A BIT OF CULTURE IN MY LIFE

The morning did not start too well – I woke up with a crashing headache and a blocked nose – Bloody Hell!! I don’t believe it this blooming cold is haunting me. After spending two or three days relatively happy and sniffle free, full of the joys of Spring, the cold comes back to wreak havoc on me. I did not let it beat me and took a couple of Co-codamols, which within half an hour made me feel a bit more human.

Today, Wednesday, being my day off, I fancied a bit of culture and together with two of my very good friends Steve and Jill, I went trolling around Central London visiting a few places of interest on the way.

I met my friend Steve at Borders bookshop in Oxford Street at 11 am. We decided to take a stroll around the back streets of Soho, where a multitude of interesting little galleries, art shops and other oddities can be found. We went into a really nice ceramics shop (Broadwick Street – I think), with the kind of ceramics I have always wanted to be able to make, huge pots and platters and interesting sculptures – huge price tags though – far too expensive for my modest pocket.

We continued on through: Carnaby Street, Poland Street, Wardour Street, Berwick Street, Dean Street and countless other little mews, which criss cross that whole area. Our objective was to reach the Photographers Gallery in Great Newport Street for 12.30pm, where we would meet our friend Jill.

We arrived at the Gallery with time to spare and had a look around the exhibition of photographs, which is free to anyone. They had several documentary exhibitions, some of which were quite startling, others downright boring (pretentious), but all educational in their own way.

After the gallery visit, we thought it was just about time for Lunch – we found a nice Spanish restaurant called ‘La Tasca’ in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. They served a huge selection of Tapas (small tastes of food) and at lunchtime the deal is £10 eat as much as you like per person.

I ate: Fried mixed fish, including Calamari, Prawns, Whitebait
Spinach and Advocado Salad (beautifully fresh)
Pork ribs in a wonderful thick gravy
Potatoes cooked with Onions and Peppers

Other things on the menu were: Patatas Bravas (Potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce)
Potato Omelette
Skewered spicy chicken pieces
Mushroom Croquettes
Oven roasted aubergines with tomatoes and cheese

And much, much more!!

After a long and leisurely lunch, we decided to go on to the National Portrait Gallery, near Trafalgar Square. We spent a couple of hours wandering through the rooms and looking at some good, not so good and downright awful pieces – not all art is good art!!

We finished off the day by walking around Covent Garden, which was packed with PSV Eindhoeven fans, waiting for the big match against Arsenal. They all seemed quite well behaved, but then it was before the match – lets see what happens later on this evening. A visit to Neal’s Yard (Vegetarian’s delight) and Cucumber Lane finished off a wonderful day out.

The journey home on the Bakerloo line and Jubilee Line was not so salubrious, but then we can’t have everything in life. I am absolutely shattered, so it’s an early night for me, after I’ve soaked my aching feet.

Happy but tired I bid you adieu.

Jo xx