We started with a cuppa at Tibits off Regent Street then decided to take advantage of the lovely sunshine (a welcome change after weeks of grey skies and showers!) to have a leisurely stroll around the area while chatting about making & blogging... and, of course, taking lots of photos for our blogs, haha :)
We visited Savile Row (famous for its bespoke tailors)...
... and were quite delighted to discover that the large basement windows of the buildings give you a tantalising glimpse into the tailors' workshops.
There are a lot of small art galleries dotted around Mayfair and we visited just a few of them, including The Fine Art Society, the Halcyon Gallery, the Opera Gallery, Blain Southern and Pace London.
The current exhibition at the Halcyon Gallery is particularly fabulous...
... featuring some of Dale Chihuly's crazy and colourful glass sculptures. I'd seen lots of his work in photos before but only ever seen the chandelier at the V&A "in person", it was great to see a whole exhibition and to see the gorgeous colours and interesting organic shapes up close. The exhibition is on until early April and it's free to view, do go along if you can!
As well as looking at lots of art and stopping to eat a picnic lunch in Berkeley Square, we did plenty of window shopping... admiring the lovely window displays in the designer shops and oohing over the beautiful, expensive things in the windows of stores like Tiffany and Fabergé and the little antique shops in the Burlington Arcade...
... and the Royal Arcade.
Mayfair is full of gorgeous buildings that were all looking splendid in the sunshine...
... especially this gilded building which, it turns out, used to be the premises of perfumer Atkinsons and houses (in its tower) London's only Carillon.
Late in the afternoon we walked past Liberty, resisting its siren song...
... had a cuppa at the cafe in The Photographers' Gallery cafe...
... then headed to the Tube via Carnaby Street (love those lights!)
I'm really looking forward to the return of the warmer weather so I can take some more walks around different areas of the city!
Oooh sounds like a great day out, I love just wandering around London - there's always something new to discover :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post again! Oh I love Chihully!You are so lucky to see some of his work!AriadnefromGreece!
ReplyDeleteSuzi - there is! I've bought a couple of books of London walks which are packed with lots of interesting things to spot along the way, which should be fun :)
ReplyDeleteAriadne - I'm really glad we stumbled upon the exhibition, I had no idea it was on so it was a great surprise!