Hey everybody, I hope you are ready for more London looks. 👀
This was one of our nearby cafes - lovely coffee and pastries. 🤐
After seeing the Pitzhangar Manor (designed by John Soanes), we planned a trip to the Sir John Soanes Museum. This was his London home near the Royal Academy of Arts where he was an architecture professor. Most of my photos are the ceilings because I found them so impressive (and the interiors were a little dark). 📸
Once he became a professor, he started collections to share with his students:
“I began to arrange the books, casts, and models, in order that the students might have the benefit of easy access to them.” By the end of his life, Soane had amassed many thousands of objects.
There was a tiny yet tall and powerful art gallery. 🖼️
This recess off the stairs was a shrine to Shakespeare but the ceiling! 😳
We opted to go to the British Museum on Friday since they were open until 8:30pm. We got there around 6:15pm and it was still sooo crowded. Next time, we plan to go at 7pm which was better. They had a glorious yet controversial collection (as with so many museums). There was recognition of several pieces being repatriated and better acknowledgement of how they came to the museum which seemed like progress. 👏
The first stop was the single statue from Rapa Nui (Easter island). It was truly magnificent. 🗿
Steve mentioned Rapa Nui / Easter Island a few times in the course of our travel discussions and after seeing this, we put it on the list for December 2026. 🇨🇱
We headed over to Syon House at Kew Gardens with short detour to a surprise destination first - the area where they filmed many scenes from Ted Lasso. ⚽️
We went in to buy a key chain and found hats. 🎩
We continued our bike ride over to Syon House: Syon House is the spectacular London home of the Duke of Northumberland. The house was built in the sixteenth century on the site of the Medieval Syon Abbey, and came to the family of the present owners in 1594.
Once again, the ceilings stole the show. 📸
This was the most ornate tiny clock I had ever seen. 🔎
The Long Gallery was purported to be a hall for ladies to promenade with their guests. 👯
This small sitting room was created in what was a circular staircase. It was like a jewel box and had the most curious clock underneath a bird cage. Apparently, this include an animatronic bird on the hour and were quite popular at one time. 🐤
Better close up photo from Pinterest. 🌟
I found these paintings of parents and their children very strange - lazy artist or very small gene pool? 🤔
The courtyard was quite lovely ... 😊
... but then we saw the conservatory. 🤯
Syon House was a great place to visit and since it was a bit off the beaten path, we didn't have to fight the crowds. 👏
We rode back to this pub just outside the Kew Gardens station for lunch outside before taking the train back to Louie. 🐾
