England, Travel, Where to stay

The Corner House hotel in Canterbury – Don’t expect wildebeest.

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Last weekend, Ellie & I took part in another GO London hike (18km from Chilham to  Canterbury). Considering that it had been in this little town, that I had proposed to my good wife, 16 years ago, we decided to make a weekend away of it and stay for a night. This is my review. REVIEW OF THE CORNER HOUSE HOTEL IN CANTERBURY Many of the other hotels had been booked out, so we ended up booking the largest room, The Dickens Room, at the Corner House, for £200. When this former 16th Century tavern was still called The Three Musketeers, the great Victorian writer had once spent a night there, even though it is unclear in which room. While the 600-year old Christmas market in the medieval town centre attracts a lot of visitors during the advent season, summer tends to be much busier than winter. During the main […]

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Art and Culture, London, NWP Expedition

The Northwest Passage and the Quest for the North Pole, an RGS Lecture

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Two days ago, I attended a lecture by Eugene Rae, the Principal Librarian of the Royal Geographical Society, entitled “The Northwest Passage and the Quest for the North Pole” at the Society’s headquarters in South Kensington. It was an absolutely fascinating event, which involved Mr Rae walking us through roughly 150 exhibits relating to the subject matter, mainly books and maps, but also photographs and original items from the various expeditions, such as scientific instruments, tin boxes, and so on.     Pic #1 Map from time of Franklin Expedition showing “King Williams Land” as peninsula and not as the island that it actually is, which could explain strange and dangerous route Franklin’s expedition took towards end of their expedition’s journey. Pic #2 shows expeditions of Amundsen.   THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE HAS ONLY RECENTLY BECOME A HOT TOPIC FOR ME Mr Rae has held his current position for almost a […]

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Art and Culture, London, Plays

Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art at the Arcola Theatre

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Earlier this week, Ellie and I watched a series of very short plays called “Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art” at the marvellous Arcola Theatre in Hackney. We were almost feeling a bit ashamed that it had taken us so long to discover this gem on the London theatre scene, considering how easy it is to get to from central London. Dalston Junction is only two stops from the Victoria Line, for example, by London Overground (Windrush Line). Once you are at the station, it’s under a minute’s walk to the theatre.   Feature pic (c) Cutting The Tightrope Ltd; Pics 1 and 2 above (c) Ali Wright. FIRST STAGING WAS IN MAY THIS YEAR Cutting the Tightrope has first been staged at the same location in May this year, to raise awareness of the censorship and self-censorship in the performing arts and society in general, and […]

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Art and Culture, London

Van Gogh, Poets & Lovers, at the National Gallery

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Ellie & I recently visited the lovely exhibition “Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers” at the National Gallery, which will be showing until 19 January 2025. Standard tickets have now sold out, however, you could become a National Gallery member for £68 (Direct Debit; £78 if paying by credit card) per person, and get free access to this and other exhibitions, even on officially sold out dates. Alternatively, you could find a movie theatre near you that is showing David Bickerstaff’s documentary about the show.     Pic #1 Portrait of a Peasant (Patience Escalier); pic #2 The Lover (Portrait of Lieutenant Milliet); pic #3 The Poet (Portrait of Eugene Boch).   VAN GOGH, POETS AND LOVERS, AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY, SHOWS ALMOST 50 PAINTINGS Poets & Lovers managed to gather 47 paintings and 14 drawings from all over the world. What a great way to celebrate the National Gallery’s 200th […]

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Art and Culture, London

Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Florence, c.1504 at the RA

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A few weeks ago, I took part in the press viewing of “Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Florence, c.1504” at the RA, but only got myself to finish and publish the review just now. The exhibition will be open until 16 February 2025, and I highly recommend you visit. It is located at the Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries on the far end from Piccadilly, right next to Burlington Gardens, the street, and inside Burlington Gardens, one of the two main buildings of the RA.   All pics (c) BerkeleySqB. Pic #1 shows painting attributed to Francesco Rosselli and workshop, View of Florence from the Southwest, c.1495.   MICHELANGELO, LEONARDO, RAPHAEL, FLORENCE, C.1504 AT THE RA All visitors at the press viewing had been given strict instructions on which artworks were completely off limits and which could only be photographed in so-called studio-shots, showing the exhibition space, not mainly the artwork, perhaps showing more […]

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