Day Twenty Seven

Sarah went off for a study day and I headed off into London to meet Norman again. Same time same place as before so same dabble with National Portrait Gallery. We headed off down the strand to the Courtauld Gallery, in Somerset House. This is a wonderful collection of paintings including an exquisite collection of medieval paintings, all with a religious subject. In another room there was a magnificent collection of impressionist and post impressionist paintings including Van Gogh's Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear, Manet's The Bar at the Folies Bergere and works by Degas, Suerat, Monet, Gauguin and others.
Sated once again with fine paintings we headed off for a pint. (There are some readers of this blog, so I understand, who have suggested that it is mostly about beer and food. That might be true, I couldn't possibly comment!) We walked further down the stand to a pub, The Old Bank of England which in earlier days had been a bank. (http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=214) And what a bank with tall pillars, and even a painted ceiling. This pint served as an aperitif and we went round the corner to another pub for another pint and lunch, this time of liver and bacon with mashed spuds and rich brown gravy.
For the afternoon's tourist fare we went to the Charles Dickens Museum set up, in 1925, in the only remaining house in London where Dickens lived. On four floors, we saw paintings, rare editions, manuscripts, original furniture and many items relating to the life of one of the most popular personalities of the Victorian age. We were advised to watch a video before exploring the rest of the house. This was a mistake. It has to be the most boring video the museum could find about Dickens, a pity as the rest of the museum is excellent. We passed the Old Curiosity Shop, now home to a shoe shop, stopped for a coffee and a bit of postcard writing, and then walked on to the Coach and Horses. I had a half, Norman went off home and Phil Jackson turned up. More reminiscing was helped by some photos Phil had brought taken at the church youth club we both attended forty years or more ago. Over a delicious Indian meal we talked the evening away. Lets hope we don't lose contact this time.