A Day of Art & Grand Views

 

On Tuesday, my friend Dave and I went to the Tate Britain, one of my favorite museums anywhere.

We saw room after room of wonderful art and I love the way they arranged the rooms with a theme in mind.  

Here's a puzzle for you.  One of the docents told us to be sure to look at the clock in one of the galleries.  I wondered what could be worth mentioning about a clock.  It took me a minute.  What do you think, can you tell what time it was?

The Tate Britain has the largest collection of JMW Turner paintings anywhere else in the world.  A stroll through the Turner galleries is always a treat.

My friends Julie and Dave leave on Wednesday so for their last night in London, we chose Oblix at the top of "The Shard".  The views were spectacular.  I had never been up close to that building before so it was a treat to finally enter the building.

The restaurant is on the 32nd floor and wraps half way around the building.  We were lucky to have such clear weather enhancing the views.

On the taxi ride back to the hotel, I managed to snap a not too bad photo of St. Pauls Cathedral right out the taxi window.

Palace Tour

 

We took the Buckingham Palace tour on Monday which was a first for me.  They only do the tours in the summer months and I usually only travel in the fall.  The tour started with an exhibit in the King's Gallery. It was all about the Edwardian age and it included paintings and objects from that time period.  Above is painting of Queen Victoria and her family.

To the left is a Wedgwood container that caught my eye.  I love Wedgwood.

This gallery was the most elaborate with huge portraits of both English royalty and royalty from Denmark and other countries.

After the gallery we visited the Royal Mews and saw an impressive array of royal coaches.  This state coach is by far the most elaborate one.

There is certainly a lot of Bling on this coach!

Then we toured the inside of Buckingham Palace however, photos inside were not allowed so the only photos I have are of the outside.  This is the back side of the palace that leads out to the garden.  It was interesting to see the different rooms in the palace but I will once again say something about the crowds.  It was packed with people making it hard to see things.  

Monday's dinner was at the Savoy, a luxurious hotel that I had never set foot in before.  It's beautiful inside and out.  Dinner was delicious!  I don't usually indulge in such fancy meals when I travel alone.  I have to thank my friends Julie and Dave for this opportunity to try some special places.

The British Museum

 

My friend Dave and I spent the day at the British Museum.  When we made plans for the 5 days they are here, we weren't thinking about the summer crowds.  On top of this being vacation time, today was also Sunday.  It was crazy busy.  I don't think I've ever been there when it was this busy.  

In spite of the crowds, we covered a lot of ground in the museum and I made it to at least three rooms I had never visited before.  The bowl above is tin-glazed earthenware that dates back to 1641.

Of course, I visited some old favorites like the Lewis Chessmen and the Sutton Hoo artifacts.  

The doors were open to the big reading room so I got to see the beautiful interior.  The reading room is the center part in the top photo.  

I was surprised to see this bowl created by Diego Romero of Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico.  That was truly an unexpected find.  Not everything in the museum is ancient.  

This is of course just a teeny, tiny example of what can be found in the British Museum.  It's one of those places you can visit over and over and over and still not see it all.

As I walked my very tired legs back to the hotel, I passed through Russel Square where I got a perfect glimpse of my hotel through the trees.

Grand Homes and Fine Dining

 

My friends Julie and Dave and I started the day with a tour of Apsley House, the former home of the Duke of Wellington.

The Duke was quite the collector.  We saw vast amounts of paintings and some pretty incredible silver pieces.  One room was set aside as a museum and housed lots of things that were given to the Duke in appreciation of his service to the country.

After that we walked across the street to get a closer look at the Wellington Arch, another tribute to this great man.

On our way to lunch we passed another old church and decided to take a peek inside. It was another beautiful building to admire.

Then we had lunch in a proper English pub where the food was served to us with just as much pizazz and artistry as any high end restaurant.  

We topped off the day with dinner at the restaurant that currently resides inside the Michelin House building.

The stained glass windows in the restaurant pay tribute to Bibendum, the jolly Michelin Man.

South of the River

 

I spent most of the day Friday on the south side of the Thames.  I made a stop at Southwark Cathedral.  The area around the cathedral has changed a lot.  I remember being able to see the river from the churchyard but, now it's buildings all around it.  On the inside, they had a special display of thousands of white doves all with messages of peace on them.  

