National Portrait Gallery, 1

It's close to Trafalgar Square, but every time we've walked past it in recent years it's been closed for extended renovation. This time, however, finally, it was open and we leapt at the opportunity. There are important portraits of important people all over the UK--great houses, National Trust sites, other museums--but we've always assumed that the best of the best would be in the National Portrait Gallery. The National Portrait Gallery in the US is far more than just portraits, and we had hoped that the British version might be similar. We were there a couple hours, completed only the top floor...Tudors to the end of the 18th century...and I'll post just a fraction of what we saw. Especially for the 16th century portraits, the authorship and provenance are often problematic, and I'll omit such matters. We'll be back for the exciting conclusion.

Famous red-head

Her long-standing beau, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; according to
some movies we've seen, which were based on a true story

Mary Queen of Scots

Sir Walter Raleigh, famous in North Carolina

The Ditchley portrait of Elizabeth I

Sir Francis Drake, world traveler

William Cecil, Elizabeth's principal advisor in the
earlier years of her long reign; later Baron Burleigh;
Burleigh House is one of the really great ones...

Sir Francis Walsingham, principal advisor in later years,
spymaster and persecutor of Catholics, especially Mary
Queen of Scots

Lady Jane Grey (the chronology gets a bit messed up from here;
my bad)

The Younger Holbein's cartoon for one of his famous portraits
of Henry VIII

Richard III; found under a carpark

Anne Boleyn; with head

Thomas More family for all seasons

The aforementioned "pretty witty" Nell Gwyn

Oliver Cromwell; including warts

Very young poet John Milton; so fair, at Cambridge
they called him "our lady of Christ's College"

Diarist Samuel Pepys

Charles I; with head

Sir Anthony Van Dyke self-portrait

Poet and playwright Ben Johnson

Last and most famous of all, Shakespeare; thought
to be the only likeness of him painted during his lifetime;
the National Portrait Gallery's very first acquisition... 

London Scenes And Out-Takes, 2

Bowellism still alive and well in central London

M16..."Bond, James Bond..."

Squares and parks all over

"Look, kids..."; finally out of the years-long scaffolding

Who knew?

His and hers

Near Tate Britain; all the buildings named after British
artists

More ghost signs

On Carnaby Street, a pedestrianized area

Among the 20-some displays of Taylor Swift show
outfits at the V&A; Rebecca's set is complete; the
museum was over-run with younger Swifties; whoever
thought up these displays, getting thousands of youngsters
into the museum, deserves a big bonus and raise

Not so old London

Two-wheeled advertising

My favorite "stupid satyr tricks" Greek pottery still
there at the BM

Usual mob seen at the Rosetta Stone...not as bad as the Mona Lisa,
but nearly

London Scenes And Out-Takes, 1

Silver model at an antique store

Other end of the spectrum

Flowers everywhere

Interesting trike

Among the many Wellington monuments

Unusual dorsal view of Wellington's statue of Napoleon

Sic transit, Gloria

Eventual fate of all original Fiat 500s

Meet me at the sign of the white rhinoceros

Muslim Gideons at Leicester Square

Chuck doesn't do Orvis (see below)

"By appointment to HRH The Prince of Wales, suppliers of 
fishing tackle and water-proof clothing..."; probably looking
forward to becoming "by appointment to the King"...

Outside the Palace of St. James...frivolous or disorganized crime is
presumably OK, as Rebecca observed

The End of an Age...at the Lotus store, the last internal-combustion
Lotus sportscar to be made

Probably better known in Canada and Montana than here;
the British/Canadian version of Lewis and Clark

Prime Minister David Lloyd George in his Marilyn Monroe pose

Buckingham Palace

In all our London visits we'd never been to Buckingham Palace. Throughout Elizabeth II's long reign, it was a working palace and only open mid-July through August. This was our year, however. Alas, no fotos are permitted in the interior, so I have little to show for our visit, just memories of the grandeur, opulence, size, and most particularly, the extraordinary picture collection and especially its Vermeer. (No Velazquez). Also the chandeliers, which, in every grand hall, are of overwhelming size and beauty. And also the thrill of walking through such very historic spaces. A 2.5 hour tour, most of it by via an excellent audio format. 

Headed for the entrance queue

Fuller frontal (a few days later)

Including the famous balcony

Us, there

The famous Vermeer, A Lady at the Virginal with a Gentlemen;
famously not lent to the great Vermeer show at the Rijksmuseum
last year (thanks Wikipedia)

Dorsal view, after a stop at the cafe and the photo opp

And exiting...

Through the gift shoppe

Parthian shot

Portobello, 2024

Over the course of several visits, Rebecca has always had good luck at the Portobello Road market and wanted to go again. We got there relatively early Saturday morning, 9am, and the place already was bustling. By 11am it was grid-lock, and we were done. Again, however, it was a productive visit for her. For us, it was an interesting change. We'd last visited in 2021, when Covid restrictions were coming to an end here, and Portobello was just beginning to recover from a year's relative inactivity. Heavy rains and a flood the week before had not helped. We moved our collectible/brocante shopping attention to Camden Market. In 2024, I'd have to say, Portobello has fully recovered, and was, as in previous years, a hoot.

Interesting church pop-up en route

Almost everywhere you go here has interesting ghost signs

Street scene; it goes on a mile or more: mixed temporary stands and
permanent structures...food, souvenirs, clothes, crap, collectibles, and
real antiques...

The usual curiosities

On a side-street respite...the cat thinking "at last, all mine"

Very tempting...a beautiful art nouveau pitcher at one
of many shops in the Admiral Vernon Gallery; we also much
enjoyed The French Glasshouse, "Mouthwatering Galle and
Daum"

11am...very slow going, time to move on