Tuesday, January 16 – Harrow on the Hill

For those of you who are fans of the TV series The Crown, today’s post should be fun. And hopefully you’ll find this interesting even if you haven’t watched the series.

The auction house Bonhams is selling the sets, costumes and props from the series via live and online auctions. The items have been available for viewing in New York, Los Angeles, Paris and now London ahead of the auction. Attending the preview requires a ticket, but it is free (my favorite word!). I’m off to Bonhams New Bond Street location this morning to check it out. Let’s go!

As you can see by the pictures, it wasn’t very crowded. That surprised me. I asked one of the Bonhams representatives about this, and she said it was packed on the weekend. She estimated they had 1,500 visitors over the two days.

Here’s a link to the auctions, if you’re interested in checking it out (Or bidding! I could be your agent!).

It was another bright sunny day here; a great day for a walk. After leaving Bonhams, I made my way to Trafalgar Square and took a quick stop in the National Portrait Gallery. I was looking for my favorite item in their collection, but unfortunately it wasn’t on display. Curious what it is? Here’s a link to it (I think part of what I like about the painting is its title – Mike’s Brother).

Over to Leicester Square, and I noticed there wasn’t a queue at the Lego Store, so I decided to take a look.

Note to self: Based on the high volume of visitors at Bonhams and the Lego Store over the weekend, and the lack of same today, I’m thinking it’s best that I maybe avoid these types of places in the city on the weekends. (Although, in contrast, the National Portrait Gallery was still very busy today)

Wednesday, January 17 – Harrow on the Hill

Had a leisurely day around the neighborhood today. Worked on the journal, did some reading, went for a walk, made a grocery run, and did some advance planning, including booking a couple London events for March.

Travel Note

I’ve mentioned making stops at some of the London Museums since my arrival. I’m happy to say that most of the museums here are free (my favorite word again!). This is probably just a reminder to some of you. The exception would be any special exhibitions that are taking place.

Along those lines, according to one source, three out of the top ten most-visited museums in the world reside in London (and 6 out of the top 20). Here’s the top ten (you can probably guess number one!):

1. Louvre Museum, Paris
2. National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.
3. National Museum of China, Beijing
4. National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
5. British Museum, London
6. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
7. National Gallery, London
8. Vatican Museums, Vatican City (Rome)
9. Natural History Museum, London
10. American Museum of Natural History, New York City

If you’re interested, here’s a link to the complete list.