Dirt Exhibition at Wellcome Collection

Today we went to Wellcome Collection at Euston Square to see 'Dirt' exhibition. 'Dirt' reveals the fascinating world of filth that remains one of the very last taboos. Bringing together around 200 artefacts spanning visual art, documentary photography, cultural ephemera, scientific artefacts, film and literature, the exhibition uncovers a rich history of disgust and delight in the grimy truths and dirty secrets of our past, and points to the uncertain future of filth, which poses a significant risk to our health but is also vital to our existence.

Following anthropologist Mary Douglas's observation that dirt is 'matter out of place', the exhibition introduces six very different places as a starting point for exploring attitudes towards dirt and cleanliness: a home in 17th-century Delft in Holland, a street in Victorian London, a hospital in Glasgow in the 1860s, a museum in Dresden in the early 20th century, a community in present day New Delhi and a New York landfill site in 2030. Highlights include paintings by Pieter de Hooch, the earliest sketches of bacteria and John Snow's 'ghost map' of choler. I was expecting something more on the edge and shocking, but it was still very interesting and I'm glad we decided to go. Boyfriend was even more interested than me reading all the information next to the objects! I wonder why men are so attracted to ugliness? Ha ha.

Afterwards we took a long walk to Baker Street and had really healthy lunch (green vegetables salad with salmon) and then even longer walk to Leicester Square. Boyfriend went to see Meek's Cutoff - I talked about it for so long, I convinced him to go. Because I already saw it, I decided to stay in a nice little park next to Chinatown and read a book (Room by Emma Donoghue) and wait for him. I also went for a nice Costa Latte - I missed it in Poland! 

Picnic at Primrose Hill

Because we enjoyed our picnic at Regent's Park yesterday so much and we wanted to take a full advantage of the beautiful and warm London weather, we decided to go for a picnic also today. This time we went to Primrose Hill, which is even closer from the bus stop than the Regent's Park. I've never been there and it's the place to be. If you know the second Bridget Jones movie, the opening scene when Bridget and Mark Darcy are running on the hill was filmed exactly in that location. It is a hill of 78m, so there is an amazing panorama of central London with London Eye and the City.

On the way there, I texted Dom-dom and even though it take her a while, she got there and we spent an amazing time together joking, laughing and simply talking. We even came up with little business idea, which will hopefully flourish to something big, as both of us are unhappy in the situations we're currently in - she is unhappy with her job, I am with unemployment. So I think we're gonna be partners in crime. Exciting!

Impromptu picnic at Regent's Park

To use the wonderful summer weather we have in London we decided to go today for an impromptu picnic at Regent's Park. Over the years, it's been the park where I rarely gone, but because of the tube being closed and Boris bikes close to it, it's the one we visit most often. It really is beautiful and has plenty to offer. I am not a fan of Hyde Park, because there are very few trees (on the one side at least) and it is so huge, it takes a really long time to walk from one side to the other. With Regent's Park it's different - everything seems closer. There are trees, football pitches and plenty to grass to lie down with a magazine or a book. I think it's the place where I'll organize my birthday party.

giraffe at the ZOO

great way to learn about birds - at the park

one side of the bridge...

...and the other

Sunday on the move

Because we were so tired after clubbing, we woke up really late. But we went out anyway. We had major problems with Boris bikes today and it was a huge disappointment for me. Plus, it kinda ruined our plans, we were supposed to go cycling around Hyde Park, but it has to wait. The weather in London was good today and we left late, so there were no bikes in the docking stations. 

In the end, we had a walk from St John's Wood, through Hyde Park to the Baker Street, where we had Sunday roast (vegetarian, naturally). 

 

 

Then we walked all the way to Marble Arch. Boyfriend had a dessert after lunch - his favourite chocolate fudge cake - and my treat today was Costa coffee. Because I don't like strong coffee, I ordered latte with less coffee and more milk, but what I got was 99% milk. And I sweetened it. Not good. 

We were in a hurry, because we wanted to go to the cinema and see Source Code. The movie is really good, but it left me a little bit paranoid about the terrorist attacks in the tube. When you see the train being blown-up so many times, it sticks with you. It was more than I was expecting and I was really happy about the ending. It's good to be positive and I don't think that it's cheesy. 

