A VERY BRITISH SUMMER

After talking about the sun and the last days of summer in our little kingdom, today we woke up to a rainy morning.

Perfect day to pour a good tea and enjoy the rainy morning at home.  

END OF THE SUMMER

Today was another sunny “end of summer day” in our little kingdom and was a perfect reason to have a walk through Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Westminister, then to the Borough Market by the riverside.

There was the Real Food Market in Southbank. Queen’s Walk was surprisingly uncrowded. Even the Founders Arms in Blackfriars was half empty and we enjoyed our cidres there on the riverside under the sun. Then we headed to the Borough Market for a yummy duck sandwich.

Afternoon, we went to our first “afternoon tea” in London. In Turkey we call the afternoon tea “five o’clock tea”, that’s why we reserved our table for five o’clock in Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon at Fortnum&Mason.

We tried two of the three afternoon tea options, the traditional and the savoury ones. We were happy to combine both and to have the chance of trying different tastes. Because of not writing a afternoon tea “quality” critic here, as a couple who has a good tea and patisserie culture, we can just say that it was nice to live the traditional English afternoon tea experience in a place like Fortnum&Mason but that’s it.  

LOWRY AND THE PAINTING OF MODERN LIFE

We met with Lowry and his art last year in Manchester when we visited Lowry Collection in  Salford Quays and we loved his colors, his way to paint the life in industrial towns. We enjoyed the 20 minutes film about his life in the gallery and we bought a Lowry book to bring to our home the fascinating colors of his paintings.

LS Lowry (1887-1976) who painted the modern life, daily life of working class, crowds, industrial landscapes during all his life, now is in Tate Britain in London until 20 October 2013.

It was a big pleasure to see your beautiful paintings again Mr. Lowry.     

SCOTLAND’S DOORS

Some Scottish doors from Edinburgh and Rosslyn Chapel.

More door photos here and here. 

VERMEER AND MUSIC EXHIBITION

The last days of summer in our little kingdom and we are trying to catch up the exhibitions we didn’t visit yet in London.

Today we headed to The National Gallery for Vermeer and Music exhibition to enjoy Johannes Vermeer’s and other XVII. century Dutch artists’ music themed paintings. In the exhibition we also had a chance to observe different music instruments of same period between the halls.

The exhibition is open until 8 September in The National Gallery.

BRIXTON WINDMILL

London is a different city. Before moving here, for us, London was a European capital city and UK was a European country. But after living here, we saw that Brits are Brits and Britain is clearly different than European culture. London also is quite different than the other European metropolitans for lots of things.

There are pros and cons of this differences  but one of the good things is that you can find little countrylike escapes inside of the city, like walking along the canal or being next to a windmill in the middle of the city. Sitting in a old pub and feeling like you are in a inn in the countryside. (How many ins or inns we can put in a sentence?)

When we first saw this 15 m. windmill in Brixton last year, we felt like we had one of the surprise gifts that London was hiding behind.  Brixton Windmill was built in XIX. century and served as a windmill until 1934. Since then was restored few times and today, is open to the public for visits on special open days through the year.  

SINGING IN THE RAIN

It's raining in London. And we are...

Singing and dancing in the raaain!

LAKE DISTRICT: WINDERMERE

Lake District National Park in Cumbria is one of the most attractive touristic destinations of UK and was part of our little road trip we made few weeks ago. Because of being there only 2,5 days, our visit was concentrated around one of the most popular lakes, Windermere.

During our stay in Lake District, we visited little towns around Windermere, enjoyed three boat trips in the lake, made a gentile 4 mile walk along the lake from the Wray Castle to the Ferry House and enjoyed the incredible, beautiful sun. It was a total 2.5 day of well spent relaxing time. This time was more a touristic trip but for the next time we hope to rent a cottage in Western Lake District and enjoy the less crowded part of the national park.