The Purple Penguin

We’ve been saying we should go to the Waterworks Nature Reserve to have a look as we live nearby. So today it was sunny and warm so off we went. We got there by walking through the Lea Valley which is lovely, though all the plants seem to be putting out pollen and there are clouds of midges hovering about.

Saw loads of birds on the way, had a cup of tea at the centre, then off to the waterworks to view the birds. Even saw a grass snake swimming along! Well worth the trip and really must do it more often.

We made it. Very tired when we got to Paris but walked from Gare du Bercy to Gare du Nord. As the train was coming in it was dark and wet looking, but as we walked along the river the sun came out and it became quite a pretty day.

We walked along the river to Notre Dame and Joe took photos. We then turned off the river to walk by the Centre Pompidou. Stopped to get coffee and a crepe then on to the station. Nice walk but we were quite tired from the train journey.

At Gare du Nord we got drinks and fries and waited for check in to open. First class travel on Eurostar at the end of the school holidays was very interesting. Lots of parents bringing their children back from holidays at the second house in France. And then there was Joe and I with laptop and camera, rucksack, and scruffy from the train travel!

But home and mugs of tea and an early night.

Of course the past two days we’ve had cloud, some spitting rain but not much, and a few sunny spells. So last night we got ready to go to dinner and walked out to a downpour. Got to the restaurant and had a lovely meal despite the party going on at the next table. And ran back to the hotel in the room.

For the last day I had planned a nice walk – over the Ponto Vecchio, along to the fort on the hill overlooking the city, then along to San Miniato al Monte then down to Piazzale Michelangelo. Mainly for views over the city and Joe could get some photos. So woke up this morning to the sound of rain hitting tiles. And it didn’t get any better. We stayed in bed pretending it wasn’t rain we were hearing but finally had to give up, get our showers and get breakfast. Dragged that out, packed the bags slowly, then checked out. Still raining. So we gave up and headed for Santa Croce. Spent a good hour or so in the church looking at frescos and tombs. The rain was slowing down so we headed out only to get more rain so we ducked into Museo Nazionale del Bargello which we were walking past. Looked at all the sculptures; unfortunately Donatello’s David is being restored, however, it is being restored in the gallery. So you can see the statue lying down on the table. Better than not there at all! As we left the Bargello the rain was slowing down and Joe was statued out.

We started heading for the Duomo – the museum behind the church has the Pieta that Michelangelo had designed for his tomb, and as we’d seen the tomb in the morning we thought we’d have a look at the Pieta. However, we ended up outside the Palazzo Vecchio and remembered we’d said we’d go in there for a look, especially as we had that view from the hotel! So in we went. By this time we were a bit overcome by all the art so the Palazzo is a bit of a blur. A lot of ceilings. Lots of ceilings. And huge empty rooms.

When we left the Palazzo we decided we needed to eat so headed for a little coffee bar we’d been passing. Lots of people hanging out as it was ‘free wi-fi’ – if you had your passport. We skipped on the wi-fi but had a nice lunch instead. Service was chaotic but the food was good.

When we left the coffee bar the rain had stopped so we headed over the river and started up the hill. It kept threatening rain but when we got to the top the sun came out and we had lovely views over the city and Joe took hundreds of photos. Or it certainly felt like it. There was a Monster Ducati show on as well! We only made it as far as Piazzale Michelangelo but the views from there, past the tour bus crowds, are lovely. Having made it to the top of the hill we headed back to the hotel to get our bags, have a cup of coffee and update the blog!

We are off to the train station shortly and soon back home.

To see the art of course. And to see art concentrated go to the Uffizi which is what we did today.

Up early(ish) after a good night’s sleep and had breakfast then off to the museum. I bought the tickets on the web so had a voucher. Top tip: you need to take the voucher to door three to get your tickets before going to door one to enter the museum. If you go straight to door one you will be sent away to door three. And door two is the entrance for people who have to buy a ticket and that queue is very very long indeed. Also, if you have a bag you will have to leave it at the cloakroom. Which means if you have a ridiculous amount of camera equipment (as Joe does) you will be left juggling it while the very nice guard laughs and gets you a clear plastic bag. Because you are leaving the bag in the cloakroom. Which is free.

We ended up not taking all day as the museum is slightly smaller than I expected and bits are closed off due to renovations. But the art is wonderful. Unfortunately Titian’s Venus of Urbino is in Tokoyo so I didn’t get to see it, but that was the only main piece that I wanted to see that I didn’t get to see. The rest was there and wonderful. The roof top terrace for coffee/hot chocolate is wonderful and Joe enjoyed taking photos from there.

