My photo does not do this painting justice

A challenge in visiting a city like London is that there is so much to see. As a result, it can easily become overwhelming with a few days going by and little achieved.

We have been fortunate to visit London on more than one occasion and have adopted a list approach. The list is not so much a ” bucket list”, a term I loathe, but a way to order our thoughts and each visit has seen us slowly work our way through the list.

Our first visit involved Buckingham Palace and walks through the Parks and a visit by me to The Emirates Stadium where my tour was hosted by Arsenal Club Legend, Charlie George. Subsequent visits have seen us take in more of the high spots in different parts of London.

In our most recent visit we based ourselves in the Marylebone area. We spent sometime looking at what travel blogs suggested to see and do around the area and planned a half day around that. It provided an opportunity to get a feel for the area including where to go for a coffee and where to eat. We also ducked the “hut and run” showers in the The Conran Shop and Daunt books.

Daunt books is quaint. My favourite person satisfied her passion for reading in the fiction section while I went straight to the History section to browse through their collection on Churchill, as I’d watched the film of the same name on our flight to the UK.

The area also houses The Wallace Collection which is on our list of museums and galleries to visit. The Wallace Collection is the home to the Portrait Artist of the Year TV program. The Wallace Collection is a private collection that includes many painting and an excellent  collection of armaments where I have to say we spent most of our time.  The story of The Wallace Collection is an interesting one and something I didn’t realize until I was watching a quiz show that asked, which of a set of English museums was linked to a bequest to the Illegitimate son of a Marquis? That peaked my interest. Wikipedia tells me that Hereford House in Manchester Square, the location of The Wallace Collection, was the House of the Seymour Family and that the 4th Marquis of Hartford who was largely responsible for the collection had left it to his illegitimate son, Sir Richard Wallace. It was his who widow subsequently left the house and collection to the country. Knowing the story of the collection makes the visit itself even more interesting.

The Wallace Collection

As museums and galleries were the focus of our visit on this occasion, we settled on visits to the Museum of London, The Imperial War Museum and the National Gallery. We had visited The British Museum on more than one occasion previously and while we’d only scratched the surface, we decided that we didn’t have time for another visit. We’d also been to the V&A and seen the Great Bed of Ware, which was surprisingly small, and also been to the Natural History Museum and the War Cabinet Rooms on previous visits.

The museums and galleries we decided on were all free admission meaning that for the price of a tube ticket we had a day’s entertainment fully paid for.

The Museum of London traces the origins of the city through to its place in society today. I thought I knew quite a bit about its history, so was surprised to read that the city had been abandoned by the Romans before being resettled. I had also taken for granted that Dr Who put the Great Fire of London out (only joking)! The exhibits on the plague and the Great Fire were fascinating, particularly the personal accounts.

However for me, the most striking thing in the Museum was the war-time photo of a couple cuddling in London during the Second World War. It is quite an unremarkable but my mind was immediately drawn to a picture I’d seen in a wartime museum in Berlin. The imagery between the two could not have been more stark.

Topographe of Terror – Berlin

From the Museum of London we visited the Guildhalll Art Gallery to see the remains of the Roman amphitheatre. Not much is left but it was worth looking at as a reminder of the city’s history. From there it was a short visit to St. Paul’s, a stunning piece of architecture and onto The Imperial War Museum.

Sniper camouflage

The Imperial War Museum was opened in 1920 and incorporates exhibits for the period of the First World War through to today. The extensive coverage of the First World War was the highlight, in my opinion, although for my favourite person the exhibit on one family’s Second World War experience was her highlight. The museum’s holocaust exhibit is a chilling reminder of how inhumane man can be.

Back on the tube and in need of a very late lunch we headed for The National Gallery. We must have looked lost as we walked through the door, as an attendant asked what we were looking for. I immediately responded ” a drink” and she burst out laughing, saying we must be Australians and that no one had ever asked her that before. She too was Australian and directed us to The National Dining Rooms. She suggested that its grand name did not mean it was “posh” and that we could have a drink and a light meal looking over Trafalgar Square. We invited her to join us but she thought better of it.

With a glass of wine consumed and a pleasant salad for lunch we were off again. We had particular interest in a Constable painting and a couple of Turners. I was keen to see a painting of Constable’s that had featured as the inspiration for an episode of Landscape Artist of the Year, as well as the Monet’s and Van Gough’s Sunflowers.

The influence off TV – The painting by Constable

As we walked out of the gallery we saw the attendant who had guided us to the cafe. She gave as a broad grin and seemed pleased we had found sustenance.

As we walked back to the tube to head to our hotel, I wondered why it was that these paintings were so famous? What made Constable, Turner, Monet and Van Gough amongst others so famous? Why them and not others who seemed to be equally talented? I’m sure that an expert in art would be able to tell me but for this Slow Traveller it was far from evident.

Imperial War Museum