and a way to contribute to their upkeep.


The Natural History Museum is full of life and earth specimens comprising some 80 million items. There is a new garden walk with dinosaurs and creatures from 200 million years ago. The dinosaurs and mammals exhibition is the part I head to first, it is a fantastic museum, that is vast. Make sure to take time to look at the architecture of the building, both inside and out, the details that represent the subject are phenomenal. Look out for the monkeys, botanical illustrations, birds, dodo, fish and gargoyles. 



The National Science Museum, again is vast, so don’t try to see it all, my Top 5 areas to explore are:

  1. Exploring Space - Planet earth, spaceships, rockets.
  2. Who am I? - What makes you unique?
  3. The Medicine Gallery - The main medical advances, including penicillin. 
  4. Mathematics - the Winton Gallery - see how the economic cycle works, how the enigma code was broken, how lottery machines work, and the Horse Racing Tote Machine.
  5. Making the Modern World - The Apollo 10 command module, Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 1, Crick and Watson’s DNA model and the first Apple computer.




The Victoria and Albert Museum is the final museum, they are all close to one another in Kensington, but they are each too big to see all three properly in one day. Personally, I would not try more than one at a time.


The V and A, as it is more often known, is an eclectic museum with ancient artefacts from around the world, fashion, jewelry and stately home settings.


In 1899, Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for the buildings, at this moment, she renamed what had been the South Kensington Museum as the Victoria and Albert Museum. She had wanted to name it solely the 'Albert Museum' to mark her husband's part in its creation, but protocol demanded her name be included. 


Don’t forget to look out for the architectural features at the V and A, such as the mosaic floor, Victoria and Albert's initials, the ceramic staircase, the hexagonal ceiling tiles and the ceramic reliefs. The letters 'S' and 'A' in the decoration of the Staircase stand for 'Science' and 'Art' – the collections that were first displayed at the museum, and the disciplines taught in the schools here.


There’s a great cafe inside, and you can also drink outside in the John Madejski Garden, with its lovely shallow paddling pool.   


My Top 5 at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V and A) are: 

  1. Trajan's Column - the biggest object in the museum collection, a plaster copy of the stone monument, built almost 2,000 years ago in Rome, Italy. The carvings illustrate famous battles that happened between the years 101 and 106 AD. 
  2. David – the original statue is in Florence, Italy. The copy is made of lots of pieces of plaster fitted together. He is a handsome giant. 
  3. Tippoo's Tiger - this historically significant tiger was made for Tipu Sultan, it is wooden, well painted, almost life-sized, and has an organ inside. The tiger is on top of a European soldier, mauling him. 
  4. Dame Edna’s Breakfast Dress - a yellow dress, with a baked bean collar, and a plated skirt. All the ingredients of a fry-up have been included on this dress. 
  5. Beyonce’s 'papillon' ring - in the shape of a butterfly, is an example of naturalism in contemporary fine jewellery. The wings gently 'flutter' and as they move, the vivid green tsavorites and diamonds sparkle.