To Piccadilly and back

Today was a test of my orienteering skills. I decided to venture to Piccadilly Circus, the National Portrait Gallery, and then have an afternoon snack in Soho. I also wanted to take the overland train, which was actually very soothing in the way it undulated over the landscape. It gave a great view of the city, too.

I rode the overland train to Elephant & Castle, and took a bit of a tour of LCC. It was so exciting! The school was in end-of-the-year mode and you could sense the excitement and nostalgia of the students. Everyone was chattering and taking down their projects from the gallery spaces. I'm excited.

I then found my way to the Bakerloo line and Piccadilly Circus, which was madness. Does it ever calm down? It's always so packed! Is that man bouncing a soccer ball on his head to the beat of "Eye of the Tiger" really so compelling?

After a few studies of the map, I managed to make my way to the back of the National Gallery. I was overwhelmed with relief when I saw the back of the building and the huge "National Gallery" banner. Around the side of the National Gallery was a little door to the National Portrait Gallery, and that's where I spent my afternoon. There were some amazing pieces. I overhead some of the visitors saying that all those eyes staring out were creepy, but the skill demonstrated in the pieces just amazed me.



My favourite area was Room 16, a small space dedicated to a single-room exhibit titled Queens in Waiting: Charlotte and Victoria. The unfinished watercolour of Princess Charlotte by Thomas Heaphy was the piece that I kept returning to time and time again. In it's unfinished state, it looked so surreal and bizarre, but the watercolours also make it so soft and romantic. I really liked that juxtaposition, and the fact that you can see the artist's work in progress. I noticed that my favourite pieces at the Degas exhibit were also his preliminary sketches where you could see his pencil marks and almost read his thoughts as he planned his painting.

The portraits of Prince Leopold made me smile, too - he had quite the jaunty moustache!

By the time I'd wandered all three floors of the gallery and made a thorough inspection of the bookshop (where I pondered purchasing this book), my stomach was rumbling. I went to Soho and had a lovely piece of banana bread with ginger tea in the library room at Leon. It was cozy and just what I needed on a chilly day. From their bookshelf, I pulled down the Sugar Club Cookbook, which I'd never heard of before, and scribbled down a few delicious-sounding recipes for laksa.

That was followed by more warming up at Wagamama, where I had a big bowl of spicy coconut soup with noodles, and a brisk walk home with Isobel. We decided to have a quiet night in for the rest of the evening to prepare ourselves for St. John's donuts in the morning! Hurrah!