Whiffco

The Wallace Collection (http://www.wallacecollection.org/) can be located just off the busy shopping thoroughfare of Oxford Street. A collection of art by the Wallace family this exhibition features paintings, ceramics, clocks, furniture arms and armour. Surprises await around many corners. One such star attraction is the Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals as well as many works by Boucher, Fragonard, and Poussin.

One of the highlights is to take afternoon tea in the covered courtyard which, although a little more money than it should be, is an exquisitly English experience.

Go there and be surprised

The British museum is a place that I will visit every month or two, even though I live in London. It is an inspirational and fascinating look through world history and the Egyptian collections are fantastic even though my own personal favourite areas are the Greek and Roman.

We stopped over one night on the way to British Columbia in Canada. Enjoyed the place as it was cheap quiet and pleasant. Made me want to visit more towns like this.

I had never been to a rodeo, hardly surprising seeing as I live in London in the UK. Horses there are a pedestrian affair ridden either by young girls or police! This was a dirty, roaring, exciting introduction to the world of the cowboy.

This is the sort of place that you go once or twice in 10 years. It isn’t the place you’d like to live or somewhere you would go every year but you have to go there so that you can say that you have been. It is the gaudy tacky glitzy mess you think it is and that is it it’s enchantment.

The last time I went to Copenhagen there was a strike by the municipal workers in charge of the public sites. This meant that all the tourist sites were effectively closed! However this did not stop me wandering around this fascinating city and being fascinated by what could have been open.

One of the first things I ever said to my girlfriend when I was getting to know her was that I would take her to Venice. I did as a Christmas present. We went in February which is very cold and not unlike London in its weather.

Arriving at the airport we had a private motor launch to the hotel. We arrived early evening and started to cross the lagoon in a magnificent sunset (all photos can be seen at http://mwhiffen.smugmug.com) and got to the Grand Canal at dusk. From our very first sight of the fantastic canals, beautiful architecture, we were already in love with the place. Our first evening was spent in a champagne reception at the hotel followed by a walk to the Piazza San Marco. What strikes you is the silence. No cars! Just the rumble of the various motor launches and the Vaporetto water buses. The narrow streets and alleys house a myriad of fascinating shops (mostly oriented at tourists) with cafes, restaurants and bars between.

Taking the No 1 Vaporetto on a round trip on the Grand Canal is de rigeur and will introduce you to the many faces of Venice but the only way to navigate your way is to walk. Be prepared to walk almost everywhere and you will be fully rewarded! The small alleys, bridges, courtyards, squares and streets will fascinate and amaze. You feel like you are discovering areas never before seen but don’t be fooled. There is hardly an inch of Venice that has been undiscovered. A trip to the Rialto Bridge will show you the impact of tourism and make sure you know you are not alone. However a trip to the nearby Rialto market will also reassure you that this is not for tourists alone with its bewildering array of fresh fish and vegetable and meat stalls and Venetians haggling over the wares.

The magic of snow hit us three days in and turned Venice into an even more magical place. White crunching underfoot and even more silent than usual. A visit to a bakery/grocery/cafe with the customary espresso and a cake or, later in the day, a spritz with its sweet (or bitter) alcoholic warmth. There is always a welcoming feel to the city despite the fact that tourism saved the city but is also destrying it.

The trick is that when you go there it steals a piece of your heart so you have to return there every so often to feel whole again. That’s the magic of Venice

I live in Streatham. It was a nice place many years ago. Sadly it was too many years ago and the deterioration is very sad to see. There are still pockets of the ‘old’ Streatham around in the back streets and houses that show a subtle grandeur (those that have not been converted into flats that is) but by and large the homogeneic High Street does nothing to entice. There are some definite nuggets hidden away and some fine eating and drinking to be had but the overall Streatham experience make these pale into insignificance. The one thing it has going for it is the positive integration of multiple communities in an untroubled whole. The time has come for an urban regeneration but it will be slow and an uphill struggle while large high density low-cost housing means that people take little or no care of their environs, rendering the experience of Streatham a filthy, unkempt, haphazard community.

Oh .. and how do I know all this? Well I have lived in the area for over 30 years