Hampton Court 20 April 2018

On a very fine day in April I met up with these two lovely ladies at Hampton Court. I'm not really sure why it's taken so long to get here - it's on every tourist radar. Getting there is a bit of a mission - an hour and a half drive or even longer by train, but so worth the effort. Also a place which will begs for return visits.

First, plan of action. Gardens. Well, part of the gardens. The whole estate is huge  The gardens cover an area of 26.7 hectares (66 acres) and the wider estate covers an area of 304 hectares (750 acres). It's spring time and there are blossoms and blooms everywhere. You'll have to imagine the fragrance.

A few of the biggest attractions were closed for maintenance - the Maze, Henry VIII's kitchen, the Mantegna Gallery - quite disappointing considering the entry fee of £22.70, no reduction there.

Still, lots to see, so let's not get snotty, just relax and have some fun.

 

Where to now? For me, first time visits are all about that initial impression. I tend not to do much initial research. Preparation for the blog is when I read and research and overlay my initial impressions with facts. Follow up visits are more focussed. I know, backwards, and what happens if I don't go back? My impressions today - warmth, sunlight, bees, space, time, age, wealth.

The Palace ...

 

As it was still relatively cool we decided to walk through the Palace to the Great Fountains Garden and then explore the Palace in the heat of the afternoon. But it was hard not to be distracted by the amazing buildings. More of those later.

There were originally thirteen fountains between 1689 and 1702, but only one remains. 

The Yew trees were planted by Queen Anne between 1702 and 1714 - so these specimans are more than 300 years old!

Lunch time... The Privy kitchen. Where the hoi polloi gather.

In the heat of the afternoon, it was good to be inside. So much to see, so much history to ingest, so little time. Back in the day, though we did cover African history, a large part of the syllabus was European and English and of course, with an English mother, taste and direction in literature was heavily biased. Stories of the kings and queens are embedded in my consciousness, so to be in this Palace and see all the historical objet and accoutrements is surreal.

From Cardinal Wolsey in the 16th Century to Henry VIII who took it away from him and brought all six of his wives here, to William III and Mary II, to Queen Victoria who opened the Palace to the public in 1838, this Palace has seen it all.

To this sneakily shot pic of Queen Elizabeth by Andy Warhol which is apparently a screen print with diamond dust. I do rather like it. In a day filled with history and age, it's so refreshing to come up against something so modern and bright.

Now, for aspiring hostesses, this is how you fold napkins ..

From the 1760's the palace was used for grace and favour apartments awarded rent-free to applicants for past service to the crown.  Apparently up until 2015 there were still a few residents!  Presumably that is what these labels are.

This is the Copernican Astronomical Clock installed in 1540 and is still functioning. Showing the time of day, phases of the moon, the month, the quarter of the year, the date, the sun and star sign and high water at London Bridge! This is of interest to those travelling by boat where apparently the low water at London Bridge created dangerous rapids. Isn't it beautiful?

The King's staircase by the Italian painter Antonio Verrio.

  

This is the King's Guard Chamber and it took me a while to realise that the displays are all firearms and weapons and pieces of armour. I suppose, what else would you do with this number of unusable guns? They make for interesting patterns.

Moving on. The King's ceremonial bedchamber. There was a fair bit of Hampton Court that reminded me of Versailles.

 

So interesting, but lovely to be back in the gardens ...

What a glorious day. Thanks Heather and Judy - it's definitely better to do this with friends.

Hello

I was reminded this week by my good friend Meredith that I've been remiss in keeping up with the blog. I didn't actually realise that it's been so long since I've posted - the longest since I actually started writing the blog.

What's happened? Winter - was long and cold and miserable - so nothing much actually happened. Where we live has a lot to do with it. It's a lovely old building, big rooms, good facilities, but no double glazing and heating that worked in only about 20% of the space. Coming from a country like South Africa, we are naive about this kind of thing and didn't even notice when we took on the place! That has changed and we are in the process of resolving the problem. There will definitely be a move in the near future.

What else? Starting 2 new jobs in mid February - why make it easy on myself? Which added to the busyness of life. Those have settled down now, excluding days like last Thursday where not one train was running in to London Victoria and getting around involved standing for 5 hours on trains and tubes and mid summer heat.

A trip to Turkey took up a fair bit of time. Such good swimming! But on my way home, I left my camera in the car at the airport. Fortunately it wasn't lost and will make it's way back to me via South Africa, but only at the end of the year. I do have another small camera and I had downloaded a few snaps from the holiday, so there will be a post sometime soon, I hope. Fortunately I did upload a couple of photos to the cloud.

We are now well in to summer and have finally discovered the beach. Only been here 3 years, and yesterday was the 3rd swim in the sea. The beach is all wrong though - pebbles. That's taken a bit of getting used to.

So you see, life has been happening.  But I'm back.

Cape Town February 2018 part 2

To those of you reading this in Cape Town, the heat on this day will be a distant memory. It was about 33 degrees C. It's a distant memory to me too, even though it's supposed to be summer here. We live in hope.

I was still living in Cape Town in 2014 when the proposal for this museum in a grain silo was mooted, so I have watched the development with anticipation as well as interest. What a fabulous place it is! Actually the whole development of the V&A Waterfront has been genius, in my opinion. From a down at heel, dockside area, to this wonderful, exciting destination which encompasses retail, residential, historical, cultural - easily accessible to locals as well as tourists - that took some foresight and more than a little bit of luck.

On a Wednesday, for African citizens, entrance is free to the Zeitz MOCAA (Museum of Contemporary Art Africa). Children under 18 go free at all times.

From the outside, it's quite an interesting building. From the inside though, you clearly see the genesis of the silos. The conversion started in 2014 under the direction of London based architect,Thomas Heatherwick and was officially opened on 22 September 2017.

As with anywhere in the city bowl, the surrounding views are spectacular - you can tell that I love this city, can't you?

Imagine washing these windows, though!

And so, to the Art ...

Jochen Zeitz, a German businessman, is the Patron of the museum and has loaned his art collection to the museum for his lifetime. Roger Ballen donated his entire archive (some of the most disturbing photography I've ever seen). William Kentridge is a big supporter. Many, many more and curators have been given the scope to draw on loans.

I'm an enthusiastic ignoramus where it comes to art, but this is fun!

A completely new take on embroidery and fabric art - I love it.

There are 100 galleries spread over nine floors - if you have a problem with heights you may not get this far up.

Works to appreciate from a visual perspective,  but also to educate and to engage critical faculties. Works as political statement. Works as message and reminder. Something for everyone. Free entrance for children will allow them to see that Art comes in many shape, forms, sizes. What an exciting place.

I was particularly taken by these art works by Kudzanai Chiurai. There was so much to see in the museum that, of necessity, I didn't spend a lot of time on most of the works, but these - these made me stop and look again and again. Initially they appear light hearted and humerous, but look closer. Violence, anger, aggression - all graphically represented. Fascinating.

Stand back 

Now get a bit closer ..

and even closer still ..

Tapestry? Not traditional.

Aluminium cans. Amazing!

Time to meet up with Matt and Dayne for lunch, so back out into that glorious sunshine.

And more art ...