HMS Belfast & St Katharine Docks

I've not blogged about many Nice Days Out recently but I have been going on them, I swear!

I've been making the most of my treat-to-myself membership of Kew Gardens (so wonderful), I've met up with a couple of crafty chums for tea and much nattering, and I've been to a few great exhibitions: Sherlock Holmes: the man who never lived and will never die at the Museum of London, Sargent: portraits of artists and friends at the National Portrait Gallery,and Magnificent Obsessions: the artist as collector at the Barbican.

The Sherlock Holmes exhibition was fascinating and jam-packed with interesting, thoughtfully presented things connected to the character and his creator, to the stories and TV shows and to Victorian London, the city that provided the backdrop for most of the tales. Some of the paintings in the Sargent exhibition were so enchanting, I could have stood and looked at them for hours. But my fave exhibition of the year so far has to be Magnificent Obsessions - so many varied, quirky collections! So much to see and think about re: art and inspiration and obsession!

I also spent a fabulous couple of hours visiting St Paul's Cathedral, the highlight of which was climbing to the top of the dome and looking out over London. Sadly my camera died when I reached the top but a kind fellow tourist took one of my business cards and emailed me some of her photos as a memento of the day. So nice! Fantastic views, an iconic building and the kindness of a stranger, what a great combo.

You can see the amazing views here (sunrise) and here (sunset)... or, of course, by visiting the Cathedral yourself and climbing the 528 steps to the Golden Gallery.

Another incredible space I visited recently was HMS Belfast - a former Royal Navy cruiser now permanently moored by Tower Bridge. This time I remembered to a) take my camera with me and b) charge it before I left for the day! (Hurrah!)

 

The HMS Belfast (like St Paul's) is one of the places where you can currently get discounted entry with an Art Pass. I had totally thought to myself "well, I might as well go and have a quick look round, seeing as it's half price with my Art Pass" and had planned to hop on the Tube afterwards to go somewhere else in the afternoon... and then I spent over three hours exploring all nine decks of the ship, climbing up and down ladders and peering into cabins, listening to all the stories on the audio guide, saying "wow!" a lot and being generally quite overwhelmed at how awesome it was.

After spending aaaaages happily looking round the Belfast, I had a late lunch (sadly the cafe on board is only open at the weekend - bear this in mind if you're planning a visit!) then went for a walk along the river...

This is Hay's Galleria, on the site of the now-filled-in Hay's Wharf - the dock itself (where merchant ships would arrive, filled with tea) is now filled in, the tea warehouses are offices and shops and the whole space has been given a fabulous glass roof.

 

The view across the river:

 

 I loved this sculpture!

The Tower of London and Tower Bridge:

 

 

An old postbox by the bridge:

After reaching Tower Bridge I had planned to walk across it, but on a whim decided to keep walking along the riverfront and I'm glad I did as I not only got to tour a bit of the river I'd not been to before but also stumbled across a make-up advert being filmed which is not something you see every day! 

I walked down to the Design Museum and had a look round their fab shop...

 

... and enjoyed the peace and quiet and quirky sights of assorted wharfs and converted warehouses.

Then I headed back to Tower Bridge...

... crossing over to the other bank...

 

... to visit St Katharine Docks, a smart marina tucked away next to the Tower of London.

 

St Katharine Docks is one of those slightly hidden places that's easy to miss when you first walk past - because of this, though it's right by the Tower and the bustle of all the tourists, it's quiet and peaceful and a lovely place for a walk and a quiet cuppa. Even the Starbucks is a bit posh (and much quieter than the tourist-packed branches nearby).

After admiring all the boats (and a couple of very fancy yachts!) I sat and had a cuppa and a bit of cake and read my book until the spring light faded to dusk and it was time to head home.

I suppose I ought to plan some non-London-based days out sometime soon but, ah, there is just so much to see in this city!

London in the Sunshine... Plus: Bunnies!

My goodness the weather in July was amazing. So much sunshine! So many bright blue skies!

This is what the sky looked like when I headed into London for a Nice Day Out and the 4th Crafty Cuppa. Nice, huh?

 

No-one had let me know they were coming along to that particular Crafty Cuppa so I wasn't really expecting anyone to, but I would have felt terrible if someone had shown up and I'd not been there!

Normally I go and visit something like a museum or a gallery before the Crafty Cuppas, but I got up so late that day that my Nice Day Out ended up being a Nice Afternoon Out instead. Oops. So, I headed straight to the Museum of London and read my book for a bit until I was sure no-one was gonna show up. Then I went into the museum's lovely cafe, drank tea and read my book some more (it was a pretty good book).

 

 

 

I then had a look round some of my favourite galleries in the museum (it's a great place, and free to visit! I really recommend it if you've not been before) then decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go for a walk.

Just round the corner from the museum is Postman's Park (so called because it was a popular lunch spot for the workers of the nearby General Post Office headquarters) which is a surprisingly quiet little space for busy central London.

