We were super bummed to learn that our great British Baking Show Class was canceled. I was looking forward to baking in the tents – or rather, I looked forward to watching Scott work his magic while I played sous chef.  

But… we did a quick pivot  and went to the National Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery. 

Armed with my “top ten” cheat sheet, we entered the museums.  It was working- until it wasn’t.  I found myself circling, looking for specific paintings with Scott saying, “You can’t trust Google,” until I found someone and flat out asked.  I found out that several were on loan to another museum – I was not crazy!  They were not there.  After hitting the “must sees,”  those paintings that feel like  familiar old friends, we wandered and that is where the magic lives. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

There is something about seeing paintings in museums like this (I had a similar feeling in Paris and Florence) that doesn’t translate to books or online images, and that is because of the richness and deepness in the colors. White is so bright, luminescent. And the textures.  Some had thick thick paint and brushstrokes and some showed none – they looked like a photograph. Another thing that took my breath away was the scale of the art. The paintings are huge, you have to step back to take it all in! Or they’re tiny and delicate, you have to lean in. 

Following our museum tour,  we wandered back to SOHO for a coffee break and a bucket list, destination of Liberty of London. I was sad to learn they have very limited quilting fabric. And what they did have was William and Morris, and since I’m not really the “delicate flower kind of gal” I passed.  They did have stunning lawn for sewing clothes. I almost… But then I thought better of it, I am not the “sew my own clothes kind of gal”.  I got one little W M pillow kit which will be a fun reminder of my trip to Liberty.

After a refreshing nap – essential travel strategy here- we researched and sought out the best Indian restaurant we could find and it was SOOO good. That was followed by a show in the West End – The Book Of Mormon.  I had heard a lot about it and was glad to finally see it.  It was funny, but also… not – pretty irreverent?  The show had been revised last month to include a scene about Jeffry Epstein and Donald Trump, which the Brits LOVED, it got one of the best laughs of the night.  

I guess the art of wandering well is not about perfect plans, maybe just following the way the day leads us, because, in the end, it was a fabulous day!!