Day Nine

Last night had me wondering if there was a place that I hadn't thought of going to. The lounge at the B&B has a stack of guidebooks so I took one up to my room for a browse through. Eureka! The Tate Britain has a small collection of Hogarth paintings, I knew where I was going first thing in the morning. Upon arriving I made straight for that gallery. There was a self-portrait of the man himself with his pug, Trump, the dog's tongue hanging out of his mouth to one side. Missing a few teeth was my guess. Whilst studying another painting, 'Strode Family', I noticed a pug with it's tongue hanging out on the same side. I burst out laughing, apparently, Hogarth shamelessly slipped his dog into another family's portrait! Before leaving I was thrilled to discover 'Ophelia' by John Everett Millais, an unexpected treat.

So just what would I do with my last evening in London I wondered? On my way through Leicester Square to the TKTS booth I spied this movie poster outside the Odeon and knew my quest was over. This was perfect! I stopped into the lobby and the young lady at the wicket said that the movie was being presented in a small showing room and you had to purchase a designated seat. With my ticket for seat C7 in my hand I went off to explore for the rest of the afternoon. Charing Cross Road was nearby, I really had no business buying more books but a stroll for research purposes only couldn't hurt. I browsed in Foyles, Blackwells, Borders and some independent shops with second-hand books and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Knowing that I had several months worth of reading, waiting for me back in my room, kept me from being tempted to purchase more books, well that and a clerk at the British Airways check-in counter waiting to weigh my luggage.

I took the tube over to St Paul's to visit Leadenhall Market. There has been a market on this site in Gracechurch Street since the 14th century. The covered market that stands here now was designed in 1881 and is so beautiful! Look it up on the internet to see it in a wide shot. Unfortunately, the market was closed! This was Saturday but it's located in the financial district so outside of business hours this area is pretty quiet. Still, it was quite lovely to look at the architecture if not a bit eerie to be one of only 4 people that were browsing there.

Well, things are hotting up! The Piccadilly Whip man is getting busted by the local constabulary outside of St Paul's Cathedral. Okay, that's being a bit dramatic, he was just told to move along.

This is the view from the back of St Paul's from the Millennium Bridge. The old and the new, I prefer the old. Just after taking this photo I spied some young men sitting off to the side, one of them with shoes and socks off bemoaning some nasty blisters. They turned out to be German but my holding up Band-Aids broke any language barrier and they were gratefully accepted. Having done my good deed for the day and feeling quite weary I headed back for home to have a cup of tea, some dinner, change my clothes and get to the Odeon. It would seem that most of the people attending the show liked sweets over popcorn, they were filling small bags with all sorts of candy to be paid for by weight. I chose to pass since I was starting to wonder what the effects of having a full-english breakfast and scones every day would have on my backside! Young Victoria was everything that I had hoped for, Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend were fantastic, they absolutely became Victoria and Albert for me. Jim Broadbent, Miranda Richardson, Paul Bettany were also wonderful in their parts and watch for a cameo of Princess Beatrice in the early part of the film. I have goosebumps writing about my adventures over the past several days even now, a more perfect holiday I couldn't have wished for, well meeting The Dowager Duchess would have been pretty bloody fantastic but still...Stay tuned for tomorrow as I still have a few more photos to share that didn't make my story lines if you can bear it.