The park contains the fascinating Watts Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice - a wall of ceramic tablets, commemorating men, women and children who lost their lives while attempting to save others. This is, as you might expect, a touching and at times heartbreaking memorial. If you're interested in reading some of the tablets you can find photos here.

 

Next I walked to nearby shopping centre One New Change, where they have a roof terrace with a great view over London (many thanks to the lovely person who left a comment on my blog telling me about this!). Typically, this was the moment the weather chose to cloud over but the views were still pretty good - especially the view of St Pauls!

 

After admiring the views I headed back down to street level and walked round St Pauls...

... and through Christopher Wren's Temple Bar gateway, which once stood where the Strand meets Fleet Street.

Then I walked to the Tube and headed to the National Portrait Gallery to visit this year's BP Portrait Award exhibition. Such an interesting variety of different portraits!

 

If things had gone to plan, this is where this blog post would have ended: with me heading homewards. Unfortunately, the hot summer weather made the Tube unbearably hot and I felt a little like I might faint (not good!) so I got off several stops early, at South Kensington.

The thought of getting back on the horribly hot Tube was not something I relished, so I decided to walk back to Paddington instead - taking a leisurely stroll through Kensington Gardens.

 

The park was looking lovely in the sunshine, and I stopped to have an icecream along the way (yum).

 

Then when walking along the Hyde Park side of the Long Water (right by the Henry Moore arch)  I stumbled upon something quite delightful: a patch of grass filled with bunnies! I counted a couple of dozen, nibbling the grass and leaping about, it was quite magical.

 

 

 
Watching them was incredibly relaxing (watch this little video I found of one of the Hyde Park bunnies and you'll see what I mean!), and a really lovely end to my day. A field full of bunnies beats an overheated Tube carriage full of sweaty armpits hands down :)

The Handel House Museum... and a Crafty Cuppa

Man, I am so far behind with blogging about my Nice Days Out! I have been taking days off and going to fun places, just not getting round to editing all my photos and blogging about my trips.

Waaaay back in June, it was time for the second Crafty Cuppa of the month so I headed up to London for the day. My plan was to do a whole bunch of tourist-y stuff before lunch, then head over to the Natural History Museum where we were meeting at 2pm. Unfortunately I had a bit of a slow start that day - I can't remember if this was due to laziness or me needing to get something done before I left, but whatever the reason the end result was the same: I got into London much later than expected and didn't have a lot of time to spare before I'd have to hop on the Tube and head NHM-wards.

Only having time to squeeze in one thing from my planned list, I picked visiting the Handel House Museum. I'm not at all interested in classical music so you'd think visiting the home of a famous composer wouldn't be my cup of tea... but I was really looking forward to it after after visiting the Foundling Museum earlier this year and learning a bit about Handel's life and philanthropic work. Plus, like the Foundling Museum, the Handel House Museum is another place I can get in free with my Art Pass. Hurrah!

The house is just off super-fancy New Bond Street, with the entrance tucked round the back of the building.

You go down a little side street...

... turn right, and there it is.

 

When you arrive at the house, there's an introductory video to watch but I skipped this because I knew I was going to be short of time. Once you've been introduced to Handel and his work, you can explore his house and then look round the exhibitions in the adjoining building (where Jimi Hendrix once rented a flat!).

The rooms have been restored and furnished with pieces that are similar to ones known to have been owned by Handel, with lots of portraits and other pictures on the walls relating to his life and work. In each of the four rooms, you learn about a different period of Handel's life - there are detailed information sheets that tell you about the composer's life and about all the objects and art in the rooms. 

Now, sitting and reading lots of facts about a long-dead composer and his life in Georgian London is not for everyone but I loved it and I got so absorbed reading the interesting sheets in each room (and making notes, because I am that much of a nerd) that I totally forgot to check the time... and all of a sudden I had to rush to catch the Tube! So, no time to look round the exhibition but maybe I'll pop back in another day? 

I got to the Natural History Museum just in time (phew) for the Crafty Cuppa.

I was joined by Julie, Carina and Fiona and it wasn't long before we were nattering away about making and blogging while enjoying a cuppa and some very yummy cake in the museum's cafe. The plan had been to wander round the museum but unfortunately it turns out the the NHM is very stuffy on a hot day, so we decided to go for a walk instead.

We checked out a photography exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society...

... then walked through Hyde Park...

 

 

 

... and visited the Sackler Serpentine Gallery.

 

Finally, after much walking and chatting we headed to Kensington High Street...

 

(I held everyone up so I could cross the road to take a photo of this building - typical blogger behaviour - isn't it delightfully bonkers?)

... then said our goodbyes at the Tube station and headed homewards.

Such a lovely afternoon.

PS There will be two more Crafty Cuppas happening in August! You can see the dates & some more details here and I'll be blogging the full meet-up info at the start of the month. Carina & Julie (as part of the &Stitches team) are also hosting a stitch-y picnic on the first weekend of August which looks like a lot of fun.