A beautiful city - Arrival, day 1

Well here I am all rested after a night back in my own bed. No 9am meeting this morning, just a leisurely start to the day for me.

We arrived in St Petersburg last Thursday at around lunchtime, but it was late afternoon by the time we reached out hotel and boy was it cold. We knew it would be, but there's no way you can imagine it until you are standing about waiting for a bus, but more of that later.

Our journey into the city was pretty much as you expect, not the prettiest sights although we did pass the very large and impressive Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/monuments/heroic-defenders.asp

However the only photo I took from the coach window was for some reason of a random building which I can't identify, but I still like in a very industrial way.

Our hotel was palatial compared to the New York accommodation for the last art trip I went on and I think we were all extremely grateful for this, especially as it meant students could stay in in the evenings if they wanted to instead of freezing in the minus 20 degree (and lower) temperatures.


Not a road, a frozen canal, but beautiful sunshine too


     

Mark and Ivan in tourist mode

The excitement begins

With the purchase today of my guide book, the collection of my money from the post office and only 5 days to go, the prospect of our trip to St Petersburg has suddenly become very real.

Every since I was a little girl (goodness I must have a good memory) there have been 2 places I wanted to visit: Mexico and Russia. I remember being so jealous one Christmas when I received a book of Tales from Japan (which was an absolutely beautifully illustrated book) but my sister got Tales from Russia!

So I have to say thank you to Ivan for letting me be one of the teachers who goes on the Art trip this year, although I'm not looking forward to the 5am start on Thursday morning.

Belated Happy New Year

I just don't know where the time has gone this year, I seem to have been busy every weekend which is my usual time for blogging. Anyway things I've done with my weekends this year include:
Going to London (a lot) - which is great fun.
Seeing Hamlet at The National Theatre - haven't been to the theatre to see a proper play for ages, so a good cultural start to the year.
Staying overnight in a hotel in Notting Hill - very nice.
Seeing Alex loads and managing to keep up to date with her work which is looking fabulous and brilliant.
Going to The Barbican to see 'The Irrepressibles' and 'Gaby Young and Other Animals' - mmm Irrepressibles weren't as good as at Latitude.
Getting to The Barbican to see Future Beauty, 30 years of Japanese Fashion - I'd intended to see it on 3 other visits to London and been side tracked each time. It was well worth the wait, although Alex finds Japanese design such a challenge as it's the polar opposite to her love of designing to accentuate the female curve.
Ikea - busy as ever, meatballs, no catalogues, buying things you didn't know you wanted, more blue bags because you forgot to take your own to carry away your purchases, 35p ice cream cones! Oh I love it.
Brilliant Biba sale bargains - it's funny how when things are cheap you can still end up spending a lot of money because you buy more of them.
A trip to Basingstoke purely to photograph the Triumph shop for Alex's new project shop report  - hmmm about 6 photos taken and then a lot of shopping!
Afternoon tea at Libertys - why were Alex and I the only people in the restaurant who finished every crumb of food on the cake stand?

But my favourite - The Electric Cinema for 'The Kings Speech'. Is seeing a Colin Firth film there becoming a habit? Last year we saw 'A Single Man'. I loved the film, but  the experience of the Electric Cinema is very special.

Well there won't be any more weekend trips for a while - I was supposed to be saving my money, not doing a very good job so far. 

Christmas shopping

There's a lot to be said for on line shopping: no queues, no sudden changes in temperature (cold outside and boiling hot inside the shops), no parking hassles, etc, etc. I do admit I'm a great fan. But there are just a few shops out there which can still make the real thing a wonderful experience and I honestly don't think you can beat the experience of arms full of carrier bags, especially when they contain gifts which have been wrapped for you in the shop to produce such wonderful eye candy.

It's tempting when they ask if it's a gift which you want wrapping, to say yes, just so you can experience the joy of unwrapping it.

These were my purchases on Friday and I assure you, it doesn't matter if you spend £5 or £50, they wrap everything with the same attention to detail.

Just so you can experience this, especially if you're rubbish at present wrapping, the shop to go to is Forme in Winchester.

Making Merry Open Studios

 

From Friday 19th - Sunday 28th November Winchester is awash with local artists and crafts people's Open Studios which are a great place to go for more unusual Christmas presents and inspiration. I spent a day in Winchester last year visiting just a few of the studios and had a wonderful time seeing lovely things and wandering around places I've never visited before. Some of the work is in proper studios and others in people's own homes, it makes a great change from trudging around the shops.

Some of the studios I definitely want to visit are:

Eileen White, Claire Vine & Sarah Green
   
282 Textile Artists
Jenny Mitchell
Jan Griffiths and Dee McNamara
The Studio
Badger Press
Do check the website link as not all of the studios are open every day.

As well as the Open Studios there's also

The Making Merry City Space Exhibition
at Winchester Discovery Centre, Jewry Street, Winchester.
Saturday 13 November - Sunday 2nd January

and

Dazzle - Art Deco Fashions from the Roaring 20s
in The Gallery of The Winchester Discovery Centre

I'll certainly need more than 1 day this year!

Is there anything good about all this rain?

Yes for Alex there is, it means she can wear her lovely wellies.

Multiplicity

This is Alton's pretty Allen Gallery which is unfortunately threatened with closure. It really is a lovely place and at the moment has an exhibition by my fabulous friend Jackie Bicknell. Do go and check it out, you can even have a coffee and cake there, or wander around their garden.

Jackie is a multi-talented hive of energy, always busy creating new things, entertaining friends, offering tea, visiting interesting places, working, or doing all of these at once! She is passionate about her work and that of other artists and makers and uses a variety of techniques in her own work including sewing, Photoshop and collage.