Who can resist the beauty of Monet? His lyrical paintings, especially the stunning Waterlily series are a delight to the eyes.  He was one of the greatest of all Impressionist painters, recognized and admired for his skill during his own lifetime.  When you think of Monet, it is those of those beautiful scenes of flowers from his garden at Giverny that immediately come to mind.  In setting up this latest exhibition of his work, the National Gallery has taken a different approach. Instead of focusing on flowers and scenery, the emphasis is on buildings and the way he approached architectural settings such as cityscapes.

The exhibition contains a rare opportunity to see examples of Monet’s art drawn from art galleries all over the world. There are over 75 paintings on display, dealing with all kinds of buildings from mills to churches, cathedrals to palaces.  Book your stay at Mowbray Court Hotel London so that you can see numerous drawings of Monet while you visit the National Gallery.

Many of the paintings reflect his stay in London. He came to London at the turn of the twentieth century and stayed in the Savoy Hotel. From his room, he could see views across the river and of the Houses of Parliament.  Initially, it did not impress him. He wrote ‘London would be quite ugly if it were not for the fog.’

But as soon as he started painting, he was inspired by the luminous quality of the fog, the architectural nature of the immense bridges and buildings that surrounded him.

The exhibition covers three distinct stages of his work covering his entire career. The earliest work on display dates from 1863 and shows a sixteenth-century house in Honfleur. The first part of the exhibition deals with The Village and the Picturesque, focusing mainly on scenes within France which he encountered during his travels.  This includes views of Rouen Cathedral and various Norman churches.  The second section concentrates on The City and the Modern, while the third section deals with The Monument and the Mysterious both of which include works created on his travels around London and Italy especially Venice.  One of the loveliest of these paintings is of the Doges Palace, with its myriad reflections in the water. If you are interested visiting various other art museums, you should check out for accommodation Earls Court London.

Monet & Architecture is at the National Gallery until July 29.  Tickets need to be pre-booked as this is proving to be a very popular exhibition.

No matter what the weather, Londoners like to be outdoors during the summer. One of the most popular places to go is the Regent’s Park Outdoor Theatre.  

Located in a secluded natural amphitheater, it is surrounded by tall trees. Once here, you could easily be in another world.  The layout is reminiscent of an Ancient Greek theatre, with ranks of seating rising up the enclosure and looking down on the semi-circular stage.  It is a very magical place, and very atmospheric. Not surprisingly, one of the most popular productions to be staged here is Shakespeare’s Midsummer Nights Dream!  After all, the setting is perfect for such a magical place. Book your stay at Mowbray Court Hotel Kensington for an affordable accommodation due to its close proximity to Regent’s Park where you can enjoy watching plays of Shakespeare.

The 2018 season focuses on a very different selection of plays.  The eighteen week season starts with a children’s favorite – Peter Pan. This tale of Lost Boys and the Boy who never grew up was written by James Barrie, and all the action starts in a London house before the characters fly off to Neverland.  Other productions of these summers include The Little Shop of Horrors starring a talking Venus Fly Trap, Dinosaur World Live and The Turn of the Screw ghost story. There is, of course, a Shakespeare play to be enjoyed during the season. This year, the team are focusing on one of Shakespeare’s most perennially popular romantic comedies, As You Like it. If you are looking forward & watch different other plays, you should search for accommodation Earls Court London.

Booking in advance is recommended.  The Regents Park Open Air Theatre is one of the most popular in London. Over 140,000 people attend productions here throughout the summer and most seats are filled every night.  

The Outdoor Theatre is just one of the many attractions to be found within this pretty Royal Park.  There are acres of fantastic flower beds, perfect for gentle walks within Queen Mary’s rose gardens; there are landscaped grassy areas where you can sit and relax or children can play.  Regents Park is also home to London Zoo, where long entertaining days can be enjoyed meeting all kinds of wild animals including lions and tigers. It’s Reptile House even featured in one of the most perennially popular films – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as this is where he was seen talking to snakes.

