Whenever my friends Nigel and Gwynne come up to visit London, I know I am in for a good time and so it was when they and Gwynne’s brother Mike spent a delightful afternoon with me. But. there were more adventures this week.

The Esoterik Collection

Nigel, who I mentioned above, introduced me to the Esoterik Collection several years ago. It is dedicated to modern Italian Art. Today’s visit was to view an exhibition of the work of Claudio Parmiggiani, an artist whose career spans over 50 years of Italian modern art. In some works he used smoke and soot creating etherial images. After the exhibition, I climbed the (many) stairs to view the permanent collection.

Parmiggiani

Esoterik Permanent Collection

This outstanding collection of modern Italian art includes these thought provoking works.

Good Times on the Canal

My friends Nigel and Gwynne, and Gwynne’s brother Mike joined me for a day of fun along one of London’s canals. The visit included the Canal Museum, lunch at a great little cafe and a walk along the canal where we observed numerous long boats that folks live or holiday on.

The Blue River Cafe

We stopped at the Blue River Cafe on Northdown Street in Kings Cross. Great food, great service and a pleasant atmosphere. Here are my friends enjoying the cafe.

Mike, Nigel and Gwynne. Some of the best people I know.

The Canal Museum

Small museums are like little gems. The Canal Museum could be easily overlooked. I’m glad we visited. In this case, we sometimes forget how important canals were in the period before rails linked rural and urban locations. The museum contains a replica of a canal boat showing cargo and living space.

This picture above shows the colorful pots and cans that canal boats are known for.

Working on the Canal

We saw an ice pit where canal workers would load huge blocks of ice to be delivered to resaurants and homes with ice boxes, the precursor of refrigerators and freezers.

After we left the museum, we took a stroll up the canal path back towards Saint Pancras International where my friends were getting their trains home. Here are a picture of canal boats and the path.