A new year begins and, following the seasonal excesses, there’s one less Waitrose Essentials turkey roaming the plains of Norfolk. As usual, after all the time and effort I put into roasting the thing it didn’t seem to taste of anything very much so, I guess, once again the bird had the last laugh – … Continued
Turn down the road next to Baker street tube station and walk up to Regents Park. Despite the fact that it’s less than a week from Christmas, the weather is sunny and warm and there’s not the slightest hint of a snowflake in sight. It seems like a good day to take a walk in … Continued
Get out at Holborn and weave my way through the backstreets to within spitting distance of the mighty British Museum but expectorations will have to wait as I’m not going there today and instead turn off to enter the Enitharmon Editions shop. Inside is a wonderful collection of odd little prints and, more particularly, copies … Continued
Go to Euston station and walk past the dreadful Paolozzi gray lump of a sculpture – that’s been sitting there and brooding for the past 35 years – and cross the road to the Wellcome Collection. Hopes of enjoying a peaceful coffee and cake are immediately confounded on finding the café very nearly full. Along … Continued
Start the day in Eastcastle Street, which is just to the north of Oxford Street tube station. In the past few years, a bunch of small commercial galleries have set up shop here and I figure it should be fairly easy to take in three or four shows and find some art that’s interesting enough … Continued
Walking towards the West Cornwall Pasty stall on Marylebone Station, ahead of me is a wall of west Cornish pasties but then the customer at the counter shifts to the east and I can suddenly see there are some rolls left. Pasties are an afternoon comfort food and it’s too early now to get involved … Continued
Eyes front and fingers stuffed in the ears is the order of the day when leaving Pimlico tube station. It’s a necessary safety precaution to shield the eyes from the godawful mural corridor of dreadful copies of famous paintings, and to protect the lugs from the horrendous sound of Turner, Mondrian, Dali, Degas, Gabo and … Continued
Find myself walking under the watchful eye of the brooding bald eagle that is perched atop the American Embassy, so decide to take the opportunity to have a look at the statues of past presidents situated in the gardens of the adjoining Grosvenor Square. First, in order of seniority and accomplishment, comes Franklin Delanao Roosevelt, … Continued
To Hays Galleria and Cote for their fried breakfast. Along with some orange juice and coffee this costs about the same as a visit to Ai Weiwei at the Royal Academy, so it’s not cheap, and neither is it as intellectually stimulating. It does, however, fill you up and you definitely won’t want another one … Continued
Start the day in Brixton at the Starbucks next to the tube station. The coffee’s ok but the sausage buttie is as dismal as expected. It’s quite a while since I’ve tried one of these but after the first bite I immediately recall just how bland they are. The woman behind the counter who takes … Continued