It's the small things that help you live...

Hi everyone,
here are some impressions I'd like to share with you. Visit to London in April...
The photographs are all by me. Please enjoy!

Before the start...

Before I travelled to London, I made a stop at the Kunsthalle Hamburg. Mr. Gainsborough, the famous English artist, was exhibiting his works and, as you can see, more than welcome to Hamburg.

I longed to see it and finally I have been lucky to regard his most notorious work, Mr and Mrs Andrews. Thomas Gainsborough painted this spectacular masterpiece about 1750 in England. I took some  closeups to have a better look at the details of this stunning piece of art. This is one of them...

Referenes: https://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de/en/exhibitions/thomas-gainsborough.
Or check here: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/thomas-gainsborough-mr-and-mrs-andrews

This is the lower part of the Kunsthalle and I have been intrigued by the atmosphere of this room. Auguste Rodin and other famous sculptors were at work here. When I entered and took in the mood it was as if Rodin was still present himself.

The stairwell to the upper part of the gallery. Very opulent and impressive indeed. As though the tiles were laid out for  Johannes Vermeer to paint. Don't you think?

Another perspective of a room. The gallery is a gem...If you have the chance to visit please arrange enough time. Hours...

The Gallery Cafe. Quite nice I thought...

For further reference please check here: https://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de/en

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Day One.

Off it goes to London! Yay! As always, the airport was very busy on a Saturday morning. For some unknown reasons, several machines at the service desks and the baggage conveyor belt decided to give up working. Made it all the more an adventure certainly! The airport staff, though, were very obliging and patient and so were the passengers!

Done! Made it through the hustle and bustle in the terminal and arrived safely at the gate to board my aircraft. Yippee! Seeing my friends again!

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Day Two.

Sunday, 8th of April.
This has been a very special day for me. A very quiet and yet beautiful day. A very thoughtful day as well. A day my heart was overflowing with love. I did not care that it was raining all morning.
In the picture: I needed some alone time to think and find my balance. After a long morning run I finally arrived here. The Italian Garden, a part of Kensington Gardens.

Kensington Gardens. Nice!

Kensington Gardens, from the other side.

The Serpentine Galleries. A place worth to stay for a moment. I did go inside after jogging that morning.

Also in the park.

A detail I quite liked...

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Day Three.

The next day we went shopping. London without shopping is just not possible, right? Well, not for a woman at least! The clock at Selfridges was chiming the quarter of the hour when I took the photograph. I didn't know that. How lovely a coincidence. Sometimes we are just lucky to be there at the right moment, aren't we?

I liked the decorations of the Selfridges' shop windows. Very stylish and sophisticated. Surprisingly different!

Here's another one.

And a last one. Do you like it?

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The Trafalgar Square. Next day of my very personal journey.

And another closeup. Such great history...

The National Gallery. No way of missing it. I love it.

My favourite boy. 'Sunflowers' by Vincent van Gogh, painted 1888.

For further reference please check: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-sunflowers

'Mr and Mrs William Hallet (The Morning Walk)' by Thomas Gainsborough, 1785.

For further reference please check: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/thomas-gainsborough-mr-and-mrs-william-hallett-the-morning-walk

Fulfilled with impressions, feelings, colours and happiness I left the gallery to head home. Lost in thought and trying to process three hours of amazingly breathtaking artwork, I heard a very familiar sound and a great voice when I already was some distance away. I paused for a moment because it was one of my absolute favourite pieces of music- 'Fix You' by Coldplay. I hurried back, just to look who was singing there and it was this great guy. Unfortunately, he had already reached the final accords when I had the camera ready to record. Anyway, here it is! Shortest version ever I guess.

Refereces: Permission granted by the artist to post this. Thank you very much again.

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Street views in passing.

Oh, I loved this one! Those colourful hats!

At Foyles, Charing Cross Rd. If you ever look for me look here too...You should try any good bookshop in London to be honest.

For further reference: http://www.foyles.co.uk/bookstore-charing-cross

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Day Four.

Did you know?

"The diamond-shaped platform sign was a short-lived prototype that preceeded the  famous bar and circle design" -The Courtauld Institute of Art.

References: In the photograph you can see 'Queen's Road Station, Bayswater' by German born artist Walter Sickert, painted in 1916. For further interest please check: https://courtauld.ac.uk/

Modern ways.

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My next station to visit was the Tate Britain. This gallery means very much to me in a very personal way. I haven't been there for some time. Now it was time again and I eagerly looked forward to seeing it once again.

The floor at the Tate. Isn't it beautiful?

Such an amazing skylight. Please think how many people must have stood there, just like me this morning. Fantastic, right?

