catching up: part 3 - trips away...

The last month or so has seen me off on several trips both work related and pleasure. Much of it I didn't manage to capture on film but I just feel a need to record for posterity! 

Regarding the work trips - the important one was to present a project that has been dominating my time (and that of some colleagues) at a national conference in York at the beginning of the month. York is a lovely place to be but the rain was torrential for much of the day and a half I was there so I didn't take any photos of the beautiful city! It was a bit weird because the last time I was there was when my home life was a little different and it felt a bit odd wandering around on my own. Suffice to say, I completely wimped out of eating in a restaurant alone in the evening and resorted to a picnic tea in my B&B room courtesy of a supermarket 'open all hours' type store! I really know how to live it up!!!

This made me smile though...

Given that I was presenting our work on behalf of our team and we were competing for an award (no presuure...!) this couldn't have been a more appropriate find in the en-suite!

In the event, all went well and we won the award so I was able to breathe a sigh of relief and return to work with head held high!! 

The following weekend saw me back in London for my second birthday treat weekend! Another of my 'must do' wishes was to go to the Royal Albert Hall; in all my visits to London, I had never even been inside, so when an opportunity arose to go to see a favourite of ours, Laura Marling, my lovely eldest son bought tickets for my birthday present and we arranged a rather budget visit. Accommodation just a little more basic than the theatre trip a few weeks ago...

We stayed at a hostel in South Kensington - cheap and reasonably clean! It has to be said the shared bathroom facilities left a bit to be desired - particularly given that, unbeknown to us, there was a festival that weekend in nearby Hyde Park so most of the others staying were clad in wellies and shorts (de rigueur festival gear, regardless of the weather, it seems!). The less said about that the better! Just that I rather suspect I was the oldest one there, and it is possible that I just am a bit past sharing a bathroom with inebriated teens...

Anyway, moving swiftly on... we arrived in time for a bit of a wander so spent the afternoon at the V&A. Before going to the ballgown exhibition on the last trip, I hadn't been there either and it is a truly beautiful place to absorb a bit of history and culture. It is full of fabulous colours and patterns, from the walls of the tea room...

...to the beautiful ceramic staircase...

This glass font was modern and I don't think the picture really does it justice but I thought it was really stunning...

There are, of course, many ancient pieces - this beautifully decorated harpsichord...

and some intricate needlework from Asia. The stitches on this garment were tiny - it must have taken ages to complete...

Not quite sure what this delicate fretwork is called but it looked lovely with the light through it...

as did the enamelling on this spoon...

and more stunning embroidery...

So many lovely things there, we spent a good few hours just 'absorbing' and in no way saw everything! The great thing about the London museums is that most are free to enter so you don't feel pressured to get to overload point on your visit. It is definitely on my 'somewhere to go back to' list though!

We walked back to the hostel via Hyde Park, can you see the much talked about 'Shard' in the distance?

It seems to have rather polarised opinion but whatever you think, it is pretty striking. Got a bit daft and emotional looking at Yoko Ono's wish trees at the Serpentine Gallery, Hyde Park. People have written little wishes or statements on tags and tied them to the trees. Some were rather silly but some were just heartfelt and moving and given that I seem to be able to cry at the drop of a hat at the moment, I was soon sniffing into a tissue!

Someone had taken the time to make a little origami bird...

After a quick dinner (no prizes for the speed of service at the Italian restaurant we picked, over an hour for two bowls of pasta to arrive!!!) we had to virtually across the park run to the main event...

The Albert Hall is such an impressive building, both from the outside...

and on the inside, where the scale of the place just takes your breath away...

Laura Marling has an amazing pure voice that just filled this massive space, sometimes accompanied by her small band and other times just singing to her own guitar playing. It was really breathtaking and we both loved it! Made me want to go back there and see something else...!

The following day was pretty miserable weatherwise but we headed up to Westminster, intending to wander over to the Southbank and Tate Modern. What we hadn't realised was that we had picked the day the London 10k run was happening and as we emerged from the tube station the race leaders were just completing the course...

The first few through barely looked as though they were breaking into a sweat and this bunch were running pretty impressive times. I think there were 20,000 or so running and the winner came in in less than 28 minutes which rather puts my 5km in 24 mins to shame! The field got progressively slower, redder and more wobbly as it went on with the average time just over an hour. It did inspire me to keep at the running - I've stuck to 3 or 4 days a week for the last couple of months and can now manage 7km in about 40 minutes, so I don't think I'm doing too badly! I hesitate to say it, but I'm even quite enjoying it now and although the prospect of a half marathon (the gauntlet has been thrown down but not yet picked up!) still seems too daunting, I do think I could probably make myself do 10k now. And more importantly, I definitely feel fitter and better for doing some more active exercise. 

After a wander round the beautiful and strange at Tate Modern we headed back towards Liverpool Street station via a closer look at the Shard...

I think, on balance, I quite like it...I certainly loved the reflections of the clouds and it is unmissable!

Sx