LAST DAYS OF AUTUMN: LAST POST

Have spent most of the last 2 weeks visiting "old" haunts.
A visit to the British Library to do some family research in the India Archive yielded the unexpected thrill of seeing the original scroll of Kerouac's "On the Road" (normally in private hands).
The re-vamped William Morris Gallery/museum at Walthamstow was fantastic...the millions of pounds spent on it has been well considered and the big contrast with my last visit was the haords of people visiting there...including vast numbers of excited schoolchildren (interactive displays for kids are a new feature)...thanks must go to all those gamblers in the UK whose lottery ticket purchases funded this.
The Shakespeare exhibition at the British Museum was sensational...well the Brits do have access to it all: between the Bodleian and British Libraries they pretty much have it covered.

The Avins cousins

The visit to meet the Avins (my paternal grandmother's lot) cousins in Leicestershire was a great experience and they were most welcoming and made me felt like part of the family and as this is a family I have never met (except my dad) it was pretty special.
Then off to Norwich to Shirley & Robbie's for the weekend....great to see them again and as with good friends it felt like I had only seen them yesterday.
Norwich as the second most important city after London pretty much up until the industrial revolution, has great Medieval and Georgian streetscapes as well as a Norman castle, magnificent medieval cathedral and a great museum. Oh..and miles of shops too...as Isobel (aged 12) can attest as we spent hours trawling them to find (in vain) a dress for a wedding they are attending this weekend.!
A visit to the seaside at Sothwold was included and we caught the "ferry"(a rowboat) to the other side of the inlet to the pub for lunch (fish chips and mushy peas of course)....and I did see A SEAL!!!...and rows of beach huts, a pier and a medieval church (after 5 weeks here this is becoming the norm but never mundane).

Another visit to The Tate yesterday and the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition...foolish me thinking that it would be a bit less crowded than my last visit!...well worth it though and the last chance to see all those great works under on roof.

Last breakfast...at The Wolsley

Royal Academy tomorrow with Ben to see an exhibition on Bronzes and lunch together and home to pack and catch the plane at Heathrow at 9pm....not looking foward to the 24 hours in an upright position in a confined space!
It will be good to be home to sleep in my own bed and change the same 3 changes of clothes I have been wearing for 8 weeks and to never have to hand wash again (well not for some time anyway)...and to see family and friends again.
Ben has been a great host and his cooking will be especially missed.(he is an amazing cook)..but I'm sure he will be glad to have his floor back and see the airbed permanently deflated(this is  a very tiny flat)
See ya soon and thanks for listening to my rants
Kath xo

ISTANBUL & BEYOND

Sue & I returned the car safely (wonder of wonders) to Oxford and caught the train back to London a bit over a week ago. We managed to pack in a few more things in around here (including Simon Callow's fantastic one man show on the life of Charles Dickens by Peter Ackroyd,trips to Cambridge and the British Museum) before Sue flew home 5 days ago.
Ben and I then took the short trip to Istanbul..when you are in London most places are a hop, skip and a jump (except Australia of course).

Istanbul is an amazing city. The landscape is dominated by the most glorious mosques with the crowning glory Haghia Sophia and it's 1500 year old history ....truely breathtaking...
The people are lovely and language no problem...so it was generally very easy. The only drawback was the immense volume of tourists (enormous tour buses disgorging thousands of passengers every day)..but.since we were one of their number we can hardly complain!

Turkish icecream maker

Turkish tea, Turkish icecream and the best (fresh) figs I have ever tasted along with Gozleme (Turkish pancakes) meant the food experience was bloody good too! ...and then there was the Cretan restaurant with it's 16 plate Mezze "starter"......we did eat very well indeed....
Back in London now and the woolies and wet weather gear have been pulled back out of the luggage!
Kath