Banking on a fun weekend!

Well it's back to business as usual, following a lovely sunny bank holiday weekend.  It looks as if the weather is getting back to business too, replacing the glorious sunshine with clouds and rain....

We started the weekend off right with an evening packed full of dances on Saturday at The Girl Can't Help It in Waterloo.  This one-off event was hosted by Miss B Nightingale, who along with Rob be Bop kept the floor jumpin' with a great mix of rhythm and blues, rock'n'roll and jump blues.  My highlight of the night was seeing two of my favourite dancers tearing up the floor - my very own loverboy and a friend of ours, Anthony.  

Considering that they are both used to doing the leading, they busted out an awesome and very entertaining dance!

On Sunday, we headed into Central London to see an exhibition by Bert Hardy at The Photographers' Gallery.  Famous for his black and white candid shots from the 1940s and 1950s, Hardy, from Blackfriars in London, had a knack of capturing the most haunting and yet often playful images.

Serving as a war photographer during World War II, Hardy caught moments of suffering as well as celebration.  He captured images of poverty along with post-war liberty.  One of my favourite photos was the one below, featuring a room full of sailors, and a lady up on stage dancing in a full skirt.  When I got home I was so inspired by this shot that I recreated my own version....you can't see it, but Aaron was probably taking a peek under my skirt, just like the cheeky sailor in the Hardy photo...

I absolutely loved each and every one of his photos on display in the exhibition, as well as the ones in books that I flicked through.  Check out the one below with the cute swimsuit-clad ladies and the crocodile!

We went to a couple of other exhibitions in the gallery, including one by Cristina de Middel entitled 'The Afronauts', documenting Zambia's space programme in 1964, which never took off (ba-dummm-chhhh)...

We also enjoyed an exhibition by Claire Aho, featuring a series of fashion photography images from European advertisements in 1950s Finland.  The photos included so many gorgeous dresses!

On Monday, we hopped on a train and headed to the Queen's favourite weekend home, Windsor Castle.  A lot of other people had the same idea, so it was a good thing that the hubs was organised and bought our tickets in advance, because when we arrived the queue was already winding half way around the castle!

We started off the tour at St George's Chapel, the place of worship and Chapel of The Order of the Garter on the grounds of Windsor Castle.  Photos are prohibited inside all of the buildings, so I don't have any photos to show you, but I can confirm that it was absolutely breath-taking.

Inside the Chapel, there is a carved marble sculpture in memory of Princess Charlotte (1796-1817).  At just 21 years old, the Princess Royal died the day after giving birth to a baby boy, who was stillborn.

Words cannot describe just how moving this memorial is.  The artistry of the actual sculpture is exquisite, and the scene which is set, is a beautiful tribute.  It features Princess Charlotte's body under a sheet, with just her hand half hanging out from the edge, whilst she is surrounded by mourners, shrouded in cloaks.  Above this sadness, however, her spirit ascends to heaven, and she is flanked by two angels, one of them carrying her baby son.  I found an image from the internet to show you, however it is so much more powerful in real life.

Source

The way that the monument has been carved is so skillful, and the sheets look so realistic, that it is awe-inspiring to believe that they are sculpted out of marble.

The Castle was similarly magnificent, and we had a fun time walking around with our audio tours, being dorky tourists...

The rest of our day in Windsor was spent looking around the shops a little, and then sitting in a park by the Thames, eating ice cream, and (in my case) drinking gin and pink grapefruit tonics.  The perfect day, and a wonderful end to a perfect weekend.