Culture Vultures and Free-Range Ponies

London can definitely look pretty good in summer, especially when you're only popping in for the odd day here and there and not having to deal with the hordes of tourists 24/7. It's impressive how slowly people can move whilst still seemingly in a massive panic and dead set on knocking you out with one well-timed rucksack swing. City living is cutthroat.

All my stations to access London from the depths of the countryside drop me by the Thames and I can set off confidently with my out of date London knowledge to track down friends. Then pause for a photo and quickly check that I'm on the right bridge and heading in vaguely the right direction.

I had the perfect excuse to stop and say hi to the Queen at Buckingham Palace as I tootled through Green Park on the way to the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly for the Summer Exhibition. Casually passing the Ritz and every designer shop going to have a taste of the high life and wonder why my life doesn't feature macaroons on tap.

'For 247 years, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition has offered a snapshot of contemporary art – and this year’s exhibition is a riot of colour, variety and discovery with over 1,100 works spilling out from our galleries.'

I had never been before and it was very impressive with an amazing variety of paintings, photography and sculptures. I particularly enjoyed A Humument:

A Humument has been a work in progress since 1966 when artist Tom Phillips set himself a task: to find a second-hand book for threepence and alter every page by painting, collage and cut-up techniques to create an entirely new version. The book he found was an 1892 Victorian obscurity A Human Document by W.H. Mallock and Phillips transformed it into A Humument. 

He had picked out individual words on each page to create a poetic message with beautiful paintings to obscure the text or build it into the images created. The pages were set out in a grid wrapping around the walls of a small room. My favourite: I am the window your dream stepped out of. 

Then back to the boat for a high octane country ramble with Dad, dodging New Forest ponies and very professional looking walkers along the Beaulieu river. With the obligatory good afternoons to everyone because if you're on a walk for the fun of it and not rushing to a destination you suddenly become super polite. It's the rules.

Buckler’s Hard developed as a shipbuilding village where warships for Nelson’s Navy were built, three of which took part in the Battle of Trafalgar. It's definitely like stepping back in time and I'm not convinced all that much has changed since then. Although the ponies now have 4x4s to contend with, and bonus treats from the tourists.