For eleven months of the year, the Royal Hospital Chelsea is a quiet, relaxing place surrounded by acres of parkland and home to the red-coated Chelsea Pensioners.  Come May, a massive transformation takes place turning it into a hive of activity and the setting for the most spectacular flower show of all – the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

This event has been held here for over one hundred years and it has become a focal point in the London Social calendar.  The preview day is attended only by specially invited guests, which include HM The Queen and members of the Royal Family.  During this preview, the RHS judges award medals and commendations to many of the garden designers and nurseries present. These medals are highly sought after, making the pinnacle of a gardening career. The event will start on 22 May 2018 and will continue until 26 May 2018.

So what can you do at Chelsea? You can explore beautifully created instant gardens that look as if they have always been there; discover the latest garden trends, talk to designers and other garden professionals. You can buy stunning plants, tools, and accessories to take home. You can find out about sustainability, new techniques or how to create bold, innovative garden styles. You can relax with a picnic in the parkland, or enjoy a fine dining experience complete with a three-course meal.

If you want to become a part of this show and want to have convenient stay in London, then you can search for Mowbray Hotel Court London which will provide you affordable accommodation and will make your stay memorable.

Demand for tickets is extremely high and always have to be pre-booked.  New this year is an opportunity to explore parts of the Chelsea Flower Show in the evening at Chelsea Late. With space on site limited during the day, this is a way of extending the opening hours and allowing even more people to enjoy the beauties of Chelsea.  To make Chelsea Late even more fun, the organizers have arranged for a variety of entertainers and musicians to wander around the grounds, entertaining visitors. An artisan food market will be open, so you can relax with a nice meal while enjoying the event.

Millions of people from different parts of the globe come to London to become a part of this flower show.You can also search for Mowbray Court Hotel Offers & Deals to get best deals and offers for your stay.

Whatever your style of gardening be it contemporary, minimalist, heritage, water gardening, alpines or trees; Chelsea is guaranteed to have something new and different to attract your attention. It is an experience not to be missed!

An amazing array of works by one of the artistic giants of the twentieth century can be seen in London throughout the spring and summer.  Tate Bankside is holding a superb exhibition on Pablo Picasso – marking a rare solo look at his work within a pivotal year of his life.

‘Picasso 1932 – Love, Fame, Tragedy’ is set to be one of the most popular modern art exhibitions to be ever held in London. Recognised worldwide as an artistic genius, Picasso had an immense impact on modern art.  1932 proved to be a key year in his personal life and artistic development describing it as “A Year of Wonders’.    Already a renowned artist, his work was highly sought after.  1932 was a year when he created some of his most famous works, exploring and pushing the boundaries in a variety of artistic mediums.  It was also a time when his personal life underwent a transformation. Although he was a proud father and husband, he met a woman many years his junior with whom he embarked on a passionate love affair that can be seen clearly in his many paintings and drawings.  In just five days in March 1932, he created three stunning portraits of his lover, Marie-Therese Walter.  Until now, these portraits have never been seen together again.  This exhibition brings them together allowing visitors to see the development of his portraiture, and gain insights into his relationship with Marie-Therese.  You will love to stay at Mowbray Court Hotel Kensington and visit this event that has already started from 8 March and will continue until 9 September 2018.

“Picasso famously described painting as ‘just another form of keeping a diary’.  This exhibition will invite you to get close to the artist, to his ways of thinking and working, and to the tribulations of his personal life at a pivotal moment in his career,” comments the exhibition curator Achim Borchardt-Hume.

Over 100 works of art together with rarely seen personal photographs will be on display in the exhibition.  Many of these paintings are rarely lent out to exhibitions so it presents an opportunity to see works of art owned by collectors and museums all over the world.  Typical of these artworks are La Reve (The Dream) which has never been on display in the UK before, while La Jeune Fille Devant Un Miroir (Girl before a mirror) rarely leaves its home in the Museum of Modern Art. Search for accommodation in Kensington London so that you can have a sneak peek at more artworks.

Finding your way to the Tate Bankside is easy – all you have to do is walk across the bridge from below St Paul’s Cathedral or walk along the Thames riverside from the Southbank Centre and London Eye.

Thousands of runners take to the London streets every spring, for this is the annual London Marathon.  There is a great atmosphere as massive crowds gather along the route to cheer the participants on.  

Take your places early if you want to be at the finishing point outside Buckingham Palace.  It takes just 2 hours for the top runners to finish the course, while the remainder of the runners trickles in throughout the day.  Top runners taking part this year include the legendary Sir Mo Farah, Kenensia Bekele, and Eliud Kipchoge.  This place is close proximity to Mowbray Court Hotel London. This event is going to take place on Sunday, 22 April 2018.

Demand for places in the London Marathon is high.  This year over 253,000 people applied for the 40,000 spaces available.  Many take part in a bid to raise money for their chosen charities, often participating in fancy dress. In previous years, costumes have included superheroes, animals, a giant Shoe, cartoon characters and a London Bus!  There was also a ‘gorilla’ who crawled the entire length of the course in aid of the Gorilla Organisation.  He was the final runner to complete the Marathon in 2017 as the journey took him 6 days, and raised £23,900 for his chosen charity.

It is a lot of fun, and the atmosphere is really friendly as everyone wants the runners to succeed.  Money is raised along the route for the year’s official charity. This year, it is the Teenage Cancer Trust.  Watch carefully as the runners pass by, as you can spot numerous celebrities. Well known runners in previous years have included Princess Beatrice, chef Gordon Ramsey, and TV personality Chris Evans.  To be a part of this event you must search for hotels in London Earls Court to book your stay.

So where do you go to see the runners?  The London Marathon always starts in Greenwich Park. The route then passes eastwards through Blackheath, then doubles back into London via Bermondsey.  The runners cross the River Thames at Tower Bridge. They then head eastwards again into Docklands, traveling around the edge of the Isle of Dogs before running back into the city of London, passing the Tower of London en route to Buckingham Palace.  It is definitely a grueling run, which challenges not just the running ability of participants but their stamina as well.

A touch of craziness hits London streets on Pancake Day, held this year on Tuesday 13 February.  This is the scene of lively, amusing pancake races where not all pancakes manage to make it to the finishing line.    

Teams, often wearing fancy dress, run along a set course tossing pancakes in frying pans.  These are not small pancakes.  Every pancake is large enough to match the bottom of a frying pan.

Several races are held around London

At Westminster Tower Gardens near the Houses of Parliament teams from the House of Lords, House of Commons and members of the Press who work there battle it out across several races. It is free to watch and is always very popular.

Head for the Guildhall Yard near St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London for another lively race. These are Livery Races when teams from three livery companies (Poulterers representing eggs, Fruiterers lemons and Cutlers the forks needed to eat pancakes) as well as the Mansion House, Guildhall and Old Bailey have a fun event.  It all begins with a lot of pomp and ceremony with many competitors wearing their full regalia as members of livery companies while others wear fancy dress. The winning team is given a commemorative frying pan. This place isn’t too far away from Mowbray Court Hotel.

Further east again is the public races at the Old Truman Brewery in Spitalfields, East London.  Anyone can take part, as long as they pay the required donation to charity.  Many participants wear fancy dress, the more extreme the better.  They run their race along uneven cobbled streets which makes their task of tossing pancakes and successfully catching them even harder!

Pancake Day is an annual festival, held every year.  The date changes each time due to the fact that Easter is a moveable festival.  Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday as it is often known is held exactly 47 days before Easter. It is always on a Tuesday in February or early March.  If you wish to be a part of this event, book your  accommodation in Kensington London.

This tradition began over a thousand years ago. It has its origins in the custom of medieval Christians to fast during the weeks before Easter. This period is known as Lent.  Shrove Tuesday is the day immediately before Lent begins and was when people went to church and were ‘shrived’ (forgiven) their sins.  Throughout Lent, various foods had to be avoided. This included eggs and fat so the custom began to have a big feast using up those items on Shrove Tuesday.  Pancakes were the obvious answer.

Nowadays, pancakes are popular all year round and you can enjoy them in countless restaurants and cafes across London such as My Old Dutch in Holborn or Crème de la Crepe in Covent Garden.  The range is extensive with both savory and sweet pancakes available.