September in London

I am back in London, after spending most of the summer flying Honolulu. The change is nice, especially the cool weather.  I am glad to be wearing sweaters and gloves, while it is still in the 90's in Dallas.  I am flying with my friend, Rebecca, on this trip, and we have decided to take a quick nap then head out to dinner and  to an art festival on the southbank of the Thames.

We took the Tube to Oxford Circus,

and walked through the Saturday

crowds toward Regent Street.  We

avoided temptation by walking past

Liberty of London without stopping. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_%26_Co.

We did make a stop at H&M, my favorite clothing store in London, and made a few purchases.  This store is very young and hip (of which I am neither) but I can always get ideas, and find a few great pieces to update my wardrobe.
http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Alexa/HM/337b/b











We ate an early dinner at Piccolino,
http://www.piccolinorestaurants.co.uk/heddonstreet.html
where anyone who reads my blog knows that I had to have some of my favorite chicken livers.










We walked through Trafalgar Square





to Villiers Street and enjoyed a glass of "old wood tawny port" at Gordon's Wine Bar,

 where Rebecca was almost too tall for the old cellar's ceiling.  http://www.gordonswinebar.com/


We decided to walk through Victoria Embankment Gardens,
just before they locked the gates for the night.  The gardens
are really peaceful in the evening, without the daytime crowds.

We stopped for a moment to pay homage to Sir Arthur Sullivan
at his lovely memorial statue.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Sullivan

We walked toward
St. Paul's Cathedral,













and crossed the

Waterloo Bridge,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_Bridge








while the sky changed
colors,

and the lights came on around the

Hungerford Bridge.

The art festival was on the southbank beneath the
Royal Festival Hall, on both sides of Festival Pier.

We browsed in some of the kiosks, but by now we were beginning to feel the lack of sleep,

so we posed for
photos on the
Hungerford Bridge,
and headed back
to our hotel.






























http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungerford_Bridge_and_Golden_Jubilee_Bridges

The Hungerford Bridge has at times been called the Charing

Cross Bridge, and I have seen Claude Monet's impression of

 it at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. 

Although I love the painting (who can argue with Monet), I find the
view is even more beautiful when seen in real life,  from the

Waterloo Bridge, on a fall evening.