Madrid and London
May 6th, 2014, 05:33 PM
#181
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,989
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Annhig,
Thank you for describing all of those lovely spots within driving distance of Chartwell. Although I won't be driving myself, your suggestions should be very useful to others exploring London surrounds. The area must be charming.
By the way, thank you for encouraging me to take the Tube on my junket last June. (My former elegant travel buddies would only cab it.) Now I realize that from the Strand Palace, I can easily access three Tube stops: CHARING CROSS on the Northern Line, TEMPLE on the Circle, and Covent Garden on the PICCADILY. Also going to use buses including T-Du's suggestion about Bus 87 to the Tate Britain.
Santamonica, you mentioned the Barnes Museum in Philadelphia. Now there's a place I would really love to visit! Hasn't it been recently rehoused? Not sure.
Thank you for describing all of those lovely spots within driving distance of Chartwell. Although I won't be driving myself, your suggestions should be very useful to others exploring London surrounds. The area must be charming.
By the way, thank you for encouraging me to take the Tube on my junket last June. (My former elegant travel buddies would only cab it.) Now I realize that from the Strand Palace, I can easily access three Tube stops: CHARING CROSS on the Northern Line, TEMPLE on the Circle, and Covent Garden on the PICCADILY. Also going to use buses including T-Du's suggestion about Bus 87 to the Tate Britain.
Santamonica, you mentioned the Barnes Museum in Philadelphia. Now there's a place I would really love to visit! Hasn't it been recently rehoused? Not sure.
May 7th, 2014, 01:15 AM
#182
glad to be of assistance, lateday.
while we're talking about buses, don't forget the No 11, which goes right past the Strand Palace, and can take you to victoria via Trafalgar Sqaure, the Mall and Westminster in one direction, and down Fleet Street, up to St Paul's and near to the Tower in the other. As good as a HOHO, but for a fraction of the price.
while we're talking about buses, don't forget the No 11, which goes right past the Strand Palace, and can take you to victoria via Trafalgar Sqaure, the Mall and Westminster in one direction, and down Fleet Street, up to St Paul's and near to the Tower in the other. As good as a HOHO, but for a fraction of the price.
May 7th, 2014, 05:29 AM
#183
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 29,648
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks again to all for the nice words.
Gosh, annhig, you make me want to return to see those villages.
Yes, latedaytrav, Barnes has been re-housed in Philly. santa did a nice TR about it. DH and I went when it was in the original location and I think they replicated it exactly but in an easier-to-reach new location with more amenities. Its works were amazing, but I don't recall the rooms even approaching the beauty of the Courtauld. Can anyone else compare them? My memory stinks and it was negative about what I perceived to be Barnes' heavy-handed arrangements. Philadelphia has some wonderful places to visit.
Thanks for the link, sfmurphys. I'm a card-carrying Liberty shopper thanks to Frankie. Yes, a little bittersweet. I am so grateful we'd travelled while we had good feet. Maybe I'm tamping down feelings, but when I thought, "DH would have loved this," I was able to "carry on"!
Gosh, annhig, you make me want to return to see those villages.
Yes, latedaytrav, Barnes has been re-housed in Philly. santa did a nice TR about it. DH and I went when it was in the original location and I think they replicated it exactly but in an easier-to-reach new location with more amenities. Its works were amazing, but I don't recall the rooms even approaching the beauty of the Courtauld. Can anyone else compare them? My memory stinks and it was negative about what I perceived to be Barnes' heavy-handed arrangements. Philadelphia has some wonderful places to visit.
Thanks for the link, sfmurphys. I'm a card-carrying Liberty shopper thanks to Frankie. Yes, a little bittersweet. I am so grateful we'd travelled while we had good feet. Maybe I'm tamping down feelings, but when I thought, "DH would have loved this," I was able to "carry on"!
May 7th, 2014, 12:08 PM
#184
Gosh, annhig, you make me want to return to see those villages.>>
me too, TD, I still miss Kent, especially the area where we used to live, just north of the Weald. My drive home from the station used to take me through a lovely wooded area and then at the southern end, the view would open out over the plain below, which never failed to make my heart skip a beat.