Which reminds me – if you aren’t seeing the photos it’s because he’s had trouble loading them on the site. They will eventually be up there!

We spent the later part of the afternoon walking to the train station (the long way round) stopping in San Lorenzo to see the tombs of the Medici (but didn’t really get to see the major works because parts were closed off which was disappointing). But saw Lippi’s Annunciation which was nice. We were headed to the train station to work out when we have to leave tomorrow to catch the train to Paris. So only one more day to wander around Florence. If the weather is nice we’ll go over the rive and walk up to San Miniato al Monte and Piazzale Michelangelo.

I think we have one of the best rooms in the hotel and also have access to the roof top terrace with views of the Palazzo and Duomo which is lovely at night all lit up!

Well we made it and for some photos check out Joe’s Panoramio section. Or his Google web album.

First stop St Pancreas which is lovely. I had my first real walk and gawp around the station since it’s been redone and it is quite nice. We also got to see a Harris hawk and it’s handler taking a break from chasing pigeons away. Lovely way to get rid of pigeons.

The train ride to Paris was uneventful and we got the RER to Gare du Lyon and then walked. Had a sandwich in a very nice little sandwich shop and then waited. And waited. And waited a bit more. At least we were in the nice lounge, as our train was about half an hour to an hour late. When they announced the train (well, the attendant in the lounge came in and said ‘it’s there, the only train out there, have fun!’) we joined the throng waiting to get onto the platform. And waited a bit more as a whole horde of children in red baseball caps were ushered onto the train.

When we were finally allowed on and found our carriage it was nice and we had a good dinner on board. As usual however, very little sleep and up early a bit worried we’d miss our stop. Turned out we could have stayed asleep as the train was about 2 hours late into Florence! Still, we were due in so early it didn’t much matter. We found the hotel after a lovely walk (the city is beautiful) and they held our bags as we headed out to explore (as it was too early to check in). (More on the hotel in a bit.)

We walked around the city until about 3pm and saw (as I remember it) the Duomo and Campanile, the Uffizi, the Palazzo Vecchio, Ponto Vecchio, loads of churches and bell towers, loads of lovely houses, loads of little streets, and just loads of everything. The only place we went into was the Cappella Brancacci inside the Basilica di Santa Maria del Camine to see the frescos by Masolino, Masaccio and Lippi.

After all the walking we headed back to the hotel (by way of the hordes of tourists on Ponto Vecchio) stopping on the way for an ice cream (a must have, it was lovely). Got taken to our room which is lovely. The whole hotel is beautiful, but the room is wonderful. We have a little balcony, with table and chairs shielded from the wind, but standing up you can see the river, the Ponto Vecchio, and beautiful views out over southern Florence. Out the other window you can see the tower of Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi. Lovely. So we really do have a room with a view!

So now getting ready to go out for a bite to eat (once Joe has his photo of the sunset and Ponto Vecchio).

Well, Joe finally got his new camera kit and has been out and about harassing the local wildlife trying everything out. We had a few photos of polar bears in a snowstorm and black dogs at night while he works out the settings but overall the photos are coming out nicely.

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Ah yes, it has been snowing today. Got up this morning to a lovely white back garden. So now Joe is cross with me for not waking him up so he could get photos of the snow; by the time he got up the snow was patchy. But he still got the photo of the annoyed sparrow!

It’s 2008! Finally. Watched the fireworks going on around the house and listened to music. Glad to have finally made it into 2008.

Happy new year to everyone!

Ok, what sort of sad person blogs on Christmas day? Joe, that’s who. So here I am, wanting to play with my brand new, just opened this morning DS and instead I’m updating the blog.

Up early, breakfast (why?), open presents (yea!), then start lunch. Lots and lots and lots and lots of lunch. Venison and every veg we can fit on/in the stove. After stuffing ourselves silly we play with our new toys and then watch Dr Who.

So have a very Merry Christmas and thanks for all the cards and gifts and messages! All best wishes for the new year!

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Long time no posts but that’s because we’ve been busy. Work and life in general but nothing worth blogging about.

I have however done my 5km event and ended up walking it due to sore joints. Hope this doesn’t mean I’m getting all old and unable to do stuff because of bad joints. It was a complete opposite of last year – I was at the very back this year and didn’t wear a watch so didn’t time myself and only ran a very small bit of the course (about the last kilometre). So no idea how long it took so just going for the average walking time of 45 minutes. It was like Oxford Street on a Saturday in December only with everyone going the same direction.

 My sponsorship page should be up for another month.

Next week going to see St Joan at the National Theatre. Hopefully have more to blog about!