London! part III

After eating our Thai food we found a route headed towards Charing Cross Road... a good place to find bookstores. And there were plenty, both used and new, & I found one specifically carrying rare first editions!


Here are a few street photos I took along the way...

En route to Charing Cross Road we happened upon Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. The name of the square is in remembrance of The Battle of Trafalgar (1805) which was a British Naval victory during the Napoleonic Wars. The square is used for community gatherings, political demonstrations and for the New Year's Eve celebration in London. 
At the National Gallery we were excited to see a few of Jan van Eyck's paintings including the Arnolfini portrait (1434):

seeing the painting this time around I couldn't help but notice the largeness of Giovanni's hat,
the peculiar looking shoes, and notice how long his wife's fingers look...Fascinating!

and van Eyck's Portrait of a Man (1433), which might be a self portrait. Among others we saw Paolo Uccello's The Battle of San Romano (1438-40), a few pieces by Diego Velázquez, Peter Paul Rubens, and Rembrandt. If I had time I'd go back and check out the Vermeer and the van Gogh! The portrait work done in those days is astounding, makes me really appreciate the ones that are painted today as well. 

in this little side street were many book shops and stores with old prints

believe it or not, I can't tell you what any of these taste like... only looking!

stopping for a coffee break amid our bookstore visits.

Here is Ray posing with some street art we found on the way back to the flat... Space Invaders... we had just watched Banksy's movie, Exit through the Gift Shop, which made mention of him!

The following morning we got a good start and went for breakfast at a little French bakery and coffee shop called, Paul. We headed back to the Tate, then gave ourselves time to meander our way to the train station stopping at a few shops of interest along the way before heading home.

YUM

London! part II

From St. Paul's we walked towards the Millenium Bridge where we crossed the River Thames to get to the Tate Modern. You might remember the Millenium Bridge from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

Construction on the Millenium Bridge began in 1998 and the bridge had its opening in June 2000. However soon after its opening there was a charity walk across the bridge and participants described it as a "wobbly" experience. The bridge was then closed for nearly two years to ensure its stability. It reopened in 2002. As far as I noticed, it felt quite stable underfoot! From the Millenium Bridge you can see the London Tower Bridge... 

and a local man searching for lost treasure with a metal detector.

When we reached Bankside, we came upon the Globe Theater situated right next to the Tate Modern. The Globe Theater was originally built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was later destroyed by a fire in 1613. The theater was rebuilt at the same site a year later, but then closed in 1642. (It's kind of cool to think all of this before our country was even born, what a history!) The building you see in the photograph is a modern reconstruction of what the theater looked like; it opened in 1997 and is situated less than a mile from where the original Globe Theater was built. 

the name of the theater comes from the latin phrase, totus mundus agit histrionem--
all the world plays the actor.

The current Unilever exhibit at the Tate is by Ai WeiWei, a Chinese artist who works in sculpture, architecture, and film as well as a variety of other mediums. This piece is called Sunflower Seeds.

Here are one hundred million sunflower seeds, and though they look like actual sunflower seeds and appear to look alike, they were each individually crafted and are made of porcelain. Each one was made by specialist workers in small workshops throughout China. Originally visitors were allowed to walk on the porcelain seeds, however it was suggested that the dust that started to accumulate in and around the sculpture would be harmful to inhale, so now, looking only. 
Here's a little snippet about Ai Weiwei that I got from the informative plaque at the Tate:


Ai Weiwei merges his life and art in order to advocate both the freedoms and responsibilities of individuals. 'From a  very young age I started to sense that an individual has to set an example in society,' he has said. 'Your own acts and behavior tell the world who you are and at the same time what kind of society you think it should be.' As material for his art, he draws upon the society and politics of contemporary China as well as cultural artifacts such as ancient Neolithic vases and traditional Chinese furniture whose function and perceived value he challenges and subverts.

Visiting the Tate was so wonderful. I spent time with quite a few Francis Bacon paintings including, Figure in Landscape 1945, Seated Figure 1961, Study for Portrait on Folding Bed 1963, Triptych August 1972 1972, and Three Figures and Portrait 1975. It was great to see so many of his together as I feel it can be helpful to saturate in the work of one artist.  

this is Francis Bacon's Triptych August 1972

I was also very grateful to see several of Alberto Giacometti's sculptures. 

Giacometti's three Standing Woman, all sculpted 1958-59

Into early afternoon we left the museum (with plans to return the following day...there was so much to see!) to find a place for lunch...we ended up finding some very very tasty Thai food. 

me outside the Tate-- I love the look of those trees.

the view of St. Paul's from the Millenium Bridge.

more to come, more to come!

London! part I

Last weekend we set out for London! After searching for an affordable hotel in a good location without much luck, I remembered an article I'd read in the New York Times travel section about a site called airbnb.com. On this site people can list their dwellings if they have a spare room to offer travelers for the night for a specified price. I began to search and was happy to find a lovely offering just a few minutes walk away from St. Paul's Cathedral (which I knew to be in central London and very near to the Tate Modern). I had never tried airbnb before, but it went very well. We stayed with a young couple, Aisha and Abdel, and besides their being very hospitable and offering a clean place for us to stay, they were lots of fun and really wonderful people! Something they're working on is a composite site of theme-linked podcasts and radio shows... it seems really neat, if you enjoy This American Life, Radiolab, the Moth Podcast, and Ted Talks, it'd be worth checking out (said.fm). 

It was a somewhat long journey from Huddersfield, though very smooth. Upon arrival we assessed the map and walked over to the flat from the train station. Along the way we passed by a window display of men's clothing shop. I snapped a photo for Dad, who once bought a very stylish suit while on a visit to London as a young lad.

can you see me in the reflection?

After settling into our room we set out to get our bearings and figured out where we were in relation to places we wanted to visit the following day. For dinner we found a Yo!Sushi! I'd never been to one, but it was pretty fun! They serve sushi and other Japanese cuisine. The seating is arranged along a conveyor belt on which passes food in little see-through containers. When you see something you like, you simply take it off the belt and start eating. Of course you can also order off of the menu. Here's a nice overhead photo I found on the internet. 

The following day we charted a path to St. Paul's Cathedral and then made our way to the Tate Modern.  But first found this little gem:

just around the corner is John Milton Passage!

For those of you who might not remember, John Milton is a poet most popularly known for  his epic poem, Paradise Lost. 

St. Paul's Dome

A cathedral dedicated to Saint Paul has stood at this site since 604 A.D. This particular cathedral was built between 1675 and 1710 after its predecessor was destroyed in the Great London Fire. It was designed by the court architect Sir Christopher Wren and was recently renovated and cleaned to mark its 300th anniversary.

St. Paul's from the front. 

and... Ray at St. Paul's!

much more on the way!