Charlecote Park

Having feasted on the colour blue for the last three months, and having been starved of green, we went in search of luscious fields and majestic trees. Charlecote Park was our choice.

Charlecote Park, a National Trust property, is an extremely elegant Tudor mansion. Having gone through the arch in the photograph

we entered the courtyard, with the main house facing us

The elegant, intricate wall on the right

and these amazing, beautifully manicured yew trees on the left.

One more view of the tower from the side.

The huge fireplace in the kitchen has been recently made to work and a roaring fire was blazing

I visit National Trust properties to see and walk in the gardens. The interiors do not interest me at all, all this stuff, far too fussy, it gives me a headache. But, I like the kitchens

 

The river at the back of the house

 

  

 

 

Buggy - late 19th, early 20th c. An unusual coach to find in an English coach house, imported from New York, its amazing light construction a contrast to the traditional English methods. Owner driven, one horse.

 

 

A lot of changes have been made since we were last here, and one of them is the coach house. We enjoyed looking at the 19th century coaches.  

 

 

 

 

Whitechapel Cart, late 19th century. General purpose/sporting cart. Owner driven. One horse, possibly two, driven in tandem. 

 

 

 

 

 

On the left: Battlesden Car, late 19th c. Elegant lines and low body. Owner driven. One pony.

 

 

 

 

 

Breaking Cart, late 19th c. Used to break and  school carriage horses. Coachman driven. One horse.

 

 

 

 

 

Spider Phaeton.  Owner driven.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a quick game of croquet on the lawn before moving on

 

 

 

to enjoy some colour

 

 

 

one more

 

The Parterre

 

 

 

 

looking closer

 

 

 

 

The back of the house as seen from the parterre, where the ornate Tudor chimneys can be viewed 

 

 

 

 

 This is the private wing

 

 

 

steps down to the river

 

 

 

We managed to see just one deer. Tradition says that William Shakespeare was once caught poaching deer on the estate. The story goes that Shakespeare was forced to flee the area to avoid prosecution and escaped to London. Shakespeare satirised Lucy, the then owner, by casting him as Justice Shallow in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry VI, part 2.

 

A busy bee

 

 

  

 

The little cottage 

 

 

 

 

one more view

 

 

 

 

One the way to the car we stopped to look at this gorgeous apple tree.

Gallery Genesis

 

The middle of September heralds the re-opening of museums and private galleries in Athens. Summer is truly over. We went to Kolonaki a few days ago to have a wander around and see what was exhibited in some of the private galleries of the area.

 

 

 



 

First stop: Gallery Genesis on Haritos Street. I had got the dates wrong and Eva Karydis' exhibition had not opened yet, but there were a few paintings on display that I liked.

 

Katerina Petroula

 

 



 

 

Lennard Bergren

 

 

  

Lennard Bergren

Lennard Bergren

 

Lennard Bergren

 

  

 

Astypalaia, Kostas Pappas

End of Summer, Kostas Pappas.

Walking around the Plaka area

Our penultimate day in Greece was spent in Athens. We started from Syntagma Square and walked through Plaka. First stop was Normanou 5 to visit the metamatic:taf gallery, a new venue for us - post to follow at some point.






We then moved down to Abyssinias Square in Monastiraki to wander around the flea market.

Nothing seems to have changed here - I started coming here to look through the stalls when I was 19

and it's all unchanged:

the stalls,

the merchandise,

the people.

Wonderful, enjoying an almost cult status, Café Abyssinia has not changed since the 1950s

.

it has the same bohemian feel as it did then, full of china and antiques

it reflects the square it's situated in.

 Looking out.

 

I like walking around here,

 

 

 



even though the stalls don't interest me anymore.

We then moved on to Adrianou Street, which faces the Acropolis and is full of bars, cafes and restaurants

you also get the best views of the Observatory from here

the whole of Athens seems to descend here on Sundays as it's so lovely sitting here

a restored neo-classical building

Our choice for lunch was Kuzina - a favourite

 

We sat outside as it was a beautiful day, but I like the clean look of the inside, so here's some pictures



 

 

 

 

We ate a salad of rocket, other greens that I have not come across before, orange, blueberries, redcurrants with a delicious orange dressing, followed by grilled octopus with spearmint mash - it was so delicious, it felt like it was the best food I had all summer.

 

 

 



 

 

Nice detail all around the place

 



 

 

 

Part of the floor inside

 

 



looking closer.

Lemons

 

Merlin 6

 

 

Lest we forget...

Merlin 6, Athens: 'this is where the hellhouse of the Gestapo was, 1941-44'.

looking closer

'free spirits were imprisoned, tortured and put to death behind this door'.