Well several .... and a Miro.
While in the UK I spent one night in the home of a couple I had photographed two years earlier.
They were both paper conservators. One of them was restoring a series of Picasso pieces and a Miro. His workroom was also the spare bedroom. You get that in places where space is at an expensive premium.
So the journey was a mixed bag of accommodation as I tripped around the countryside. From two stays in smokey old rooms at two Hilton hotels that had seen better days, to a very agreeable but brief stay in a hotel in Falkirk. Two nights in the home of a friend when I first arrived shell shocked from lack of sleep, I had kicked baby Oliver out of his room, and was not very sociable. A, thankfully, brief stay in a dodgy hotel in the centre of Edinburgh proved the well worn theory of 'you only get what you pay for' .... dare I say 'I should have paid more' (a lot more). Jo hunted out a more agreeable bed at the Hudson Hotel that proved the theory that a comfortable bed (with clean sheets) in a tiny room is endlessly better than a scary one in any sized room. I developed a theory about the evaluation of accommodation. The true measure of a decent Hotel is one where you go to sleep at night not thinking about how many people may have slept there before you. From there it was a small olde English Pub in the Lakes District .... modest was my best description ... then a bed and breakfast where I had the privilege of sleeping in the room (and bed) of the owners deceased parents. It was the biggest bed of all and strangely comfortable. Finally I get back to sleeping with Picasso .... I was well looked after and slept soundly oblivious to my salubrious company.
I was lucky to have had the variety (because that is the spice of life) ... but I did feel like a bit of a bed slut by the end of it all.
Thank you to my friends for keeping me sane.
All the best
Johannes
Johanne
It was a pleasure and inspiration to hear you speak and see some of your work. You're a very funny and genuine guy and if you were to come back to the UK I'd not hesitate to come see you again. Hope you enjoyed the rest of your "galavant" round the British Isles and had a safe journey home.
Best wishes
Claire