Shakespeare was still there lounging in this little alcove.  He looks like he's wondering what to write next.  

Stepping just outside the cathedral, I was greeted with this sight.  The building that Londoner's call "the shard" was looming large.

From the cathedral, I walked along the riverfront taking in the incredible view of the city.  That skyline keeps changing and growing upward.  

While I was close by, I made a point of visiting my favorite fountain.  I'm not sure why I like this fountain so much but I seem to make a pilgrimage to it on all my trips to London.

I also admired (and photographed) Tower Bridge once again.  When it is looming large right in front of me, it's pretty hard to resist the urge to snap more photos.

Back on the north side of the river, I found this perfect view of the Tower of London.

I also got a great view of 'The Monument' which hides in between all the tall buildings.  It's the monument to the Great Fire of London in 1666.  It was constructed between 1671 and 1677.

To top the day off, I met up with my friends Julie and Dave who flew in on Friday 4 hours late because of a storm in Phoenix.  I love a good storm in Phoenix and I missed it but I'm glad they finally made it safe and sound.

Explorations!

 

Thursday was a day filled with explorations.  I started by heading out to see this building formerly known as the Carreras Cigarette Factory.  It is now called the Greater London House.  It was built between 1926 and 1928 in a 20th century Egyptian revival design.  It's another place I had read about and wanted to see so that was my first destination.  

After viewing the Egyptian building,  I hopped on a bus heading back toward central London.  The nice thing about taking a bus is that when I see something that looks interesting I can just get off and take a look.  That is exactly what happened when we drove past this beautiful crescent.  What a pretty street.

As I wandered, I came across the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral and the outside was so interesting I took a peek inside.

It was beautiful!  That chandelier alone was pretty spectacular.  I'm glad it inspired me to see the inside.

Then I made my way to the Royal Academy of Arts. I had never visited this art museum before so it was about time I check it out.  

The entrance inside turned out to be quite beautiful by itself.  They had a special exhibit going on with an artist named Anselm Keifer who loved the works of Van Gogh so much he visited all the places frequented by Van Gogh.  This exhibit compared his works during this time along with some Van Gogh paintings I had never seen before.  I'm so glad I got to see them here.

Along the way, I happened upon this sculpture standing on a street corner.  There was no explanation or artist's name.  This poor workman is forever frozen in time looking for a place to plant his ladder.  

On the way back to the hotel, I passed this extremely cute little pub called the Coach & Horses.  

It was a good day full of new experiences.  

A Visit to Oxford

 

It's been 23 years since I visited the city of Oxford and it was about time I see it again.  I took the train Wednesday morning.  I had three goals in mind, first I wanted to see the memorial to the poet Shelley, second I wanted to visit the Ashmolean Museum, and third, I just wanted to stroll those ancient streets once again and snap some photos. I managed to succeed with all three goals.

To the left is the building known as the Radcliffe Camera.

And here is the beautiful memorial to Shelley that I had read about.  Shelley briefly attended University College Oxford until he was expelled for writing a pamphlet called "The Necessity of Atheism".  It's a twist of fate that this lovely memorial now resides in that very same college.

No trip to Oxford is complete without a stroll under the "Bridge of Sighs" as it is called.  On this day there were literally hundreds of people gathered at the bridge to get a look.  I was lucky to get a photo with only few present.

From there I took a stroll down a very, very narrow passage to get a glimpse of the Turf pub which dates back to 1831 and has seen many famous guests before they were famous.  It looks like Bill Clinton might have been one of them.

As I walked past the Sheldonian Theatre, I admired all those distinguished heads atop the fence posts.  

Then it was on to the Ashmolean Museum to see what treasures might be inside.

I discovered that they hold a large collection of Egyptian artifacts as well as some grand paintings.

But, I think what struck me the most was this fine sculpture by Ju Ming, a Taiwanese sculptor.  It's a statue of art historian Michael Sullivan. What I couldn't figure out is why such a fine sculpture was placed in such an out-of-the-way location next to the lift and the restrooms.  I think it's a brilliant piece of work.

All in all, it was a totally enjoyable day.