Sunday, May 30

Geffrye Museum and the East London Line/Overground


A day out in East London today - north East London that is, rather than south East. We took our first trip on the newly-extended East London Line (or London Overground as it is now known) and went from New Cross to Hoxton to visit the Geffrye Museum.

The museum focusses on parlours through the ages - or from 1600 to the modern day, to be precise. A dozen or so rooms are set up to show how middle-class fashions and domestic life-styles have changed through the last four decades, and you can also visit the gardens and see how garden fashions changed too.

I really enjoyed the museum - from the details that brought to life how households used to operate to the reading rooms, where you could easily pass a few hours just browsing the bookshelves and gazing out into the gardens.

In the gardens we admired the pelargonium pyramid, and enjoyed the sensual pleasures of the herb garden.

This striking flower caught my eye, but I couldn't find a label. Can anyone help?


We also discovered that although no pub was to found nearby, Kingsland High Street is a veritable mecca of Vietnamese restaurants - one of which provided a delicious bowl of noodle soup and a crispy pancake with prawns and chicken to stave off our hunger.

Anyway folks I won't be blogging for a couple of weeks as I'm off to the USA for a business trip. Back in time for the World Cup :-(

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh yes? Where in the USA?! I'm on the East Coast, directly between Boston and NYC... let us know how your trip fares!

Mary deB said...

Is that some kind of allium, like a giant chive flower?

colleen said...

It is definitely an allium - looks like allium christophii. We have some on the allotment.

The Geffrye garden is lovely. I've been there a couple of times since April and it has got better and better as the season has progressed. Never did see any auriculas in the "theatre" though.

Felix said...

I shall chime in and add to the general concensus that your starry purple globe is some sort of allium from the same family as onions and chives.

I must get to the Geffrye Museum; I've been meaning to go for ages and never yet made it. Your post is good inspiration!

Anonymous said...

In Chicago (actually in the city near the lake) Hope the USA is good to you....will miss your posts and pictures as they are my vicarious way of traveling a bit. Safe home...
Joan in Chicago