London - Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at the Royal Albert Hall

The weekend was a belated birthday treat for T-Bone (although he doesn't do birthdays - I do hahaha!)with a trip to see Clapton and Winwood at the Royal Albert Hall.  Support was Andy Fairweather-Low.  We had great seats, and were in a grand tier box, overlooking the mixing desk, so great sound!  The acoustics are really so good in the Royal Albert Hall, the lighting was great and the backing singers were very good.  It was a shame there wasn't more interaction with the audience.  I shouldn't say it, after it is was Clapton that I was watching, but I was a little bit bored after half an hour or so!  I enjoyed it though, just not quite what I expected and Andy Fairweather-Low was really good.

Anyway, I took my camera, so here are a few from the night:

The Royal Albert Hall:

 The elegance and beauty of the Hall:

Setting the scene:

Clapton and Winwood on Stage:

London - relaxing

Kensington Gardens - under the shade of a beautiful tree, then adjourning to Prezzos for olives, bread and a Peroni .....

London - Albert Memorial

I don't ever remember seeing the Albert Memorial before, which is situated in Kensington Gardens.  It's really beautiful.  It was opened in 1872 and had a major restoration which was completed in 2006.  The memorial was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, and consists of a bronze gilt statue of the Prince Consort by Foley, under a Gothic canopy, and surrounded by four groups of statuary—America by John Bell, Africa by Theed, Asia by Foley, and Europe by Macdowell. There are several smaller groups of statues by Weekes, Calder, Marshall, and Thorneycroft,  Around the basement are a large number of life-sized figures by Birnie Phillip and Armstead.

The base of the monument is made up of three flights of steps, with granite at each corner, on which stands groups of marble, one each representing either Europe, Asia, Africa, Americas.  Each has an animal (bull for Europe, elephant for Asia, Camel for Africa and buffalo for the Americas).  Above the steps there is the seated statue of Prince Albert, which was covered in black paint for over 80 years, and now is a gleaming statue covered in gold leaf.  In this area there are full length portraits or statues of celebrated painters, sculptors, architects, composers, writers etc.  At the four corners of this there are four groups which represent the Victorian industrial arts and sciences (agriculture, commerce, engineering and manufacturing).  There is also an elaborate sculptural Frieze of Parnassus which shows 169 individual composers, architects, poets, painters and sculptors.  The pillars of the central canopy represent Astronomy, Geology, Chemistry and Geometry and Rhetoric, Medicine, Philosophy and Physiology.  There are also eight statues near the top of the canopy's tower of the moral and Christian virtues: Faith, Hope, Charity and Humility, Fortitude, Prudence, Justice and Temperance.  The total height of the memorial is 176 feet.

Here are some of the photos I took:

London - architecture out and about

Having negotiated our way out of Greenwich Market, we caught the Docklands Light Railway to London Bridge and had a wander around there before heading on to South Kensington.  We had a bit of a relax in Kensington Gardens under the shade of a really beautiful tree, and then stopped off for refuellling at Prezzos nearby for a well earned beer, olives, bread and the like, before heading back to Kensington Gardens and the Royal Albert Hall.

Here is my attempt at summarising that in pictures:

London Weekend - Greenwich Market

I've just returned from a weekend in the Big Smoke with T-Bone.  Had a great time and managed to cram quite a lot into the weekend, including going once again to the Royal Albert Hall.  We stayed in Greenwich, which was quite a long way out and probably not the best place to stay for ease of travelling!  Having said that it is a really nice place, just a shame that we did not get to explore much of it.  We went to the market and despite all my intentions of taking some really great photos, they just did not turn out really as well as I had hoped.  Anyway, here are a few of them.