"Down the Up Staircase"
3" x 5" ink and watercolor sketch
The real deal at Vicarage Hotel in London
Kensington Palace was in the hood
But we found the neighbors rather stiff
Goodness, what was she thinking. The artist was thinking of all the stairs she climbed to get to her room in a sweet Victorian House converted to a B&B in London. We arrived there by train from York. When our taxi drove up, there was no sign, the ultimate in discrete in a lovely neighborhood on the edge of Notting Hill and a block from the royals apartments in Kensington Palace (think Harry and Kate). I'm using some of Bob's travel humor -- an ideal companion on any adventure.
I booked everything by Internet and we prefer the B&Bs, so I was taking a chance. Great location for public transit and the parks in front of the Palace runs all the way to Buckingham Palace. We did lots of walking, toured the exhibits on Princess Diana and Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee celebration at the palace, completing with lunch at the Orangerie on the palace grounds. Our biggest event was attending a play in the theater district. We did the half-price ticket booth and settled on Mama Mia. Delightful!
We had a fair amount of rain (common on this trip). We were heading into the home stretch and feeling a little travel weary, so we were leisurely in London, a place that both of us had visited before, though not together.
I created all my travel sketches in ink and watercolor. A few times I sure wished for a pencil so I could erase, but no cheating ensued. Hence, the individuality of each sketch.
4 comments:
Took me a minute to realize what I was looking at! I think you did the piece well, Mary. Look how steep those stairs are! This just sounds like it was a wonderful trip all the way around. Wish I could do a similar one.
I think I read the other book, "Up the Down Staircase." These stairs look almost unclimbable--even in the photo.
From cranky biker shirts to fat birds, this sounds like another amazing trip. Wonderful pastel of the onion.
Sherri and Hallie, those stairs were steep and we were on the fourth floor. These old places do not have elevators, so we were glad we traveled light, knowing we would be schlepping our stuff on trains and in B&Bs. However, the staircase was very beautiful and a lovely feature of the house.
Beautiful piece, Mary!!! It looks like a difficult painting to do..you did an excellent job!!
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