I am so tired that I'm going to take my make-up off, brush my teeth and read something in bed. This last three days have been non-stop moving and I am really, really tired. My back hurts (I think I strained it in the gym), my feet ache and all I want is sleep. Tomorrow in the morning is gym time and I'm already dreading the treadmill.

From nappies to vodka

Today was the day of the total contrasts. In the morning we went to Kent to visit AW and her newborn baby son - C. He is adorable. I was so scared of him, that I can hurt him and brake his neck or something else! I also thought that he's going to be only sleeping-eating-screaming-sleeping-eating-screaming, but he was actually aware and awake most of the time. It's also amazing to see him out and about, no longer in AW's belly. I honestly can't believe that he's here - present, as a person. Boyfriend was so good with him - C. has fallen asleep in his hands and unlike me, he was not scared of the baby. 

AW is obviously tired, but so happy and she's keeping herself up. He has some help from her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and her mom flies in for a week, one week later her father will come and visit too. The nearest opportunity we'll have to see C. again is going to be after Easter, so it's good that we got a chance to meet him yesterday. He grows so fast, that some of the clothes no longer fit him (it's good we bought him some toys - actually Boyfriend bought him, because I didn't know what to buy - instead of clothes). AW and her husband also got little gifts, so they wouldn't feel left out. 

We spent six hours there and we didn't want to leave! But we were supposed to go to North Finchley (so all the way through London) to Dom-dom's flat and celebrate AP's birthday. It took us 2 whole hours to get there and I can only say that Dom-dom has no sense whatsoever of how to direct people to go to the right bus stop.

When we got there, the girls were still in the dressing-gowns (AP had a silk one and Dom-dom had pink fluffy one with the teddy bears), but already with full make-up on and after few drinks. Because I'm taking anti-depressants, I am not allowed to drink alcohol. I was a little bit freaked out by how I am going to manage a whole night without the alcohol, when everyone else will be drunk. But I had a great mood and it was great! We ordered some pizza (I feel guilty because I ate two slices instead of one) and AP blew the candles from her Thortons chocolate birthday cake (still in the dressing-gown). 

turquoise BarryM mascara - fan.tas.tic

When we finished to get ready, they prepared take-away (vodka mixed with coke in the empty bottle after water) we went to the club. It was Kanaloa and I have really good memories from this club. It was where I celebrated AM's birthday and her after graduation party. There was great music and a good dance floor. BUT this time unfortunately it wasn't as good as the previous times. I didn't like the DJ and Dom-dom was stressed out because one of her bosses had his stag-do there. I mean, WTF?! Seriously, like there aren't enough clubs in London.

Me and Boyfriend decided to go home on the last tube, so we left around midnight. We were also very tired, because we left home early in the morning. We managed to catch literally the very last train, because one of the girls, M. got so drunk, it was unbelievable. I was seriously scared that she won't get home, but as far as I know, she did, in the end. 

Wallace Collection and Hyde Park on Sunday

One of my favourite museums in London is The Wallace Collection. The Wallace Collection is a national museum in an historic London town house. In 25 galleries are unsurpassed displays of French 18th century painting, furniture and porcelain with superb Old Master paintings and a world class armoury. 

The Wallace Collection is a national museum which displays the wonderful works of art collected in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, the son of the 4th Marquess. It was bequeathed to the British nation by Sir Richard's widow, Lady Wallace, in 1897.

Displayed at Hertford House, the main London townhouse of its former owners, the Wallace Collection presents its outstanding collections in a sumptuous but approachable manner which is an essential part of its charm. It is probably best known for its paintings by artists such as Titian, Rembrandt, Hals (The Laughing Cavalier) and Velázquez and for its superb collections of eighteenth-century French paintings, porcelain, furniture and gold boxes, probably the best to be found anywhere outside France. There are also splendid medieval and Renaissance objects, including Limoges enamels, maiolica, glass and bronzes, as well as the finest array of princely arms and armour in Britain, featuring both European and Oriental objects.

unfortunately I am on all the pictures, so I had to crop this one.

