Rochester Castle

Posted on October 16, 2016 by myeye1

I visited Rochester in Kent recently with family on an afternoon out. On arrival we decided to have a look around and came across the grand looking Cathedral which is the second oldest in England.

Inside there were lots of pretty stain glass windows and statues as well as other historical artifacts and features.

After looking around we turned towards Rochester Castle, which was built in the 1080s and still looked like it was standing strong despite being a ruin.

The castle stands on large grounds where lots of families were having picnics, playing games and just enjoying the good view and weather. Inside the castle you could the large building blocks that made it, giving an indication of just how old it was. I can imagine it must have been cold and dark in the evenings and difficult to get around with its steep, narrow, spiral staircases, and long hallways.

As we carefully climbed the staircases we reached the roof and could see a lovely view of River Medway on one side and walking around to the other, Rochester Cathedral which sits across from the castle.

It didn’t take us too long to see the whole castle as there weren’t any rooms, mostly corridors and landings from one staircase to another but it let us imagine what it would have looked like when it was in use. It was a nice afternoon out and we enjoyed experiencing and learning about something new.

The BFG dream jars

Posted on September 4, 2016 by myeye1

One of my favourite authors as a child, like many others’, was Roald Dahl. He was a great story teller with a wild imagination and told of gory and funny tales which really won him over with young people. One of his best known stories The BFG was released as a film in cinemas recently, and to coincide with this and his 100th birthday, London celebrated by placing 50 dream jars containing various celebrity dreams on trails to be discovered and enjoyed. The jars will then be auctioned off and the money raised given to charity. In the past London has scattered bears, elephants, eggs, buses and more in a similar fashion.

As this was something that was close to heart and home my sister and I decided to go looking for some. We started at Marble Arch and ended up at Embankment, we walked for about 6 hours and discovered so many other parts of London that we just don’t get round to seeing.

My favourite was the one by Steven Spielberg, because who doesn’t love a tall tower of endless ice cream, cakes and sweets! Other ones that I really liked was Sophie Dahl’s dream by the sea and Dame Helen Mirren’s giant oak tree.

Here are the rest that we found (click on image to see full picture).

I would have loved to have been able to find more (such as Quentin Blake’s or Steven Hawking’s) but we ran out of time and energy. We really enjoyed the day out and the creative dream jars, taking us along paths that we would never usually follow. I hope they raise lots of money for charity and I can’t wait to see what the next objects scattered across London will be.

Kite festival

Posted on August 7, 2016 by myeye1

Last weekend I went to a kite festival in Dunstable Downs with the family for a day out. On arrival we could see it was quite busy and there were dozen of kites soaring in the air with the brisk breeze keeping them aloft. There was a great selection in varying shapes and sizes, and we brought some of our own along to join in. As well as the public flying kites there were professional kite flyers doing some great shows and making it look so easy.

We also brought along a picnic with some great food, with a passerby declaring that ours was the best one he’d seen, much to our amusement. After we’d eaten, my smaller nieces enjoyed pony rides whilst the adults wondered off to see what the craft stalls had to offer.

After our kite was flying on its own we all sat down to relax and enjoy cold ice creams and the wonderful view that Dunstable Downs is known for, until it was time to head home.

Canterbury

Posted on July 9, 2016 by myeye1

I recently went to Canterbury in Kent for a short day out. I wasn’t able to see everything that makes Canterbury famous but I did see lots that make it a go to for literary fans.

The streams were picturesque with the long grasses growing on the beds, swaying along with the gentle movements of the water. They reminded me of paint strokes made on a canvas, using varying shades of green and yellow.

I also came across Westgate Gardens which is close to Westgate, a medieval gate (now a museum). This too had a beautiful stream which I enjoyed walking alongside to, whilst others enjoyed a gentle, relaxing boat ride on. There were lots of flowers to admire on the way on what was a nice, sunny afternoon.

