Friday outing

On Friday I had a day out meeting up with a couple of friends from where I used to work.  I wonder if you will be able to guess from these photos where we went?

This is a lovely peaceful garden...

.. which is part of a museum.

It is a really tranquil place and whilst wandering round the museum itself and these lovely gardens outside we were able to imagine we were somewhere quite different.

and yet as you will see - it is aurrounded by the noise and bustle of trains and planes and buses and traffic!

with a station right next to it and planes flying overhead!  (I don't remember it being quite so cloudy whilst we were there and in fact the sun was shining for much of our day!)

But with all those wonderful old trees and the beautiful garden absorbing all the 21st century noise we could imagine we were back in the 18th century when these almshouses were built..

As you might be able see from this lovely gateway we were visiting the Geffrye Museum in London!  Entrance is free and if it is unknown to you I certainly recommend a visit - it is a lovely place and the restaurant is excellent too!  We did enjoy catching up over our lunch (roasted vegetables served with bubble and squeak patty and a drink) before we explored the museum and the gardens at our leisure. 

After we had finished at the Geffrye Museum we got a bus (bus passes are so useful!) to the South Bank where there was a "beach" maybe not quite up to the same standard as the Paris Plage perhaps but a fun idea which the children we saw there seemed to enjoy!

Loved this little arrangement of derelict boat and seaside planting.

This interesting mosaic was on the side of one of the many beach huts along the South Bank and depicts the Thames and is made up of bits and pieces found along the foreshore of the river - fascinating stuff!



This fabulous creature is the urban fox and is made from straw!  The sculpture is supposed to represent the link between the city and the countryside to be found in London is very apt for this particular post don't you think!  He is part of an exhibition currently at the Royal Festival Hall celebrating the Festival of Britain back in 1951 which was also very interesting and which I want to go back and see again as time ran out before we had seen it all and we had to make our way to Waterloo to go our separate ways.  I love London - there is always something interesting to see or do and I always come away wanting to see more and planning my next visit.  As you know I love where I live and wouldn't want to live in London (unless I could afford some quiet square somewhere!) but I have always felt a pull to visit it.