Leaving the lockdown cave

I’m finally coming out of my lockdown funk, and last weekend I went for a walk around Bloomsbury with my friend H. I’d been craving a trip to the area for a few weeks, as I really wanted to have a look at the Georgian architecture there. It’s also pretty empty of people, so it was a perfect warm-up for getting back out into the world again.

This hotel was little further along the street from the first picture. About half of the buildings there were hotels.

I really liked the contrast between the colours radiating away from these windows.

Sticking with a window theme: we walked past this one and couldn’t really figure out whether it was someone’s front room or a book shop, as there was only a residential door next to it. The room itself was my perfect idea of a living room, full of book shelves and quirky framed prints hung on wooden walls, like in a rustic ski chalet. You can see a bit of the pine wood to the right hand side of the window. So cosy.

Another window with what has to be the best looking blind I’ve ever seen.

Later on we walked through the Brunswick Centre as it’s been years since I’d looked up at the flats there. I love how white it all is apart from plants and other balcony paraphernalia.

I did a little research beforehand and made sure we went to St George’s Square, which was the first burial place in London that was located away from a church in 1714 (the graveyards in London itself were getting too full at the time). Back then this area would have been the countryside, which is hard to imagine as it’s in central London now. It was still very quiet and peaceful; I imagine it’s a great place to go on your lunch break if you work nearby.

The brick letters caught my eye here. Don’t think I’ve ever seen it before, but such a simple way to add a bit of spice to a building.

At one point we came across a narrow street that led down to this mews. We simply had to check it out.

Mews houses usually don’t have gardens, so you have to make your own any way you can.

I bet you get to know your neighbours reeeeeeeeeally well as a result.

Sigh. Georgian houses are just so lovely, aren’t they? I don’t know anyone who lives in one. I need to befriend someone who does so I can see if they’re as great on the inside. Shallow, I know.

Charles Dickens lived in one - this one in fact. And it’s now a museum, so actually, I CAN go and see what one looks like on the inside. And funnily enough I’m reading ‘Great Expectations’ at the moment, so it would be extra interesting right now.

This office building is definitely not Georgian, but probably Art Deco. It’s also a house that looks like it’s coated in caramel. Yum.

This place looked really interesting, and caught my eye because I’m a sucker for green. I just had a look at their website, and once they’re up and running again I hope I can go to one of their events and have a look around. For the past month I’ve gone from feeling slightly anxious about the lockdown rules easing to feeling ok about it, and realising that I just have to start booking tickets to different exhibitions and try to recover my former sense of self that way. This last winter lockdown we had was pretty scarring, so coming out of it feels very different from the first one. Anyway, I promise I’ll bring you guys with me on my arty excursions, but maybe with a wider lens on the camera next time 🤪