I hope to go back one day and visit the famous cathedral and maybe have a boat ride but for now these pictures serve as a nice memory of a summer’s day out in a pretty town that really does have an ‘old English’ feel to it.

Monopoly on the Square

Posted on April 2, 2016 by myeye1

My sister and I headed into London today to Trafalgar Square to see the giant Monopoly board that’s based on the game we used to play as kids. It’s been installed there for the weekend and is part of the London Games Festival that’s being held over the Easter break.

The Monopoly board wasn’t big as we imagined and there weren’t as many game pieces as we’d hoped but it was still a fun idea, and with the weather so warm and sunny we were happy to be out, even if we didn’t get a chance to play a round.

I think we had most fun though climbing up to where the famous bronze lions sit that guard Nelson’s Column. We haven’t done this since we were kids and no one cried this time!

Lumiere London – Part 2

Posted on January 28, 2016 by myeye1

The Lumiere event that my sister and I went along to recently was spaced out over various areas across London. Part 1 covered the innovative light artworks in Mayfair and Regent Street, and this post will cover the remaining areas.

After our walk through Regents Street we headed towards Trafalgar Square. I love Trafalgar Square anyway so with this light festival I was looking forward to see what was on show. In front of the National Gallery the words ‘Central Point’ were illuminated (these are normally found on top of a building on Oxford Street) and the iconic fountains were filled with light and plastic bottles. My favourite in this area were the neon dogs, which were so colourful and fun.

After seeing the dogs we hurried on to the next area on the map, Leicester Square. On approaching we could see an array of wonderful bright colours and could see that the whole area had been transformed into a garden of light. There were enormous lit flowers and colourful trees and I think this was my sister and my favourite spot on the map. My photos don’t show just how much the colours popped but it was a a really pretty sight.

Our last stop on the map was at Kings Cross, here the installations were a bit easier to find and closer together. There were some really innovative ideas; some light sticks to draw on the ground, a fun light show projected onto a large building and rainbow tunnel made up of coloured bottles. A little extra thing we spotted were candy floss on light sticks, which we thought was such a simple but effective idea.

All in all my sister and I had a great but exhausting evening, we walked around London on a cold night for approximately 4 hours and manged to see all but a handful of what was on show. We thought it was a great event and one that certainly lived up to the promise of showing us the city in a new light. I think we both agree that we would definitely go along to this event again if it was held next Winter. For more photos you can check out my sisters post of the evening here.

Lumiere London 2015 – Part 1

Posted on January 20, 2016 by myeye1

Last week my sister and I went along to Lumiere London, an event being held over 4 days showcasing 30 light art installations across Central London. This is the first time such an event was held and as it was free and practically on our doorstep we decided it was too good to miss. Armed with our cameras and special maps pointing out where each artwork was placed, we got going, ready for lots of walking and snapping.

The first area we walked through was Mayfair. Here there were a couple of pieces I liked, my favourite being the phonebox converted into a fishtank – which I thought was so innovative and clever. Unfortunately it was really busy and difficult to get a good picture, but below is my best one to give you an idea.

Next we moved on to Regent Street, where as soon as you approached the area you could see a large, strange, colourfully dreamy object almost floating in the sky

It was an interesting piece and the various changing colours and textures kept our attention for as long as we could see it.

Other lightworks around Regent Street that we saw included a stickman show, a lovely trumpeting elephant and a pretty, colourful, luminous dress. I also enjoyed watching the flying ‘fish’ which were set against the backdrop of tall white buildings and the dark night sky.

I haven't changed my mind in a thousand years

As we worked our way through the London street we took in the colourful, pretty lights, the buzzing atmosphere and the upbeat music, and although it was a really cold night we were glad to be there.

I still have more photos of the remaining 2 areas; Trafalgar Square and Kings Cross, both of which also held some lovely innovative pieces which I will post soon.

Italian gardens in London

Posted on October 8, 2015 by myeye1

Wondering around Hyde park earlier this year I came across the Italian Gardens. The Gardens have embellished statues, urns and large water fountains, all which create a really nice relaxing space.

