Wonders of Portobello

I have been to London many times and seen many different places and museums there. But somehow I have not managed to find time to go to the famous Portobello market, that surprised my London friends very much. And finally, in my last trip to London, one warm Saturday morning I found myself wandering about this market. Having heard enthusiastic reviews, I still felt fairly skeptical - a market is a market, even in Africa, after all. What I can say right away - I was captivated by this place's special atmosphere. Yes, this is a market: it's noisy and crowded here, people are selling, buying, bargaining, there are many pickpockets (about which policemen at the entrance warn the visitors, handing out leaflets with tips on how to protect yourself from them). And yet ... there is something special, joyful in this place, there is a sense of celebration in the air and you just feel that you want to come here again. Not for shopping, but just for this feeling.

Mournful beauty of the Highgate

I can't say that I am such a big lover of walking around cemeteries. And I found myself in the London's Highgate cemetery quite by accident: a friend of mine, a fashion designer, was making a "Gothic" collection. And she wanted to visit the cemetery "for inspiration". She didn't feel like going alone and so, she talked me into accompanying her.
Want to say that the cemetery did not look terrible or ominous (at least for me). Admission was 3 pounds, simbolic fee, rather to ward off vagrants and idlers from the place.

Dolls and toys of The Museum of Childhood

If you are in London with kids, or do not mind to feel like a kid for a while again , go to the Museum of Childhood. This branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum is devoted to everything that is connected with this tender age: furniture - from the old cradle of 1641 to the modern IKEA tables and chairs, children's clothing - from the nappies of the 16th century to the modern jeans, and of course toys - wooden horses, tin soldiers, stuffed bears, dogs, dolls, clock-work monkeys, puppets of various designs, moving trains, bricks, and computer games. Bring some 20-pence coins because there are many mechanical exhibits in the museum , whose work can be seen with the help of a coin.

What I saw at the V&A museum

Altar piece, Florence, 1500-1510

My second favorite museum in London, after the British museum, is the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is the world's largest (more than 4 million items) and greatest museum of applied arts and design. Everyone can find something to his/her liking in this museum: pottery, clothing, jewelry, furniture, paintings, sculpture.

What I saw at the British Museum

The British Museum in London is one of the largest in the world. Its collection numbers more than 7 million items, which are exhibited in 95 galleries. To go through all the halls, it took me 4 days. If you are a tourist then you have just a few hours or maybe one day. So before going to the museum, it is better to think of what you really want to see, what will be interesting to you personally. And then coming to the place all you'll have do is to take the museum map at the entrance and go straight to the gallery you are interested in, and not to wander around many rooms of the museum.

Camden Town of London

Camden Town is one of the interesting and unusual places of London. One time Camden Town was the place where artists, actors and writers readily moved to live. They loved this place due to availability of cheap housing in the area and we all know that people of creative professions often suffer from a lack of money. The reason Camden was cheap was the large Irish immigrant population who had something of an undesirable reputation for drunk and disorderly behaviour that deterred potential respectable tenants.

Indian Art from the British Museum

The Indian collection of the British museum include pottery, paintings, traditional script work, daggers and a large display of sculptures among which there are carvings from the Great Stupa at Amaravati. Some objects in the collection date from the earliest civilizations of the Indus valley and are about 7000 years old. India is also represented in the money collections, with a large number of coins dating back to the 4th century BC.

Ravana, Tamil Nadu, 17c

London's cute houses

Just a couple of photos of so charming British houses

British museum's collection of the Nepalese art

The British museum has a few pieces of art from Nepal, mostly dating 18-19 century. The most impressive from my point of view is this altar screen of metal set with bone, shell, precious and semi-precious stones (18-19c).