Why it is largely ignored by foreign tourists i'll never know.
me too, TD, I still miss Kent, especially the area where we used to live, just north of the Weald. My drive home from the station used to take me through a lovely wooded area and then at the southern end, the view would open out over the plain below, which never failed to make my heart skip a beat.
Why it is largely ignored by foreign tourists i'll never know.
May 7th, 2014, 01:51 PM
#186
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,989
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi again T-Du,
I agree with annhig: " good for you TD - i meant to add that you are an example to all of us."
My feelings exactly. Just curious - how did your friends/family back home view your solo jaunt? Where they supportive?
I agree with annhig: " good for you TD - i meant to add that you are an example to all of us."
My feelings exactly. Just curious - how did your friends/family back home view your solo jaunt? Where they supportive?
May 7th, 2014, 02:37 PM
#187
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have been to both Barnes in Philadelphia and to Courtauld in London. The Courtauld if I recall was in a lovely setting in Somerset House by the Strand. The rooms were fairly spacious and nicely decorated and the day we went it was uncrowded. There were maybe two other folks in the room at the same time we were so you were able to pause and admire each of the works. There were benches for you to sit and take it all in if you wish.
Barnes by contrast is in a new modern building with a fountain outside. It is next to the Rodin museum (the one in Philly not the one in Paris) on Benjamin Franklin Parkway and down the hill from the wonderful Philadelphia Museum of Art. Once you pass the entrance area you enter what is supposed to be a replica of the rooms in his original house. The rooms are crammed with all his stuff--more Renoirs than anywhere outside Paris and other impressionist artists are represented as well. It is best to rent the audio guide to tell you why certain pieces were paired together on the wall. Barnes also collected a lot of African masks as well as his collection of paintings. The rooms were very crowded when we entered although it was on a timed ticket basis but you were not as free to roam around due to the constant crowds in each of the rooms. Best to go early in the morning or late in the day when the crowds thin out. I copy an article about Barnes below.
http://archrecord.construction.com/p...Foundation.asp
Barnes by contrast is in a new modern building with a fountain outside. It is next to the Rodin museum (the one in Philly not the one in Paris) on Benjamin Franklin Parkway and down the hill from the wonderful Philadelphia Museum of Art. Once you pass the entrance area you enter what is supposed to be a replica of the rooms in his original house. The rooms are crammed with all his stuff--more Renoirs than anywhere outside Paris and other impressionist artists are represented as well. It is best to rent the audio guide to tell you why certain pieces were paired together on the wall. Barnes also collected a lot of African masks as well as his collection of paintings. The rooms were very crowded when we entered although it was on a timed ticket basis but you were not as free to roam around due to the constant crowds in each of the rooms. Best to go early in the morning or late in the day when the crowds thin out. I copy an article about Barnes below.
http://archrecord.construction.com/p...Foundation.asp
May 7th, 2014, 02:42 PM
#188
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,694
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wonderful trip report tdudette. I am glad it was such a successful solo trip for you. I can't believe I have never heard of Liberty, so I had to go visit the site. A friend of mine teases me about two places he says are magnets for me in London, and I suspect this might make a third.
ldt, I've not been to the Courtald (although I would like to). I visited the Barnes last year. I don't think of the rooms as particularly beautiful but I enjoyed the art very much. His arrangements certainly weren't traditional, but it was interesting to read why he did it the way he did it. Be prepared, should you visit, for what almost everyone I have encountered (and we felt the same) called the museum nazis. A more unwelcoming contingent is hard to imagine as those running the Barnes.
ldt, I've not been to the Courtald (although I would like to). I visited the Barnes last year. I don't think of the rooms as particularly beautiful but I enjoyed the art very much. His arrangements certainly weren't traditional, but it was interesting to read why he did it the way he did it. Be prepared, should you visit, for what almost everyone I have encountered (and we felt the same) called the museum nazis. A more unwelcoming contingent is hard to imagine as those running the Barnes.
May 8th, 2014, 03:18 AM
#189
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,989
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Toucan2 - thanks for the warning. I know that the collection itself is fabulous. I sent for a CD of their holdings some years back.
You will enjoy the Courtauld and its location is very central. Another great smallish Museum in London is the WALLACE COLLECTION. The latter also has a lovely cafe.
