As I am currently unable to gad about, my next guest blogger is Mark Roberts. I asked him to take a pic of the green wall in Trafalgar Square that I failed to notice in its entirety a few weeks back. Mark is a TV sound recordist and has regaled us all over the years with his tales of derring-do in far-flung places. I’m trying to persuade him to start a blog of his own.
Anyway, over to Mark…
Since V’s sprained her ankle she’s asked me to contribute to her blog. I’m not sure why she writes it with her feet, though.
For the last 18 years I’ve lived in Hong Kong, where the summers are oppressively hot and humid and the only plantlife you see growing on walls is mould. That’s when I usually escape the urban steambath and head over to the UK. How refreshing, then, to be cycling around London and come across a giant wall of green that’s appreciated rather than contemptuously sprayed with fungicide.
Van Gogh’s masterpiece, A Wheatfield with Cypresses, has literally taken root outside the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square. It’s reminiscent of a thick patterned shagpile carpet made up of more than 8,000 plants. Not so much painting by numbers but planting by numbers. It certainly brings a calming effect to one of London’s busiest tourist spots. I saw it on a rather overcast day, not really at its best, but I could imagine it in full sun, bursting with life. Next time you’re in the area, spend a few moments taking it all in.
Apparently Banksy’s been seen loitering nearby with a strimmer…
it’s a shame that you marathon training has had to be put on hold, just as you were reaching Pauline Quirke, I mean Paula Radcliffe standards, as there’s a living advert for some wine in Westfield that features a wall of flowers. If I see it, i’ll snap it for you, though not sure i’ll get there
Go there today! That’s an order