It is a real house filled with the antique and beautiful things. It's like moving back in time to late XVIII century Paris and France. The clocks are ticking and playing unique sounds every fifteen or thirty minutes - in every room there's different one! I became familiar with this place after Mother wanted to see one of the Delaroche portraits showing Virgin Mary. Apparently, the model was Izabella Potocka - Polish aristocrat living in Paris during the time when Poland was non-existent. Mother loves her and she read almost every book on her, so it was great to actually see the portrait she was reading about and saw it in the book!

Boyfriend and me cycled to there today from our usual spot - St John's Wood - that's the nearest docking station from us. This time we took a different route and cycled through Regent's Park - there is a footpath available for cyclists too! Then we entered Marylebone High Street and passed by the old AM's flat, where her sister currently lives. It was great to cycle on the Sunday morning - there streets were mostly empty, I think that the time change had something to do with it!

We went out early today, because on 11.30am was a free Public Tour around the place. A very lovely woman told us a little bit of history of the place and we covered few major pieces of exhibition. Now I want to buy a book about Madame de Pompadour - I had no idea she was such a vital person in promoting arts. 

Afterwards, we grabbed a quick lunch - vegetarian Sunday roast - and went to see Limitless. I liked the trailers, I read few reviews and I heard that the movie is on top of the list in the USA. To be honest, I was disappointed. I was expecting something ground-breaking, but it was an action movie. In my opinion, there was no need to focus so much on fights, blood and chopped hands. The idea behind the script was great, but I think the screenplay had been lost somewhere along the way. Unfortunately it's a typical guy movie. 

The weather was so nice and it was barely 3pm when we walked outside, so after quick chat we've chosen to take a stroll in Hyde Park. It was packed. On Speaker's Corner, people listening and just general madness, at The Serpentine (a huge artificial lake in the middle, created for the Queen Caroline in 1730) people were paddling in boats and the birds were just mad with happiness. We walked all the way to the South Kensington and Harrods, then turn left to Green Park. We walked for 3 hours and I could certainly feel it in my legs. But it's great to be so tired.

Fun day cycling with London protests in the background

Today was the perfect Saturday. It was just perfect, despite the fact that there were huge anti-government protests in London, we were in the middle of them and had few encounters with anarchists on the way. I was seriously scared a couple of times, but there was A LOT of police, so that made me feel safe a little bit more. 

1 1/2 house

But the day started with meeting Dom-dom at Finchley Road, walking to St John's Wood (longer walk than I expected!) and enjoying the warm and sunny day. Dom-dom has never cycled in London before, so she was major scared, because our plan was to cycle from St John's Wood to Tottenham Court Road. Of course buying Boris bike pass was not problematic and it took us around 20 minutes (!!!) to buy one for each of us (3 people in total). We didn't know the latest trick in the book aka when you pull the bike from the docking station, press both brakes simultaneously and then pull as hard as you can. Easy. Right.

trying to buy bike pass

In the end, with the little help of a guy who was returning his bike, we went on and cycled all around Regent's Park to the British Museum. We made a little stop there. In the original plan we were going to see The Eagle at Odeon on Tottenham Court Road, but we were so hungry, so the decision was to eat some lunch. 

We spent few ours eating, laughing and joking. Dom-dom had her first encounter with the Nintendo DS  - me and Boyfriend have one each (mine is pink of course), so we played against each other and it was so much fun! I forgot how great Nintendo is - usually I'm going through the gaming phases like playing The Sims, Caesar, etc. and then the circle overlaps. Anyway, Dom-dom now wants to buy Nintendo too, so we're be playing together aka even more fun.

I won

When were were talking, I said that I want to go to the Selfridges today and buy MAC lipsticks. I had my eye on both Lady Gaga ones and also the hottest spring trend - orange! I've found on the MAC website a great colour called Morange and I knew it had to be mine. Dom-dom claims that she also wanted to buy orange lipstick for quite some time, but of course we all know that it was my idea. 

not a good photo, but I will write another posts about the lipsticks and post better pictures.

We went all the way from the Tottenham Court Road to Bond Street. We didn't take the main road (Oxford Street) because of the protest and it was very good idea, because when we were passing Topshop on a parallel road, there was madness - shop closed, paint on the walls, windows smashed. Anarchists had a really good time out there. It was rather shocking to see all these people with banners, shouting and in black hoodies and then enter Selfridges and pass Louis Vuitton, Prada, Marc Jacobs and Chanel. Two completely different worlds.

