It was time for a little art today so I took myself off to the
Royal Academy of Arts to see the exhibition
Australia which had been recommended to me. Thirteen rooms arranged in chronological order from around 1800 as well as some indigenous art works done on bark. Natural pigments are used and applied in dots and lines to represent myth, dreams and ancestral lands. Everything interweaves. I particularly liked the Early Colonial Art, some by a former convict turned painter. The landscapes are beautiful and show the early settlements in Perth and Sydney...very village-like. The Ned Kelly pictures were interesting. I wasn't quite so keen on Australian Impressionism but I enjoyed later modernist paintings and some sculpture that looks as if its made out of cotton wool and satin - kind of like long tubes of white. They just appeared to shout out 'touch me'. They looked comforting and squashy, something to nestle into like a nice fleece blanket! A very different exhibition and well worth a look.
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| Sculpture in Berkeley Square |
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| Hyde Park |
I had a plan for the afternoon so I had a quick lunch at Pret a Manger then set off towards Green Park tube station. There was a road by this I needed to take in order to find Berkeley Square (wasn't this where the Nightingale sang? ). There were some mythological type statutes here worth a look at before I headed off to the main walk I'd planned around Hyde Park. There is much to see here and I cannot believe I haven't been here before. Well, I might have been past it but I don't remember walking through it. I visited the 7 July Memorial. Each post has the name of someone who died that terrible day in London on the tube or the bus. Afterwards I walked to the Joy of Life Fountain which unfortunately was not working but still pretty to look at. I went up to Speakers Corner and along to a rather fine drinking fountain. I took a pathway down to the Reformers Tree and on to The Serpentine where I stopped for a hot chocolate and a chocolate shortcake. The pigeons and gulls stood by watching every bite!
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7 July Memorial
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Detail of Joy of Life Fountain
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| Reformers Tree |
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| Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain |
Though the day was overcast it was fairly mild and a few brave souls had taken boats out on the lake. I walked as far as the Serpentine Bridge, went over it and down to the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain. By now I was ready for home. I had intended to walk to High Street Kensington tube station but my map reading skills aren't the best and I ended up walking in the opposite direction and into Knightsbridge by which time I needed the loo. I spotted Harvey Nichols store and decided to stop off and use their facilities. It was so nice to have a door opened for me by a man in uniform with a 'Good afternoon madam'! Very nice loos, by the way. At least I had a comfortable journey home!
Tomorrow I just have to tackle the housework. Can't put it off any longer.
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The Serpentine
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