London

Great night sleep then up and out to the Portrait Gallery. Arrived early so sat in a French inspired Italian cafe for a coffee and to soak up the atmosphere. It is so very different to life in Molyullah. So busy and vibrant and lots happening.
Decided to go our own way through the gallery and meet up at the end when we compared notes.
Amazing portraits and various collections. From the extensive collection of Tudor portraits to much more contemporary works. So much history as there is a background on the subject of each work.
Met up and walked to the National Gallery where we had lunch and recharged our batteries before doing the rounds of the massive collections in the National Gallery.

The National Gallery displayed over 1000 works of art which trace the development of painting in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the early 20th century. I had no idea that London’s National Gallery had so many of the Masters but perhaps some were on loan. Think there are more Van Gogh’s here than in his gallery in Amsterdam. Renoir, Rembrandt, Monet, Manet, Turner, Gainsborough etc etc. The building is also a work of art.

The National Gallery effectively overlooks Trafalgar Square and the Wellington Monument which we walked around on our way to see Buckingham Palace. We walked alongside Buckingham Palace Gardens and like all the parks and gardens it was dry and barren of grass. Leaves are starting to fall pretty much before changing colour. The Government is asking people to stock up on canned foods - so worried are they about climate change, droughts, and the lack of backup in the supply chains due to such things as the ‘just in time’ practice.

Hailed a London cab to finish our journey home and take the weight off our poor feet.Read more