Saturday 23^rd August                               LONDON

Well, we’ve had a lovely day today, full of London landmarks! It’s turned slightly warmer, it’s a Bank Holiday weekend, and London is full of happy tourists.

We got ourselves organised and ready to leave the flat this morning by nine o’clock, after a chat to Cait and Danny. I’d sent Danny the link to Paddington and the Balloons, in which Paddington floats over lots of London landmarks, all of which we’ve seen. Cait said he was enraptured by it all!

Glen arrived to join us as we left – we’d decided to head to the Trafalgar Square area, as that’s where the major art galleries are. Lex was going straight there, but Glen and I both got off at St James’s Park – he wanted to find a historic blue plaque, and I wanted to go via Buckingham Palace and walk from there. The crowds were beginning to build as we arrived, but we were able to get an excellent view of the Grenadier Guards changing over and marching along. The flag was up, which I believe indicates His Majesty is at home. We took lots of photos and soaked up the royal vibes, then visited the Royal Gallery Gift Shop so I could get a fridge magnet. (Am getting slightly worried about the weight of the fridge magnets I’m bringing home!)

Happy royal fan!

Changing the guards

Statue of Queen Victoria in front of the Palace

After this, Glen headed off to look for his plaque, and I went up the Mall. It was closed to traffic today, so it was lovely to wander through St James Park and watch the squirrels playing. I tried and tried to get a decent photo, but they move very quickly! It took about 25 minutes (not including squirrel chasing) to walk to Trafalgar Square. I admired the lions and Nelson’s Columns and from there, I walked around behind the National Art Gallery to the National Portrait Gallery. I happened to go in the door which led to the café, so decided it was certainly time for a cuppa and a biscuit before artistic pursuits.

Nelson's Column and one of the lions

Feeling refreshed, I headed for the Tudor galleries on the top floor, and worked my way down. We’ve never been to this particular gallery before, so I’d never seen most of the pieces in ‘real life’. There were paintings of all of my favourite historical figures, some I was unfamiliar with, so I had a lovely time working my way through the centuries. Two hours passed all too quickly, before Lex texted, and we met up in the foyer.

Lovely portrait of Katherine Parr, Henry VIII's 6th wife (survived!)

His son, Edward VI, king at 9 years old.

Sir Thomas More (more about him later)

He’d scoped out the cafe below the church of St Martin in the Field, just across the road from the gallery, so we checked, and there were tables available (never a certainty in London). I texted Glen, and we met up for lunch there. The café is in the crypt, which gives it a nice historic air! We all enjoyed our lunch, then headed out again after a look in the church,  which is just beautiful.

St Martin's-in-the-Field

                                                               Lunch was in the Crypt!

Glen went off for a wander, while Lex and I headed across the road to the National Art Gallery. We happily left our bags in the locker room, and went off to our chosen galleries. I started in the medieval, and worked my way up to the French Impressionists, where I met Lex again (always our favourites!) By about quarter to three, I decided I’d better be on my way, so I walked up to Embankment, caught the subway to South Kensington, popped into Sainsbury’s for tea, and was home by 3.30. The reason for this was the upcoming trip to the theatre, which meant we had to be fed and out the door in time to get to the play, which started at 7.30.

My favourite Renoir there - The Skiff 1875

Half the room was clustering around Van Gogh's Sunflowers, but I actually preferred this painting of his - A Wheatfield, with Cypresses 1889

I washed my hair and was just having afternoon tea when Lex arrived home. I popped on a load of washing while he had a nap, and we had a lazy hour or two before the evening began.

Glen came down for tea (Sainsbury’s Chicken Tikka Masala) at quarter to six, then we got ourselves organised and out the door by quarter past. A train came immediately at South Kensington, and all was going swimmingly until they announced that we wouldn’t be stopping at Embankment because of a fire alarm there! Luckily we had left early, as we had to get off at the next stop and walk back – probably an extra 10/15 minutes. But we arrived at the theatre not long after 7, and got straight in to the Royal Circle seats I’d booked. We had time to have a drink before the show and admire the Harold Pinter Theatre – it was built circa 1880, and is beautifully decorated with lots of gilt embellishments. It’s not a particularly big theatre, so we had a really good view of the stage looking down.

                                                    Harold Pinter Theatre

Looking down from our seats onto the Tudor set

    Publicity still from outside - Annie Kingsnorth as Meg, Martin Shaw as Thomas More, Abigail                                                            Cruttenden as Alice Moore

A Man for all Seasons was excellent – I’d never seen it before, though of course I knew the sad story of Sir Thomas More. And Martin Shaw in the lead was so believable – he played More perfectly. It was a brilliant production all round. No photos were allowed during the play, of course. It ended a bit after ten, and we walked back to Embankment, which thankfully was open again. London was certainly buzzing at that time of night – people everywhere! The tube was crowded and we had to stand all the way back, but fortunately it’s not a long trip. We were home a bit after 11 – a late night out for us!