London, day 2, July 23rd 2016 ~ West Norwood Cemetery!

Part One 

On my 2nd day in London i was really in for a treat! For this adventure i had to take a train at 12.06 from Victoria Station. Which gave me a bit of time after breakfast.
I decided to visit the Wallace Collection which was in the neighbourhood of my hotel and it was very convenient for me to drop by for a short visit. As admission is free it didn't really matter that i could only stay for about an hour. As my time was rather limited i didn't look at the paintings that closely but decided to enjoy the precious furniture and clocks, and the decorative art objects. That one hour passed by ever so quickly and it was time to head for Victoria Station. I was so excited because i would

1. meet with someone for the first time in real life and we would 
2. explore the West Norwood Cemetery together

The Secret Garden

So i had arrived at Regent's Park by bus and i entered the park and looked at a map at the entrance with the usual "you are here"

According to the map Baker Street Station was a 2 minutes walk away. But this is only the case when you take the correct way. Which I, of course, did not. Here you can see where Baker St underground station is and also Chiltern Street where my hotel was. And you can see the way I took




Now all that wouldn't have been a problem but by then I really had all too human needs (hunger, thirst, in need of a loo!!)
The 2 minutes walk to Chiltern Street turned into a 15 minutes walk to my discovery of St. John's Lodge Gardens. There was this open gate and a sign explained this garden is supposed for the enjoyment of small groups of people and you should under no circumstances leave behind any rubbish (the green sign on the gate at the photo below). I decided i am a small group of one and entered.

The Gate

A pergola leads inside

At the end of the pergola, take a turn left at this vase

Once you are through this hedge-bordered lane you are in the Secret Garden

London, day 1, July 22nd 2016

After a pretty short night (the hotel only serves breakfast till 9 a.m.!) I was ready to start my first day. Last year i wanted to visit Temple Church but alas

So this year i was determined! I took the tube to Embankment and walked from there. For the first time ever i discovered the Victoria Embankment Gardens. When i arrived at Temple Church underground station i took the wrong turn, or rather i shouldn't have taken any turn yet and i got lost for the first time (not the last time though) I was wandering around streets, ending up at Strand and St. Clement Danes. somewhat baffled. I am so totally useless with maps, really. (yes, i get lost with a map, for me that is nothing unusual) 

Back to London

I travelled again to one of my most favourite cities and this time i went there on my own, for the first time, C. alone in London. As usual i was super nervous beforehand and planned it with military precision.
Booking the flight and the hotel was the easiest part. As i was taking the same late flight as last year i wanted to make sure again to already have the tickets for the Stansted Express train to not lose time at the ticket machine. I wanted to order them from directly from their website and then came across my first obstacle. When i wanted to pay them with my credit card there was some pop up window which informed me about 3 D Secure. It turned out to be a payment system which is supposed to add extra security in money transactions. Well, it was so damn secure that i personally couldn't buy the tickets with my credit card. I did get in touch with my bank and the guy explained a lot of things to me of which i only understood very little

London, Aug 1st 2015

On this day i embarked on my London adventure. And an adventure it was! It was the 8th time that i visited my most favourite city in the world. True to the motto:

But was it also a good idea to go there with ... my boss?? And that was the element of uncertainty in an otherwise really fantastic idea. Now, i know my boss for a very long time, next year we have our "silver anniversary" which means we have been working together for 25 years. We are on pretty informal terms as well. We have been through a lot of things together. So the idea is not as bizarre as it may sound. Nonetheless i was pretty nervous about it. But it turned out much better than i could have ever hoped! And with hindsight it was one of my most fantastic London trips so far. 

Crimson Peak

Compared to some of my friends it is actually pretty rare that i watch a movie. i often lack the patience to sit through a whole movie and so i really choose very carefully which movie i deem "worthy" to go and see in the cinema. Last year the 2 movies i really wanted to see in the cinema were "Only Lovers Left Alive" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" which both fully met my expectations. This year i was excited about "The Imitation Game" but was pretty disappointed by it. (To make it clear ~ i am talking feature films here and i don't take into account documentary-style movies like "20.000 Days on Earth", "I Am Divine" or "B-Movie"!) And then it was Crimson Peak i really wanted to see on the big screen. I really waited for this one! 

When it finally opened Mid October it turned out a pain in the ass to actually get a chance to see it in the cinema. No joke! One cinema only showed it at ridiculously late hours and only on very selected dates. Another cinema is not to reach without a car. The third cinema actually is a drive-in cinema, so again no option without a car. I was seriously frustrated by this. I wanted to go with a friend and a colleague. It was simply not possible. I was getting pretty nervous about it because i was afraid it will be out of the cinema very quickly. Seriously, for once i wanna see a movie in the cinema and then this. 

My colleague and me grabbed the chance today. My friend wasn't up to come along on an early Sunday evening. I think it might have been my only chance to see it and so i went with my colleague. And i didn't regret it for one moment!

The movie is visually beyond stunning and as a lover of all things Goth and Victorian i was utterly delighted by the elaborate and lavish settings and costumes. It is a feast for the eyes and i was entranced by the scenery and atmosphere. Nothing seemed cheap or artificial. It was all so very beautiful. 

Happy Halloween