Our round-up: staying busy & having fun at home

Whilst we’re all spending a lot more time at home, many people are seeking out new resources to provide much needed entertainment and motivation through isolation. With the wealth of content that has appeared, we thought we'd share a few of our favourite online experiences to help pass the hours.

ART

• Discover global art via Google Arts and Culture, which provides virtual tours of museums, national parks, famous landmarks, and even some iconic castles and palaces. 
• Rome was set to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael with an exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale—the largest ever exhibition of his works. The doors opened in early March for a few days before the country went on lockdown. The institution has now put a virtual walk through of the exhibition on their website via YouTube.
• The Artists Support Pledge is a new initiative that was set up to help artists through the pandemic. Artists choose pieces of work to sell for £200 or less, and when they reach £1000 in sales, they too pledge to buy another artists' work. Follow the movement via Instagram or find out more here. 
• We’re enjoying exploring different corners of our city via paintings with the Instagram account Paintings of London.

FOOD

• Olive Magazine's podcast is full of useful recipes, guides, cookalongs and tours; with some episodes featuring guest chefs and other key industry experts.
• Food Writer and cook Georgina Hayden has a great Instagram feed for inspirational home cooking, and has just started experimenting with IGTV. Her first cookalong video is now live, showing you how to make Flaouna Loaf – a Cypriot bread stuffed with halloumi...
• Food writer Clare Hargreaves' blog is a wealth of useful information including a recent feature on how to avoid the supermarkets and support independent suppliers who are offering home deliveries.
• One of our favourite chefs, Yotam Ottolenghi, has been busy creating and sharing lots of accessible recipes using minimal ingredients but by no means lacking in flavour.

LEARNING

• Indytute is aiming to raise spirits by running a range of creative and social interactive online events, from upcycling workshops to pub quizzes and live music sessions.
• Keep an eye on Issy Croker’s feed for her guides on doing your own professionally inspired food photography at home, including one on the 15th of April with Appear HQ.
• Now's as good a time as any to pick up a musical instrument! Learn the basics of playing guitar with Fender Play.
• Conde Nast Traveller have put together the ultimate travel quiz to test your knowledge whilst  giving you a much needed travel buzz from home.
• The online learning platform, Alison, offers over 1000 courses covering almost every topic imaginable - many of which are free.

FITNESS

• Health and Wellness author Alice Liveing has free videos on her Instagram page offering a variety of accessible workouts, alongside tips and advice for staying fit during isolation.
• Yoga teacher and mentor Steffi White is offering free meditation and yoga sessions live from her home via her Instagram page throughout the week.
• For more focused one-to-one sessions, Urban has a range of practices on offer which you can pay to book onto, form yoga and meditation through to more high intensity training.

COMEDY & THEATRE

• Enjoy free comedy each day from Cosmic Shambles new Stay at Home initiative.
• The National Theatre is bringing the stage directly to our homes by showing full live productions online via their website every Thursday.

If you have any fun suggestions on ways to stay busy and motivated, we'd love to hear from you! Please get in touch via hello@thepilgrm.com.