The much delayed London-trip blog entry is finally here! I was waiting until I'd uploaded piccies, which I never got around to so you'll just have to use your imagination!
First things first, I loved London! Really loved it. I mean how couldn't you? Except perhaps if you lived there because it's so exhausting, but to visit - fantastic!
Highlights? Most everything we saw. The first big impression was the London Eye. I'm an engineer by education and I loved it as a beautiful piece of machine art. The trip itself is serene and magical. My girl, who's so brave, has a powerful phobia about heights over water. Before we travelled to London, we went to Salthill and travelled on the big ferris wheel there - for practice. That was scary for her, but the Eye? - not a bother at all. She's cool.
We also went to the London Aquarium, which is right near the Eye and might be remembered by anyone who's a fan of the film Closer. Very cool. When an 8ft shark glides by at eye level - that makes quite an impression
I got one or two nice pictures. Hopefully I can post these later on.
We also saw inside the Tate Modern turbine hall (due to a time mix-up we never got to any exhibits there). I hate to use one of the wankiest phrases going (but in this case fully justified) - "it's a fantastic space". There was the amazing ambient music playing, which is not my normal kinda thing, but it was etherial and beautiful. Turns out, it was the sounds of the millenium bridge modulated and amplified and playing in real time. Every walker, every skateboarder, everyone who jangled the support wires where making beautiful music without knowing it.
Did the shopping thing of course. Saw some museums of commerce - the Nike shop (extraordinary level of design and very difficult to find your way out of once in!) and the Apple store (the MOMA of Macs). Also saw some theatres of commerce - Liberty - shopping as historical drama (lovely shop really). I realised one of my dreams since childhood and visited Hamleys. There's a very unguarded picture of me grinning madly and goggle-eyed at all the toys like a toddler at Christmas which I'll probably have to keep to myself
We also spent quite a bit of time in the Imperial War Museum. It's an extraordinary place. Firstly, your sense of scale is thrown immediately when you enter the central hall. It looks small because your sense of scale is subverted completely. When I was a kid, I had the obligitary Airfix models hanging from my bedroom ceiling. It's like that but then you have to realise that they're real, full-sized, planes and beside you is a real, full-sized, tank. It's very strange. All in all, quite a sobering experience. The atomic bomb (no kidding) and the Holocaust exhibits made a very strong impression, as i'm sure you can imagine.
Finally, I have to mention the National Gallery. My girl is more of an art-lover than I am, but you would have to be made of stone not to be overwhelmed. I've been to the Louvre (amongst other galleries) and I honestly say that I think this was the best I've ever seen. She was most delighted to see Picasso's Girl with a Pigeon. I was unexpectedly moved by Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Chair. Somehow in reality they have a much greater impact. With Sunflowers, it's the background which just beams beautiful warm yellow colour - I've never seen a photo capture it. There's an innocence and a gentleness to his work (even the way he signs his name). To Vincent, yellow represented hope. He painted Sunflowers to decorate the room his friend Paul Gauguin was going to stay in on a visit. When I think of how he had an unsuccessful career and an often unhappy life, this expression of gratitude and hope brought a tear to my eye.
So, there you go, some of my impressions of London! If you made it all the way to the end of this post, well done!
First things first, I loved London! Really loved it. I mean how couldn't you? Except perhaps if you lived there because it's so exhausting, but to visit - fantastic!
Highlights? Most everything we saw. The first big impression was the London Eye. I'm an engineer by education and I loved it as a beautiful piece of machine art. The trip itself is serene and magical. My girl, who's so brave, has a powerful phobia about heights over water. Before we travelled to London, we went to Salthill and travelled on the big ferris wheel there - for practice. That was scary for her, but the Eye? - not a bother at all. She's cool.
We also went to the London Aquarium, which is right near the Eye and might be remembered by anyone who's a fan of the film Closer. Very cool. When an 8ft shark glides by at eye level - that makes quite an impression
I got one or two nice pictures. Hopefully I can post these later on.
We also saw inside the Tate Modern turbine hall (due to a time mix-up we never got to any exhibits there). I hate to use one of the wankiest phrases going (but in this case fully justified) - "it's a fantastic space". There was the amazing ambient music playing, which is not my normal kinda thing, but it was etherial and beautiful. Turns out, it was the sounds of the millenium bridge modulated and amplified and playing in real time. Every walker, every skateboarder, everyone who jangled the support wires where making beautiful music without knowing it.
Did the shopping thing of course. Saw some museums of commerce - the Nike shop (extraordinary level of design and very difficult to find your way out of once in!) and the Apple store (the MOMA of Macs). Also saw some theatres of commerce - Liberty - shopping as historical drama (lovely shop really). I realised one of my dreams since childhood and visited Hamleys. There's a very unguarded picture of me grinning madly and goggle-eyed at all the toys like a toddler at Christmas which I'll probably have to keep to myself
We also spent quite a bit of time in the Imperial War Museum. It's an extraordinary place. Firstly, your sense of scale is thrown immediately when you enter the central hall. It looks small because your sense of scale is subverted completely. When I was a kid, I had the obligitary Airfix models hanging from my bedroom ceiling. It's like that but then you have to realise that they're real, full-sized, planes and beside you is a real, full-sized, tank. It's very strange. All in all, quite a sobering experience. The atomic bomb (no kidding) and the Holocaust exhibits made a very strong impression, as i'm sure you can imagine.
Finally, I have to mention the National Gallery. My girl is more of an art-lover than I am, but you would have to be made of stone not to be overwhelmed. I've been to the Louvre (amongst other galleries) and I honestly say that I think this was the best I've ever seen. She was most delighted to see Picasso's Girl with a Pigeon. I was unexpectedly moved by Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Chair. Somehow in reality they have a much greater impact. With Sunflowers, it's the background which just beams beautiful warm yellow colour - I've never seen a photo capture it. There's an innocence and a gentleness to his work (even the way he signs his name). To Vincent, yellow represented hope. He painted Sunflowers to decorate the room his friend Paul Gauguin was going to stay in on a visit. When I think of how he had an unsuccessful career and an often unhappy life, this expression of gratitude and hope brought a tear to my eye.
So, there you go, some of my impressions of London! If you made it all the way to the end of this post, well done!