I'm a huge fan of doorways and the architecture of things. They have so much meaning in so many ways. There is always movement, direction, distance, openness. And so much more. Wouldn't you agree?

Can you feel how breathtaking this is? How perfect Joshua Reynolds fits in there? Unbelievable.

And a last one to make my architectural selection complete.

Sweet girl, is she not?

Performance after Anthea Hamilton 'The Squash'.

For further research and reference please see: http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-britain 
http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/anthea-hamilton-tate-commission-2018
http://antheahamilton.com/

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Spring has finally arrived in Britain!

Bravo Lulu! At the House of Fraser. Loved the idea of applying lips on bags. The perfect accessory for a summer outfit. What do you say?

Vauxhall Bridge. Morning walk for me.

And another one...

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Day Five.

Historical and modern.

Somerset House.

The main portal to Somerset House and its ceiling.

One of the beautiful arches of the wings of Somerset House. Who has walked through the arch as centuries passed? What would they tell us?

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The Courtauld Institute of Art. The stairs that will led you through a stunning world of art. Absolute amazing, you might be at a loss for words the moment you have stepped into it.

Cupid And Psyche by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1789.
Almost more than anything else I adore this masterpiece. Reynold's most exceptional work. It is so unlike all his other works in technique and meaning that you will see the artist and the world with different eyes once you have thought about it.

This is the cropped detail of an image. I took the photo of a description of a painting (which was on the wall in the other half of the picture) and discovered later that I captured this wonderful setting in it. I like it.

Coffee break at the gallery!

A beautiful ceiling fresco after Sir Joshua Reynolds. The original painting by him is to admire at Burlington House.

Another detail I liked.

Paul Gaugin 'Nevermore', 1897

Rerferences: If you want to visit: https://courtauld.ac.uk/

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Well, can we dash across the street in four seconds? Yep! In less than three.
In heels!

Street views.

Details. details... The portal door of Marble Arch.

Day Six.

A walk to Covent Garden.

Lovely flowers and...

...very cheerful people!
References: Permisson granted by the artist. Thank you!

The Apple Market at Covent Garden.

Day Seven

Hyde Park. Always a must-go. Very good for jogging as well...

Hyde Park, another shot.

Lovers...
The Serpentine in Hyde Park.

Very well then, and all the way back in that direction!

Ultimately, my holiday came to an end. I did not know what to feel and how to feel. Well, we always leave something behind when we leave, right? We leave something of ourselves, even though we have to go away from the place for now. And yet there are these things in us that we can find again only by going back to that place, back to the ones we love.

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Lipstick affairs.

As everyone has to, I went through the security scanner at Heathrow Airport and I beeped. 'Go back and try again,' a female voice told me. I beeped. And again. Beeping mad. 'Step aside, madam! And take your shoes off,' she instructed me. Oh, right. ​She scanned me from head to toe and wasn't happy once again. 'I think it is...,' I said, trying to be of any help because I thought it was my jeans that have small metal rings on the pockets. She stooped down and I was subjected to a full body search by her. In the meantime another guy from the security check had joined us. He was the one with the handcuffs I think. 'Spread your arms out.' 'Turn around.' No problem, I'm good at dancing. 'What kind of belt are you wearing, for God's sake?,' she demanded to know. Well, that one with the jewels of the crown hidden in the buckle, of course. 'And why on earth have you got your phone in your pocket?' Errm... I'm quite familiar with the procedure at the airports but maybe, just maybe, this lapse occurred because my arrest happened in under a second? ​Could be. She snatched my phone from me and handed it to her colleague. Eventually, I passed the test and, happy with having avoided prison at last minute, I got back my shoes and my mobile. I was wearing matching Converse chucks for an easy James-Bond-like escape in Hollywood-style you must know, but now I'm holding the record in putting on shoes and doing up shoelaces in Olympic time. I decided to have a coffee. I went to Wondertree and settled at a table. As I was checking and typing messages with my mobile, a voice said, 'Excuse me, madam...' I looked up and met the eyes of handcuff-guy. Ah, well. 'I believe this belongs to you,' he said and held out an item I immediately recognised. My Clinique lipstick. 'Oh, I haven't even realised I lost it,' I beamed, taking it from him. 'Happened at the security check,' he replied. I laughed and thanked him for this lovely gesture. How surprising and very nice! He smiled and said, 'and sorry for the trouble earlier... it's regulations.'

James Bond Image: Quantum of Solace" (2012) by Feliks Tarasenko.

The ceiling of Wondertree at Heathrow Airport.

Above the clouds. Returning to Germany.