More photos of London

London calling

Back in London last weekend we still managed to find things to see and do that we hadn't yet seen or done! It is such a big city bursting with history, culture, art and people that it always seems different. This time we managed visits to the Natural History Museum (although NOT recommended to go on a Saturday - way too many kids !!!), Somerset House (for the small, but magnificent Courtauld collection), Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens (including the Princess Diana memorial fountain and the Peter Pan statue), the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, Carnaby Street, the Imperial War Museum, and last but not least, the highlight for me - ABBA World !

The only disappointment of the weekend came when departing from Stansted airport - we had to "surrender" our latest addition to the snowdome collection - it was too big and did not fall within the strict limit of 100ml of liquids permitted on board :-( Damn it, didn't even think of that when we bought it!

The collection of impressionist & post impressionist, baroque and renaissance paintings that make up the Courtauld Collection (on show at Somerset House) is nothing but impressive. As I wandered through the small rooms of the multi storey house I was surprised at how many times I said to myself "hey, I know that painting, that painting is famous". From Manet, Gauguin, Monet, van Gogh, Renoir to Matisse, Cezanne, Rubens, Boticelli and Breughel. It was really like wandering through someone's house, and with little visible security you could get up close and personal to the paintings. Highly recommend a visit to this intimate gallery, especially if you want to beat the crowds of the bigger galleries.

Officially opened by The Queen in 2004 the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain is more a sculpture than a tradtional fountain. Made up of 545 pieces of Cornish granite, the design aims to reflect Diana's life ! Water flows from the highest point in two directions - cascading, swirling and bubbling down the hill before meeting in the calm pool at the bottom. The water is constantly being replenished from London's own water table far below. I can imagine it must be a popular spot in warmer weather - perfect for dangling those feet in on a hot summer's day :-)

Confirmed to open in Melbourne's very own Federation Square in June for any of you ABBA fans, ABBA World is one big, fantastic trip down memory lane. Jam packed with original memorabilia, some owned by the members themselves, you are guided chronologically through 25 different rooms!! Everything from stage clothes, instruments, theatre props, personal belongings, unique film & tv footage and loads of photos. The original helicopter from the Arrival album was even on show. And of course with ABBA music blaring out from all directions the place was buzzing with people humming and singing along :-)

Who knows what funky London has in store for us next time.

Alli xxx

A room with a view

Although not quite as spectacular as the view out over the Duomo in that fabulous 1980s Merchant-Ivory film, the view from our hotel balcony was nonetheless picturesque (and green!). On our latest long weekend away we visited the wonderful twin cities of Pisa and Florence :-)

Hotel Annalena was our homebase in Florence, and surprisingly enough is named after someone named Annalena! She was the wife of Baldaccio di Bicci dei Medici, a member of the ruling Medici dynasty. They married in 1439 and after 2 years of blissful marriage and the birth of a son, she caught the eye of the local governor of justice. She refused his advances, his blind jealousy quickly became revenge, and he killed Baldaccio and his son leaving Anna totally alone. Emotionally destroyed she decided to turn their home into a convent. In 1880 the convent became a school for young girls, and in 1919 it became the lovely pensione that we stayed in.

My first impression of Florence was, wow, the doors are really BIG! Even the door we entered off the street into the inner courtyard of our hotel was a giant wooden thing. And although the city is not as over the top, grandeous or bombastic as that icon of baroque, Vienna, the renaissance gem of Florence is still amazingly beautiful. Everywhere you look there are little (and some not so little!) treasures - a lamp; a water fountain; beautifully patterned cobblestoned streets; frescoes, frescoes and more frescoes; and religious and/or mythological inspired sculptures. And the "skyline" is dominated by crenallated rooftops that look like those perfect castles we all used to draw as kids.

Florence, like many Italian cities I guess, is filled with churches. Adelaide eat your heart out! But being the cradle of the Renaissance, it was specifically for many of these churches and family chapels that some of the most important and famous works of art were commissioned of some of the greatest artists of all time. We visited about 6 of the countless churches during our visit, and the one that left the most lasting impression on me was the Basilica di Sante Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross). The Basilica is the burial place of some of THE most illustrious Italians - including Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Rossini, and Marconi. It has 16 (!) chapels, many of which are decorated by beautifully detailed frescoes by Giotto. It is pretty difficult to describe the immense scale of these frescoes, and even though not religious at all, I must admit to being moved by them. Maybe I was affected by Florence (Stendhal) syndrome, a psychosomatic illness causing dizziness, rapid heartbeat, fainting and confusion that is said to be bought on when one is exposed to too much art and beauty! Who knows!?

As part of another curch we visited is the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (Laurentian Library, and also part of the Medici legacy). The library was built in a cloister back in 1525 and its architecture is famous for being planned and partially constructed by Michelangelo. It became a repository for 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books, and was designed to show of the Medici family as members of the intelligentsia and no longer "just" merchants.

On our last morning in Florence we also paid a visit to the sprawling Boboli Gardens, directly opposite our hotel. Yet again linked to the Medici family, the gardens were laid out in 1550 for Eleonora di Toledo, the wife of Cosimo I de' Medici and are home to a distinguished collection of sculptures from the 16-18th centuries.

With Ryan Air flying to Pisa and not actually Florence itself, we were also able to pay a quick visit to the home of the leaning tower :-) And YES, it really does lean! With 60% of the city's population students, it is a relaxed and friendly little city. On Saturday evening we soon discovered the student bar area along the banks of the Arno river and spent a couple of hours enjoying the fact that it was actually warm enough to sit outside without a scarf AND gloves!! Heaps of young students also just seem to gather around on the little squares and streets along the riverbanks, so it feels like there is always something happening in Pisa. The tower itself was shorter and fatter than I had imagined, and actually made me think of a wedding cake! And so weird to see how far it actually does lean over.

Oh, and of all the most unexpected things to see, there is a Keith Haring mural in Pisa! Keith was a New York artist and social activist, and became famous worldwide for his New York subway graffiti art. The only other mural of his I have seen is on a wall at the old Collingwood TAFE on Johnston St (Melbourne)! The one in Pisa is painted on the rear wall of a convent (what else!), and represents peace and harmony. Keith Haring died in 1990 of AIDS related complications.

Alli xxx

Images of Florence