I did my tourist thing yesterday, returning to a few old haunts and trying out a new one.

The first port of call was obviously breakfast in Lower Marsh and then popping in to say hello to my ex-boss, but after that I went over the river to see the newly turfed Trafalgar Square.

It is hard to believe that this photo was taken there. It looks like it could be a bit of any London park, but a longer shot shows the reality.

The timing of my visit was very fortunate. The turf was only laid the day before and was due to be lifted again at 6pm yesterday and taken to Fulham.

I think it makes for a good photo, and it makes its point about promoting green spaces in the city, but it was all a little bit disappointing. I expected the whole square to be turfed, but it was just the bit between the fountains. Still impressive, but not as impressive as it could have been.

Still, in the last few years the Mayor (I assume its all his doing) as done a good job of making Trafalgar Square into a place which is always worth a visit, as there is always a chance of finding something going on, whether it is the Strandbeesten moving sculptures, the Pet Shop Boys providing a live soundtrack to Battleship Potemkin, a Monty Python film on a big screen, a giant elephant or London being awarded the Olympics.

from Trafalgar Square I went through to Orange Street via my favourite short-cut in the world – the National Gallery. There was a short detour to look at the Canalettos, Constables and Turners again, and to see the Velazquez paintings. The last time I was there it was the big exhibition and the big crowds, so it made a change to be able to see the paintings properly.

There was another detour (making it also the world’s longest short-cut) to see the exhibition of Leo Kossoff’s drawings from paintings. These are all drawings someone made in the National of paintings they have there. I think the gallery missed a trick by not having the originals or even just photos of the originals alongside for comparison. Not that the drawings looked much like the originals, or even much like anything in some cases.

And then down to Room A. Room A is a strange place. It is under the main gallery and full of paintings that would not fit in upstairs. There are a number of partitions in there just crammed with paintings. They are not spaced out like the proper displays: just stored. They are not all by obscure unknown artists either – I spotted a Canaletto down there.

The whole room is a bit of a hidden treasure. I was the only person down there, with the exception of a bored security guard, and it is not really signposted. If you want to find Room A, don’t go looking for directions to but follow the directions for “exit via Orange Street”. Or just use the Orange Street entrance I suppose.

Not much of a short cut, as it can take 30 minutes to get from Trafalgar Square to Leicester Square even if you rush, but so much more interesting than just walking round the corner.