Book Bench Trail #1 - Bloomsbury

This summer London artists painted benches in the shape of open books to represent iconic books and authors.  These benches are all around town in 4 different "trails".  On Sunday Doug, Marge and I did the Bloomsbury trail.  On Sunday night I tried to upload my pictures and LOST THEM ALL.  I was feeling quite tragic.  But keep calm and carry on, right? On Monday morning, Marge and I did the circuit again.  So no Doug in these photos but at least we got this blog post.

James Bond was one of my faves - front and back.

 Agatha Christie and Marge.  If it weren't for Agatha in the bottom left corner I'm not sure if I would have connected this to her but I love the pictures anyway.

 Sherlock Holmes.  Another favorite with little factoids in the magnifying glasses and close ups of Holmesian things.

 And the back was just as good.

 Some of the benches have little extras hidden on the side under the pages.

 Mrs Dalloway.  Very appropriate for the Bloomsbury setting but too pastelly for me.

 The Importance of Being Ernest.  I didn't take to this one right away but it's growing on me.  

 You all know I love Wooster and Jeeves. 

On Monday Marge and I went to see one that we didn't get to on Sunday…it was in a beautiful little park that I've never been to before.  There were old gravestones leaning against the walls and some larger tombs sprinkled around the grounds.

 There's the book bench - just waiting for us.

 The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  Not one of my favorite books but a great bench. I loved the Aslan on the back and the little polar bears on the side.

 As we were doing our pictures this little dog came running over and posed with me.  She was so friendly and didn't want to leave us.

No British book trail would be complete without Pride and Prejudice!

Jen and Lizzie Bennett - BFFs!

 Neither of us were crazy about the Peter Pan bench - where is Captain Hook?  Where is Tinkerbell?  There is a small Peter in the  top right corner but instead there was a monkey and a fox and colorful flowers…it didn't seem very Peter Pan-ish to me but it was very colorful.

I really enjoyed doing the trail because it took me spots in London I hadn't seen before - even though they were in neighborhoods I have been to many times.  Bloomsbury is full of tiny little parks where people would be sitting on a bench reading or eating quietly - peaceful green pockets in a busy city. Three more trails to do!