Breakfast then Tiffanys

We have had such an exciting time in London! Last night James expertly navigated us across London to our hotel; when I scanned my Oyster Card at Paddington it loaded up with £15 - James had arranged this by Internet - amazing! We had supper at the hotel and our room was lovely; spacious and comfortable.
This morning after a hearty breakfast we decided to walk to Old Bond Street to get some fresh air and exercise on our shopping trip. It was a grey day but dry and pleasant enough for a walk. James took me a scenic route via St James' Park. We did a little bit of window shopping then went into Tiffanys. After an enjoyable yet nerve-wracking session of choosing, with no useful help from the salesman (who simply agreed with anything I said) I finally chose a very simple heart shaped pendant. I love it. James was relieved that I had finally chosen something! We then walked along a little lane called the Burlington Arcade which Linda had recommended to me, and strolling towards us came the actor Bill Nighy! I was delighted, I have been a fan of his for many years and he is even more gorgeous in life than on the screen! Needless to say we didn't speak to him or stare (too much) but it was great to see him. We then walked back to our hotel in Westminster and then round the corner to the Tate Britain. I was looking forward to seeing the pre-Raphaelite paintings, however we found out that they had all been moved into a special exhibition and that it was sold out for today! To add insult to injury, tomorrow is the last day of the exhibition and then all the pre-Raphaelite paintings will be going on tour to the USA, Russia and Japan for at least a year! Never mind, I will look forward to seeing them next year some time! James and I are very good at being flexible when plans go awry (plenty of practice) so after a brief discussion we jumped in a taxi to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. There was plenty to see there and we spent the next couple of hours wandering around happily. Neither of us have been there before. Like many old fashioned museums and art galleries it consists of a bewildering array of inter-connecting rooms. We preferred to browse during this first visit rather than try to plan our route, so we certainly didn't see everything but we saw plenty of interesting and sometimes stunningly beautiful works of art. The Van Goghs were brilliant and I loved "The Sunflowers" but my favourite was "A Cornfield with Cypresses" because the colours and the whorls of paint were amazing. I enjoy Van Gogh more and more. I also loved Caravaggio's The Supper at Emmaus - the surprise of the men was so realistic, like a moment captured in time. There were some beautiful Renoirs, my favourite being At the Theatre (La Première Sortie) because to me the real performance seemed to be the audience and it made me think of Proust in location and timescale. We paid our respects to Constable's The Hay Wain and also to Turner's The Fighting Temeraire which James really likes, to the extent that he said he would be willing to put it on the wall in our lounge - high praise indeed! I also liked Velázquez' The Toilet of Venus (lovely bum). And that's just a few highlights of what we saw; there was much more. It was a great way to spend a chilly January afternoon in London, and we weren't the only ones who thought so because the gallery was pleasantly busy with both families and tourists - it's nice to see that so many people are interested in the art of yester year. We left at about five and made our way back to Heathrow with plenty of time for to relax in the BA lounge before our 7.05 p.m. flight. I spotted yet another celebrity - this time the actor Robson Green who we used to watch sometimes in a programme called Soldier Soldier in the 1990s. Again we did a bit of covert staring. When we boarded our plane I noticed that the screen at the front said that it is 553 km from London to Glasgow. So I thought that it was pretty impressive that having left Heathrow just after seven, we were home by nine, thanks to James' well laid plans of sitting at the front of the plane with hand luggage only, and also to the fact that he knows the perfect place to park in the car park for a quick getaway! Soon we were reunited with Davie and Jack cat (Ally is in Dunlop tonight). A lovely day in London!