You will enjoy the Courtauld and its location is very central. Another great smallish Museum in London is the WALLACE COLLECTION. The latter also has a lovely cafe.
May 8th, 2014, 06:50 AM
#190
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 29,648
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks yet again, ann and lateday. People have been very supportive. They know how much DH and I enjoyed our trips and were glad for me. Not one person wondered (to my face anyway) why I’d go it alone.
Thanks for the Barnes link, europeannovice. There was a huge brouhaha about the move. As I mentioned, I was put off by Barnes’ dictating the order one should see those wonderful works. The building shown in the link is certainly different from the old Barnes.
Hi Toucan2! What are your other 2 sites in London? If I hadn’t been a sewer, I might not have known about Liberty either. Do you suppose they brought the museum nazis (LOL) from the original Barnes?
Thanks for the Barnes link, europeannovice. There was a huge brouhaha about the move. As I mentioned, I was put off by Barnes’ dictating the order one should see those wonderful works. The building shown in the link is certainly different from the old Barnes.
Hi Toucan2! What are your other 2 sites in London? If I hadn’t been a sewer, I might not have known about Liberty either. Do you suppose they brought the museum nazis (LOL) from the original Barnes?
May 8th, 2014, 07:17 PM
#191
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,694
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Daunts, a bookstore for travellers: http://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/shops.asp
Just a beautiful bookstore, you could lose yourself for hours. I visit the one on the Marylebone High Street.
And Lillywhites on Picadilly Circus http://www.lillywhites.com
For some reason I always seem to find the most spectacular deals there, and have been known to simply buy tennis outfits for some of the tennis kids jsut because they were such good deals! I have heard, however, that they were sold a few years back, so things may have changed. I've not been in London for awhile now.
Just a beautiful bookstore, you could lose yourself for hours. I visit the one on the Marylebone High Street.
And Lillywhites on Picadilly Circus http://www.lillywhites.com
For some reason I always seem to find the most spectacular deals there, and have been known to simply buy tennis outfits for some of the tennis kids jsut because they were such good deals! I have heard, however, that they were sold a few years back, so things may have changed. I've not been in London for awhile now.
May 10th, 2014, 03:18 AM
#193
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,989
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi again T-Du,
I am also planning to visit Foyles famous bookstore on Charing Cross Road. It is open until 9 PM so will be a good destination for an early evening stroll.
Have your recovered yet from your trip???
I am also planning to visit Foyles famous bookstore on Charing Cross Road. It is open until 9 PM so will be a good destination for an early evening stroll.
Have your recovered yet from your trip???
May 10th, 2014, 07:42 AM
#195
Been catching up on your report finally. Loving it (was prepping for my own trip when you got into it and have been in London myself since Monday so didn't have a cab pence to read it all til now)
Love your numbered hints.
Love your numbered hints.
May 10th, 2014, 08:40 AM
#196
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 29,648
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Foyles sounds neat also, latedaytraveler. I thought I'd recovered until I found I couldn't figure out the tip at lunch last week! Getting home around 6:30 home time but 11:30 body time was good. I was back on local sleeping time a bit easier.
Thanks LCBoniti!
Thanks LCBoniti!
May 10th, 2014, 08:43 AM
#197
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 29,648
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sorry, anisj, I left the house then sent reply to LCB without checking for other posts. Thanks for your kind words.
In what part of London are you staying? Hope to read a TR from you soon.
In what part of London are you staying? Hope to read a TR from you soon.
May 28th, 2014, 05:32 PM
#200
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,989
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi TDudette,
Glad to see your great TR pop up again. I am leaving June 15 for a ten night solo experience in London. Have planned many things.
Even got a ticket to hear the Mayor of London Boris Johnson in the "State of London" debate at the "new" City Hall on my last night June 25. I really get a kick out of that guy.
Will report on all....
Glad to see your great TR pop up again. I am leaving June 15 for a ten night solo experience in London. Have planned many things.
Even got a ticket to hear the Mayor of London Boris Johnson in the "State of London" debate at the "new" City Hall on my last night June 25. I really get a kick out of that guy.
Will report on all....
