Durer

 A highlight of my London trip was visiting the Durer exhibition at the National Gallery. It was about his travels and featured the iconic and also the less well known. Small items caught my eye such as pages from his journal not to mention the paintings. It was a fascinating exhibition, not too crowded and thanks to the gallery staff who let us in despite having turned up late as I had got the ticket  time wrong in my head.

Wonderful water colours of fantastic costumes.

The above is great inspiration for some tabletop scenery , buildings that would work for a variety of periods. I loved the lynx drawing, he is full of character.

A splendid large painting that was one of the exhibition highlights for many.

The Duke himself beside an advertising banner. All in all great visit .

There was even time to pop by ( after a well earned light lunch in the cafe ) and see this old friend and favourite-

Out and about in Edinburgh two

 It was a great exhibition, folk of all ages, fathers showing their family round at half term, parents and children, folk my age , a great mixed crowd. The items were so redolent for many. Loads of photos taken by most people. The chap in the shop said he had heard nothing but praise for the exhibition from his customers. Here are some photos I took -

Out and about in Edinburgh today

 Was out and about in Edinburgh today and saw these scary fellows-

Fear not gentle reader, they were just the welcome committee for this-

 Further photos tomorrow…

Not a grommet in sight

 We arrived much later at the Wallace Collection than intended and after lots of walking about. First things first and a visit to the cafe was a must to recharge the batteries. I can recommend the cinnamon buns , excellent in taste and generous in size.

I took the chance to have a look at the armour collection, an old favourite of mine. Rather than flitting about I tried to have a really detailed look at a few pieces, inevitably the fifteenth century stuff ( whilst in the cafe we saw Tobias Capwell showing someone round, his Instagram etc are well worth a look btw) which is my favourite. Again I marvelled  at the armourer’s skill, it was worth taking time…

Although it was nearly time for the Collection to close l was not rushed out by the attendants and could look ,admire and wonder in peace.

The Postal Museum

 One highlight of my trip was the Postal Museum. Included was a ride on the P.O underground train which stopped at various points and did a terrific job with voices, film and lights to tell the story effectively. After the ride the museum itself. Fascinating interactive and fun for all ages. My highlights were the blue airmail pillar box and the film plus equipment associated with the Mail Bag Exchange Apparatus.

Two excellent bookshops etc

 Down staying near London. Thursday saw a visit to a splendid bookshop in Gower Street. Lovely building and excellent range of books-

Towards the end of the day we were in Marleybone and went into Daunt booksellers-

https://dauntbooks.co.uk/    They have a splendid way of  displaying the books which l have not seen elsewhere. They are arranged by country. For each country they have its travel books, history and fiction all together in one place. Terrific idea worked really well.

Daunder