The main water fountain leading to the top of the Serpentine lake was a combination of a group of boys holding a huge platter with a woman on either side holding an urn, all pouring water into the lake.

On the far side of the garden is a chapel with really pretty flowers planted on either side in neat geometric rows.

I thought the gardens were laid out nicely and kept in really good condition. I found them to be a calming space with the sound of rushing water from the fountains drowning out some of the background noise and pretty flowers soothing to the eyes. I’ll definitely look to visiting it again at some point.

Hyde Park

Posted on September 7, 2015 by myeye1

I’ve had some free time since having left my job and being determined to make the most of it and the nice weather I decided to go to Hyde Park which I have passed by on many occasions but have never really explored.

Hyde Park is a Royal Gardens and is based in Central London. There are so many parts to it that I wasn’t able to visit everything but I did see lots of lovely things.

I decided to walk down to and along the huge lake called The Serpentine and follow the edge across the park. As its summer there were lots of deckchairs, geese and beautiful flowers to enjoy along the way.

What I liked was there were lots of smaller paths away from the main walkways in case you fancied a varied and perhaps quieter walk. There were also lots of statues to admire, each one quite different to the last. The most famous is the Princess Diana fountain which is a huge circular waterway. Each section is different, some with steps, or curves or even water shooting upwards. The kids really seemed to be enjoying the cool water.

Something that I unexpectedly came across really made my day, Ring-necked Parakeets! They were camouflaged in the trees and I almost missed them but I luckily joined a few people in watching them. The parakeets seemed completely at ease with people and even flew down to get food from out stretched hands. There were also pretty magpies, squirrels and pigeons that were enjoying the attention and food too.

I really enjoyed my walk around Hyde park, and I really appreciate all the hard work that it’s taken to make it look beautiful. The park is huge and there’s lots more to see, so I hope to visit it again at some point. I know how lucky I am to live in such an amazing city with so much culture, art and history and I plan to keep making the most of it. I’ll keep you posted on what else I explore and enjoy.

London Photowalk with Trey Ratcliff

Posted on February 15, 2015 by myeye1

I’ve been a fan of Trey Ratcliff‘s work for a few years now, and for those of you not familiar with him, Trey is one of one the leading photographers in HDR photography and has a portfolio on his Stuck in Customs blog which contains some amazing images from around the world. His photographs are definitely an inspiration to me and I’m sure to many people out there.

When I heard that Trey was back in London and planning a photowalk (on Valentines Day) I was really excited and couldn’t think of a better way to spend the day. So, yesterday me and about a hundred other photographers converged outside the National Gallery to meet him and follow him around London, hoping to pick up tips from Trey and each other.

It was a typical British, February day, with grey clouds and low temperatures, with the ever present threat of rain, but everyone was in a great mood so it didn’t dampen any spirits.

The route was planned to take us from South Bank to Westminster and Parliament, around Whitehall then back across the Thames to the London Eye.
The theme and competition for the photowalk was to take an interesting picture of fellow photographers!

As we snaked around London (attracting quite a lot of attention and causing many people to stop and ask what was going on), Trey stopped at various points to show and explain his set ups, frames and what he was looking to convey with each image. One of the nicest things about the walk was just how friendly and warm Trey was, welcoming anyone to come and talk to him and ask him any questions.

Below are some of the photos I managed to take throughout the walk and although I doubt I’ll be winning any prizes, it was really great to meet Trey and I had a really fun experience. I can only hope to improve over time and capture great images like Trey one day.

Here are some fellow photographers

And these are some of my favourite photos from the walk, from late afternoon to early evening, giving us a change in how much natural light was available, and with the cloudy weather we had some amazing skies as a backdrop as the night drew in.

I look forward to seeing Trey’s post of the walk and of the fellow photographers, aka ‘Team Awesome’ (Trey’s name for the group not mine)