Sometimes here I mention that I am a member of various Yahoo Groups - some I've been a member of for years. Anyway, one such group is called Jennifer Crusie Fans. It started as a fan group for people who like the books of Jenny Crusie but has become a community which talks about everything - in the past couple of days subjects discussed included bullying at school, King Charles 1st, why the new Harry Potter book will be the price it is going to be, suggestions of young adult books, why ceramic teapots are better than metal ones, how to get rid of spiders when you can't go near the things (and no, that wasn't from me), cat's soft claws, the problems of owning an independent book store, and lots and lots of other subjects including, in the past such subjects as fainting goats. Jenny is busy writing but still takes the time to respond to the odd question asked there and several other authors also are active members of the Group. The good thing about the Group is that everyone respects others' opinions and I cannot remember a Flame war, although at times there are very different opinions expressed on various subjects. Members of the Group are called Cherries. Yesterday two of us English Cherries, Rachel and myself, decided to meet in London for a few hours.
We met outside the National Portrait Gallery just after noon. As I stood outside and saw all the people around and going into the gallery it occurred to me forcibly that I had absolutely no idea what Rachel looked like, and that she wouldn't be able to recognise me either. However, I am rereading "Bet Me" at the moment and so I dug it out and started to read. When Rachel approached she took one look at the giggling figure reading the bright pink book by Jenny and immediately knew who to approach. After introducing ourselves we went into the NPG and up to the Second floor where the permanent collection started. And so we travelled forward in time from the Tudors then on through the 17th century and on to the mid-18th century. It was a fascinating collection of portraits where the earlier ones were mainly royalty or nobles while by the 18th century the portraits included many more "ordinary" people who had made an impact on society in various ways. What was interesting also was to see how the portraits actually depicted the individuals concerned. Some were just a pictures displaying little life or understanding of what the person was really like at all (there were even a few which had been painted after the individual had died, probably using more than a little imagination as to how they actually looked). However, some pictures stood out from the rest showing so much life and individuality that you could feel the force of character displayed by the person.
We were unable to go into the galleries for the late 18th Century/early 19th century as they were closed over lunchtime so we popped out for a sandwich and chatted about how to spend the rest of the day. There was, of course, no difficulty in deciding that as we were in Charing Cross Road, which is notorious for being full of bookshops. We started by window shopping at a couple of second-hand bookshops (including the one that was 84 Charing Cross Road - as in the book by Helen Hamf). Then I dragged poor Rachel into Murder One, an independent bookshop that concentrates on books in two different genres: crime and romance. The majority of the shop concentrates on the first but it also has a room dedicated on romantic fiction as well. The good thing about Murder One is that it sells a lot of US imports too and not just books published in the UK and also that books are piled from floor to ceiling in every room so you are spoilt for choice. When finally Rachel had had enough we moved on up the road and into Borders (one of the bigger ones in London). When we had finished in there we stood on the pavement and stared at Foyles on the other side of the road but decided that visiting there would be too much of a good thing and that we would find something else to do.
So we walked down Oxford Street and then on to Regent's Park where after some searching (and a lot of walking) we found Queen Mary's Gardens. We walked around the ponds and discovered that although many plants have yet to bloom this early in Spring some are already making a fine show of colour, including lots of daffodils, some tulips, a lovely white azalea and two magnolia trees. By now it was 5.00 pm and it was time for us to part as Rachel was meeting a friend and I had to make a move too.
It was a really nice day and it was good to have the opportunity to meet someone I have previously only "met" online.
We met outside the National Portrait Gallery just after noon. As I stood outside and saw all the people around and going into the gallery it occurred to me forcibly that I had absolutely no idea what Rachel looked like, and that she wouldn't be able to recognise me either. However, I am rereading "Bet Me" at the moment and so I dug it out and started to read. When Rachel approached she took one look at the giggling figure reading the bright pink book by Jenny and immediately knew who to approach. After introducing ourselves we went into the NPG and up to the Second floor where the permanent collection started. And so we travelled forward in time from the Tudors then on through the 17th century and on to the mid-18th century. It was a fascinating collection of portraits where the earlier ones were mainly royalty or nobles while by the 18th century the portraits included many more "ordinary" people who had made an impact on society in various ways. What was interesting also was to see how the portraits actually depicted the individuals concerned. Some were just a pictures displaying little life or understanding of what the person was really like at all (there were even a few which had been painted after the individual had died, probably using more than a little imagination as to how they actually looked). However, some pictures stood out from the rest showing so much life and individuality that you could feel the force of character displayed by the person.
We were unable to go into the galleries for the late 18th Century/early 19th century as they were closed over lunchtime so we popped out for a sandwich and chatted about how to spend the rest of the day. There was, of course, no difficulty in deciding that as we were in Charing Cross Road, which is notorious for being full of bookshops. We started by window shopping at a couple of second-hand bookshops (including the one that was 84 Charing Cross Road - as in the book by Helen Hamf). Then I dragged poor Rachel into Murder One, an independent bookshop that concentrates on books in two different genres: crime and romance. The majority of the shop concentrates on the first but it also has a room dedicated on romantic fiction as well. The good thing about Murder One is that it sells a lot of US imports too and not just books published in the UK and also that books are piled from floor to ceiling in every room so you are spoilt for choice. When finally Rachel had had enough we moved on up the road and into Borders (one of the bigger ones in London). When we had finished in there we stood on the pavement and stared at Foyles on the other side of the road but decided that visiting there would be too much of a good thing and that we would find something else to do.
So we walked down Oxford Street and then on to Regent's Park where after some searching (and a lot of walking) we found Queen Mary's Gardens. We walked around the ponds and discovered that although many plants have yet to bloom this early in Spring some are already making a fine show of colour, including lots of daffodils, some tulips, a lovely white azalea and two magnolia trees. By now it was 5.00 pm and it was time for us to part as Rachel was meeting a friend and I had to make a move too.
It was a really nice day and it was good to have the opportunity to meet someone I have previously only "met" online.
Oh, and the pictures/ The first is King Henry VII; then there's Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborogh and the last is John Tradescant the Younger, all ones we saw at the gallery yesterday.
5 comments:
Wow! What a wonderful outing you had--and what a wide range of interests you pursue online. Fabulous! CC
Sounds like an interesting day. I especially liked the idea of many bookstores to explore all on one street. So many independent bookstores, used bookstores no longer exist here in the U.S. where I live, so glad to read there is such a street somewhere.
CopCar,
It was a very enjoyable day. I'm a great believer that enjoying different interests is the way to an interesting life.
Joared,
Thanks for visiting. I'm always slightly bemused that so many bookshops, let alone second-hand bookshops, can survive in the center of London what with high rents and being in close proximiity to each other. However I'm very glad that they do because it makes it easy to visit several in a day when visiting London.
There are, incidentally, lots of other bookshops in the area.
A concentration of shops, of any kind, leads people to visit them from afar--knowing that there will be much from which to choose. CC
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