We bought our lipsticks and parted our ways. Dom-dom went home to get ready for a friend's birthday drinks (I was also invited but didn't want to go) - in the end she was so tired (we can really make people suffer) and went to sleep! Score Dom-dom!

Me and Boyfriend wanted to go to the cinema badly, but when we saw that the earliest movie at the Odeon Marble Arch is in over an hour, we were stuck. Our bike pass was still valid (it lasts £1 for a whole day and then £1 when you use bike for over an hour), so we cycled back to Tottenham Court Road to the Odeon we were originally supposed to go to and see The Eagle. Because there was still a little bit of time and there's a HUGE Paperchase store (aka my heaven - I LOVE stationery!) on the other side of street, I have a new mug and notepads (pictures to come soon). 

The Eagle was better than I expected. I don't want to put spoilers, so I won't write about the essence of the movie, I will only say that it's much more than fighting and blood on the scree. Of course there are battle scenes and nasty usage of the knives etc., but as my usual reaction to this is hiding behind my jacket, I don't remember it after leaving the cinema. It was an interesting movie and I'm glad we went to see it. It gave me a chance to not only salivate over Channing Tatum, but also remind myself about honour and true friendship.

London Street Photography and Norwegian Wood

Today we went to see London Street Photography exhibition at the Museum of London. This major new exhibition showcases an extraordinary collection of London street photography with over 200 candid images of everyday life in the street. From sepia-toned scenes of horse-drawn cabs taken on bulky tripod-mounted cameras to 21st century Londoners digitally ‘caught on film’, explore how street photography has evolved from 1860 to the present day. The photographers show the relationship between London’s streets and the people who live on them, and reflect on the place of photography on London’s streets today as anti-terrorism and privacy laws grow ever tighter.

Recruits near the Westminster

Big Ben and anti-war protesters

It was really interesting to see the familiar places like Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square or Bank on the old photographs. It is amazing to see people gathering, leaning from the windows, just to have an opportunity to be on the picture. However, I was expecting a little bit more. I'm not saying it was bad, but I think that the combination of reading fantastic reviews and attending some major exhibitions at British Museum, made me feel that this one was too small. 

We also had in plans going to see British Art Show 7, but we decided to postpone it for the next weekend - we're both feeling a little bit ill and my legs hurt, after yesterday's PT session, where I had to run. So we went to eat and to my shame I ate vegetarian burger and some fries - my first fast-food in almost 4 weeks! Oh, Renata (my PT) will be so not impressed.

Quick check on the Blackberry and it turned out that there is Norwegian Wood at the nearby Odeon Covent Garden. Lately, we're choosing Odeon over other cinemas, because we have a Premier Clubcard and collect points - today we were able to exchange them for one ticket! Yey! The movie is an absolute must-see. It's so simple and beautiful. I admit that I am not a huge fan of Murakami's novels, but the movie is nothing like the book. It is difficult and some characters are doomed from the start, but in the end, it shows that one chapter has to close for the new one to open and give some hope.

I also snapped these great postcards from the cinema

St Patrick's Day in London

Even though this weekend tube on our station is not working, we decided to take Rail Replacement bus and go to central London anyway. It is a huge sacriface on our part, because the journey usually lasts an hour longer. But we were lucky to be riding an old fashioned bus - the one which is not normally driving on the London streets - it was a first time for me!

You can get on and off the bus from the open platform at the back

 We went to the British Museum for the permanent exhibition: Japan. After this horrible tragedy that struck Japanese nation, we wanted to at least make it closer to our hearts by learning and discovering the culture. The focus is on the ancient and medieval times, including the rule of samurai. In the exhibition overview is a mention of a XX and XXI century, but there's hardly anything relating to this subject, except some explicit drawings. There was a lot of people for a permanent exhibition, so I think we were not the only ones with the idea of coming.

Later we took a stroll and we ended up on the Trafalgar Square, where people were celebrating St Patrick's Day. There was a lot of green, beer and smiles. Irish people certainly know how to party!

Celebration at the Trafalgar Square