I’ve been quiet for a while, adjusting to my new routine, that is to waking up at 5 – 6 am and daily commute to north Manchester by train and tram. Luckily for me, it is doable, as long as the public transport doesn’t let me down – and it hasn’t so far, except for a few cancellations and my return train from Victoria being late almost every single day. This week however there are train strikes, so I may need to improvise with different routes, via Altrincham or Manchester Piccadilly. It all means that my day is a very long one, and the weekends are dedicated to recovery and rest. Radio 2, podcasts and Calm app help me stay alive during the journey.

Sometime back in the summer I had bought a ticket to a KROKE concert at Union Chapel in Islington, London. The very same band performed in Manchester only 2 days before their London gig, but didn’t I know I would be working where I work and passing through Manchester 4 days a week! Still, I am glad I saw them in London. KROKE means Krakow in Yiddish and their music has roots in Jewish klezmer and Balkan sounds, but with a virtuoso quality to it and jazz-like improvisations. In fact, their concert was a part of the autumnal EFG London Jazz Festival. Beautifully lit Union Chapel and KROKE was a match made in heaven. It’s a perfect venue for such an intimate performance. While I prefer modern and comfortable venues like the Barbican or the Southbank Centre, I appreciated Union Chapel’s ambience and unique vibe, and the acoustics were great too. Would I go back another time ? Not too sure, those church seats were so damn hard 😉

As I always do in London, bearing in mind ridiculous costs of getting there and staying overnight, I added more attractions to my list to make the most of the weekend. I went to Handel & Hendrix House just off the Regent Street. Those expecting lots of memorabilia etc. would be disappointed. The spaces are recreations of what both houses were like in their time. The only genuine item that belonged to Jimi Hendrix was a wall mirror. I left slightly underwhelmed, but at the same time I could not stop wondering what it would be like to travel back to Handel’s and Hendrix’s days. Especially the Swinging Sixties London: what an extraordinary place it must have been, full of youth energy, with jazz, blues and rock music bursting out of every corner. Imagine bumping into Jimi at John Lewis 🙂 The man loved his carpets, curtains and cushions and bought plenty of them locally, transforming his little cosy flat into a colourful artist den. I enjoyed learning about his humble beginnings and how coming to London kick-started his brief career and made him a superstar.

The real highlight for me, apart from the concert, was a newly refurbished National Portrait Gallery. It’s a must see in my opinion, maybe even more so than the National Gallery. There something there for everyone, from Tudor portraits to very recent photographs of modern icons like Judi Dench, David Beckham or Elton John. It’s a fantastic, spacious, comfortable space, and I spent more than three hours there admiring the art and learning so much: there was an exceptional story behind each and every painting, sculpture and photo. Highly recommended, and don’t forget to book a free slot in advance.

All the Queens 🙂

Lord Byron and his daughter Ada Lovelace, a brilliant mathematician and the first computer programmer (!).

I popped in (or rather forced my way in…) to extremely busy Liberty’s, wandered around Soho for a while – such a great place for people watching.

I would love to book my next London trip asap. Now that I work in Manchester, I can easily catch a direct train on Friday afternoon from Piccadilly. That said, I would need to book a day’s holiday afterwards for a little breather 😉 It all depends on what’s on, so I am keeping an eye on theaters, music evens and exhibitions – and on train strikes, of course 😀