London! Again !

So I travelled to my favourite city again ~ London. This time the journey there was pretty nerve-wracking, to be honest. All started with the flight being 50 minutes late. That made me very nervous because it is a late flight anyway. And the last Stansted Express train goes at 0.30. Well but silly me thought I might just catch the midnight train. It turned out that this idea was totally delusional. Arrival was supposed to be at 11.05 p.m. but instead we arrived at 11.40 p.m. oooookay, there is still the 0.30 train ~ totally no worries. Or? The shock came at the passport control where it turned out that approx. half the planet's population assembled there at close to midnight. Kid ... you ... NOT!!! And this is supposed to be the least busy airport of the three ~ Heathrow, Gatwick .. Stansted?!?! I could not believe it when i saw the queues! Progress was swift, admittedly, but it still took quite a lot of time. I began to see my hopes dashed. My nerves were raw. Behind me was a woman just as stressed out as myself, showing me her Stansted Express Tix. I told her I fully understand, I also need to catch the last train. She asked me if it is far to the trains and I tried to calm her down telling her that no, it is an easy and quick access to the platforms, I hope she made it. Once through, I made a sprint to the luggage conveyor, grabbed my suitcase and made a dash for the train platform. I arrived there at 0.28 and so caught the last train. That was really close and my nerves were frazzled.

London, day 4, July 25th ~ Dennis Severs' House

My daily life and especially my job keeps me very busy which really slows down my blogging "project" about my wonderful London trip. A full time job can be so disruptive, haha.

Day 4 in London brought more excitement for me. First and foremost a reunion with a dear friend. Someone I met online via a mutual friend and then had the pleasure to meet in person for the first time three years ago.
(side note: I always have a longing for London but ever since I have friends there this longing now also has a very personal touch. They make going there even more worthwhile!)
Our first and so far only personal meeting had been so wonderful for me and i remember that day with great fondness. So when i was planning my trip to London, i hoped i could meet up with my friend again. Thankfully she made it possible.

London, day 3, July 24th ~ Hogarth's House

I left Chiswick House and Gardens behind and made my way back to the underground station. As i had planned earlier that day, i paid a visit to Hogarth's House which lies at Hogarth lane. 

The house was built between 1713 and 1717 and was bought by the Hogarth's in 1749. They used it as a country refuge. Today it is really hard to imagine it as a rural area as now the A4 runs by with 3 lanes on each side. But in the 18th century it still was a village and the house was built in the corner of an orchard. Thankfully even today there is still a little garden adjacent to the house. 

London, day 3, July 24th ~ Chiswick House And Gardens

Now that day #2 had been such a success and such a fantastic day I was ready for my 3rd day in London. There was a meeting with a friend planned for 4 p.m.
Other than that i had no plans yet.
I had breakfast and then did some planning in my hotel room. I was weighing up this and that when suddenly i remembered i had wanted to go to Chiswick Gardens if possible. Yes! The decision was made and i checked how to get there. Jubilee Line to Green Park and from there Piccadilly Line. It took me quite some time to figure out why the TFL journey planner insisted i would have to change for District Line at Hammersmith when the tube map showed that the Piccadilly Line serves Turnham Green? Yeah .. but not on Sundays at that time. ahhh! Okay, planning done, off i went. But as i like doing things my way, i changed lines at Barons Court, hehe. I don't know why i did that, i think Barons Court sounded nice. And it turned out the station had lovely clocks.

From Turnham Green station i walked to my destination. It is not the most beautiful walk once you have come to the Hogarth roundabout and turn into Hogarth Lane which is part of the A4 and it is a super busy and super noisy street with a lot of traffic and pollution, actually. But i knew it was all worthwhile. I came by Hogarth's House which i had not heard of before. The sign told me it will be open later that day and i decided to visit it on my way back.

Which Henry Mausoleum came first?

Yesterday i spent almost all my afternoon to try and find out which of the 2 similar mausolea came first ~ the one for the Doulton family or the one for the Tate family. I had already written down all my findings and had not come up with a conclusive answer when i came about this. In my photo of the Doulton monument you can clearly see an information sheet attached to the door.

Now some clever person (obviously not me!) had taken a close-up of that information sheet and this is what it says:

source: Victorian Web Org

And then i found this fantastic website with very valuable additional information ~ highly recommended for further reading. It has a very good search function where you can search for different things like certain mausolea or cemeteries, super convenient! 

The Mausolea & Monument Trust

So i guess the case is closed. The Tate tomb came first and the Doulton mausoleum was designed by the same architects as the Tate one. (And they certainly have been specifically designed to puzzle me!) Now i have back my peace of mind and moreover i have much more reading material because i also found the archive of the newsletter of The Friends of West Norwood Cemetery. I am ready for autumn where i can indulge in reading without feeling bad because i should be outside. ;) 

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

Part 2 

We wandered around that beautiful place and while looking at the stunning and beautiful monuments and tombs we were in deep and wonderful conversation about many things. Sometimes having to force our way through nettles and brambles and ivy tendrils. And still some areas remained impassable. 

Especially the brambles pulled and teared on us so it somehow felt as if the place signalled 

"stay, stay here, we will not let you leave again"

 (my overboarding Gothic imagination could almost hear these words whispered to me) 

After spending some considerable time there, exploring the grounds and revel in the overwhelming beauty of the graveyard, we decided we are still in the realm of the living and it was time to take care of our empty stomachs. 

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