Exactly two weeks after arriving home from a 3-week trip to England, I was off again for a follow-up visit to London. And why not?! It was still only my second trip of the year that involved spending nights away from home. This visit to the UK capital was split across two hotels, and I have divided the trip report along corresponding lines.
Heading south
Although I’ve previously covered Edinburgh Airport during the pandemic, I was once again struck by the extreme scarcity of passengers at the airport and by the unprecedented light load on my flight to Heathrow.
Hotel 1: Indigo Paddington
Our first base on this trip was a very short walk away, on arrival at Paddington Station.
Later, after a drink in Soho, we had a Japanese dinner near the redeveloped Tottenham Court Road station.
JR: Chronicles at the Saatchi Gallery
The following day, we travelled to King’s Road, Chelsea and a new venue for me: the Saatchi Gallery. We had already bought tickets for JR:Chronicles, an exhibition of the work of the French artist known as JR. The exhibition covered his early involvement in graffiti art, photography and urban architecture, but the main – and visually stunning – features were more recently created examples of large, intricate, digital collages.
One aspect of our gallery visit that we both found noteworthy was the presence of a sizeable Anglo-French school party. We commented to each other on their good behaviour and language skills, but most of all on the intensity of interest shown in the subject matter. It wasn’t at all uncommon to see individual kids standing alone in front of an artwork, quietly taking in every detail and making notes.
Sloane Square – Knightsbridge – Lancaster Gate
After seeing the exhibition, we walked to Sloane Square and up Sloane Street (which separates the districts of Belgravia and Knightsbridge), had lunch in a 17th-century pub and proceeded through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens back to our hotel.
The evening brought a gentle reintroduction to the world of theatre, but I’ll end this ‘Part 1’ report with a photo of Regent Street as daylight fades:
