Art and Abart

I have carried my little sketchbook with me in London but haven't found many places to sit with a sketchable view. This, though, is ...

I've just seen a fantastic Turandot at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It chased away all my London blues. Both singers and orche...

Here is some of the good stuff about London: 1. There are so many diverse areas, so there is something for everyone. I have stayed in  the...

I am adapting to London as the days pass, but still I wonder what they were thinking when they built these concrete bunkers on the Thames Ri...

Bollards are spreading like a measles rash. Understandably there are a few in London. Bollards on London Bridge Bollards have also pop...

This is the Oxo building, not far from the National theatre. It is full of design studios and shops and is one of the prettier buildings on ...

Part of Queens Walk near Tower Bridge Brits are famous for their gardens, but they seem to have locked them out of their capital city. L...

London! One of the wonderful things about London is its multicultural edge.  People from all over the world live here and Londoners themse...

La Traviata was on at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden last night, so that's what I saw. The house has all the trimmings you e...

St Paul's, peeping over the Riverside budings. Drawn from the opposite river bank. St Paul's Cathedral

Back in Hamburg. Bicycles in a local school When you see children pouring out of the local Hamburg primary school on their bikes you ...

When I bought my ticket for the Dresden gallery for sculpture and fine arts, I was offered a ticket to the show in the building  next door ...

Opera is a live performance and live performances have their problems. We should probably wonder why they don't fail more often than th...

This is my favourite photo of Leipzig. It seems to encapsulate the city. Music and musicians are so much part of Leipzig but so is being...

I had not intended to visit Mendelssohn House in Leipzig, but after being so moved by his Oratorium I decided to see where it was written. ...

If you know the language of countries you visit, your visit is so much richer. I wish I knew more languages than two. A good example of add...

Spinnerei, Leipzig The Spinnerei ist an old cotton spinning factory on a 10 ha block in Leipzig's Plagwitz (get there on the S14 tra...

Nena on the cover of Blitz magazine Brava to Nena, still going strong after all these years. This is the current issue of Blitz magazine...

It is amazing what a difference a short talk  by the chef dramaturg (head dramatist?) Dr Christian Geltinger made to my understanding of ...

Wow! Wow! Wow! I just saw the most fantastic Salome . I had been running on empty today but this opera and music has completely revived ...