Alternative shopping in London, in the east of the center in Bloomsbury, between art galleries and travel bookshops where you can find what a traveler most desires, here are two incredible addresses.
Back from my weekend a London, I find myself not sure what to write about. Not because there isn't much to tell about London, but because there is too much. Given the many things that have already been said and written about this amazing city, I thought then to share some personal tips on shopping and, specifically, to point out a historic travel bookshop and a refined art gallery, both in the East area. of the Middle. Two places that you can easily visit in the same walk, from Covent Garden going up towards Bloomsbury and from there to Clerkenwell Road.
The bookshop is a paradise for anyone who loves traveling dispassionately: it is about Stanford's, the historic shop specializing in the sector Travel, which occupies an entire nineteenth-century building, along the road from Covent Garden to Leicester Square. Do not hesitate to enter: you will find everything a traveler may need, from maps to guides, from travel tools to gadgets, from objects to narrative on the subject. The largest warehouse in the world for travel literature and maps.
The activity was started in 1853 da Edward Stanford. He was able to brilliantly perceive the impact that the expansion of British colonialism was having on the mindset of the wealthier classes and, consequently, on the new fashion of travel. Hence Sir Stanford's desire to expand his business, becoming the only map seller in London. But not only that: to consolidate its reputation, Stanford relied on an experienced team to create a series of large maps of the continents, as well as the first accurate map of London, printed in 1862 and immediately acclaimed by the Royal Geographical Society as the best city map ever released. A reproduction of it is still on sale in the shop today.
Some famous Stanford's customers over the last century? Amy Johnson, David Livingstone, Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, Florence Nightingale, Ranulph Fiennes, Bill Bryson, Michel Palin and, to top it off, Sherlock Holmes.
After exiting Stanford's, passing through the Covent Garden district and climbing up towards Bloomsbury, with a very small detour to the east you arrive on Clerkenwell Road, at number 121, where, inside an industrial building from the late XNUMXth-early century Novecento, is located there From the Rosa Gallery.
I arrived early for the appointment with Giovanna Paternò e Philip Jones, respectively director and consultant of the gallery. I waited for the hour to come to an inevitable Pret-a-Manger at the corner, and with a hot coffee I sat down to write a few lines on the Mac. Then I looked at my watch: again late, even though I arrived early. I thought about English punctuality and ran to the nearby gallery. Giovanna and Phil welcomed me with great pleasure and showed me the works and the exhibition in progress.
Giovanna and Phil explained to me that they themselves paint the walls of the gallery with different colors, depending on the exhibitions and works that will be installed. There is also a white wall for video projections, however. I was lucky enough to come to the turn of the deep blue-petroleum-sugar paper wall and I don't know what else to define it. The fact is that the wall, with those small cards placed on it like playing cards, was already a work of art in itself. With his standing out on the dazzling white (I imagine it like this, during the day, although I have seen it in the evening) of the walls, well, what about ... Wow. To crown the beauty of this interior, a vase of oriental lilies, wine-colored, which, together with that particular shade of blue, bring the room back to the time Liberty (Modern Style, in UK).
The gallery opened its doors in 2010 and, to date, it has hosted several exhibitions. Among the many artists, in addition to Catrin Morgan, we mention Jessie Brennan, Benjamin Bridges, Bozhinov / Ricci, Caroline Corbasson, Jeremy Evans, Caroline Kha, Kasper Pincis, David Web and many others.
