Once again we started the day at Jusaka with coffee and croissants.

The sun is shining and no rain is forecast for once. (Not that this means it won’t rain, of course. This is Britain, after all, where forecasts are updated as the weather develops.)

We caught a 38 bus and alighted here at the Shaftesbury Theatre, currently showing another episode in the Harry Potter saga. This, however, was not our destination.

We walked down Charing Cross Road to reach this famous institution, the National Portrait Gallery.

We had to wait a while for the opening time of 10 am and when the caretakers emerged to tackle the locked gates, it turned out that they did not come provided with the correct key, so we waited yet a little longer 🙂

We had come to see the exhibition of works submitted for the BP Portrait Awards 2019.

There was the usual perfunctory bag search as we entered the gallery – a sad reflection on the mores of our time – but admission is free and as it was early, there were no crowds. Photography (without flash) is allowed.

And here is the winner, Imara in Her Winter Coat, by Charlie Schaffer (Oil on canvas).

Portraiture is a difficult art in this age of photography. A portrait needs to be a likeness and yet it must say something about the subject (and possibly also about the artist). I can’t say that any of these exhibits particularly impressed me but some showed more character than others.

We went for the obligatory tour of the gallery shop and then retired to a local Caffè Nero for a coffee break before proceeding to our next stop.

For this, we made our way to here, St Martin-in-the-Fields. Perhaps this famous church was indeed once sited among fields but these are long gone and the area is fully built-up. We have come for a lunch date with Tigger’s sister who works nearby.

And this is the classy diner wherein we had lunch. As it happens, this eatery is famous in the area for serving simple dishes such as omelettes or egg and chips at moderate prices. Sister is well known to the staff who greet her most amiably.

Then we headed into deepest Covent Garden to this change office to buy euros for our trip which starts tomorrow.

Where are we going? Watch this space!

I had to photograph the change office at this awkward angle from where the staff could not see me. This is because I saw that they had spotted me loitering outside and I worried that they might call the police to deal with a suspicious lurker!

As a reward for our labours, we treated ourselves to coffee and cake in this delightful stop-off, Delaunay’s Viennese-style cafe in Holborn.

Suitably rested and refreshed, we occupied the rear seats of a 59 bus to begin our journey home.

The next adventure starts early tomorrow…