6 December 2022
Scouts are advised to prepare neither Ray or myself had done our research before heading off to tour Leighton House on Tuesday morning. When we arrived we found the house closed on Tuesdays.
As usual I met Ray at Harrow-on-the-Hill station as he came in from Ruislip and I travelled from Pinner. We headed into town and came out at Holland Park Station. A cup of coffee became our first priority as we left the station. Maggi had recommended a bar just round the corner from the station called La Piccola Deli. I looked in the window and the cakes looked wonderful. Ray and I sat down and I had a croissant along with my cappuccino.
From here we walked all along Abbottsbury Road passed Holland Park to Leighton House only to find the building closed.
Disappointed that we had failed to achieve our first objective we returned to Holland Park which where we made a short tour passing by the Kyoto Garden which looked a little forlorn on this cold but sunny December day. As normal Ray took a few pictures and we exited the park on the east side and headed towards Kensington Palace.
Kensington Palace sits at the western end of Kensington Gardens.
We crossed the gardens and headed to The Serpentine Gallery, now called Serpentine South. They displayed a Sudanese artist called Kamala Ibrahim Ishaq.
Her striking images combined female faces, often in agony, with natural connections.
From here we walked the short distance to Serpentine North. I hadn’t ever visited this gallery, Here we discovered another female artist, this time a sculpture, who works in metal and other materials. The layout of the gallery suited Barbara Chase-Riboud‘s work perfectly and made me think that I would have loved to have my gravestone made by her.
As well as an internationally renown sculptor Barbara has published an international best seller entitled Sally Hemmings about the life of the eponymous heroine and her relationship with Thomas Jefferson.
After our rounds at the gallery we nipped next door for a bite to eat at the Magazine Restaurant beside the gallery. I enjoyed an extremely tasty nut roast with cranberry jelly meal with a cup of coffee and Ray also raved about his meal.
We continued our walk post-lunch across Hyde Park beside the Serpentine and as we proceeded towards Hyde Park Corner the crowds increased. A section of the park had been boarded off for a huge fair ground with massive rides that you could see over the fence. Needless to say neither of us mentioned visiting the place. After passing through Mayfair I jumped on the Jubilee line and made my way home while Ray decided to start his Christmas shopping.
7 December 2022
Lunch with Bernard at Da Remo in Denham. I picked up Bernard and drove him to Denham. We passed under the HS2 bridge which crosses the A412. A massive and not totally ugly structure that will be carrying passengers sometime in the future.
The food didn’t inspire me. I began with minestrone soup and followed it with calves liver and bacon while Bernard’s starter of asparagus didn’t look any better than my soup. He followed up with turkey and all the trimmings which he claimed was much better than he had eaten the day before. He just likes the old-fashioned atmosphere of the place. I don’t think there was anyone under 60 in the restaurant apart from two of the 4 waiters.