London: Day 5
This morning I had maintenance to do. I ran laundry, checked email, went to the post office, and checked out of the Badden-Powell. I checked my big bag in the storage room, and then set off.
As I walked down the street, only a block from where I had been staying, I discovered the Brittish Museum of Science. I had planned to go to the Tate and Brittish National Gallery, but I do enjoy a good science museum, so I went in. I was well rewarded by a very impressive exhibit on steam engines and their development. They also had a space/ rocketry exhibit, which is not as good as some I have seen, but it had a great display focused on the German V-2 program. There was also an exhibit on the history, development, and future prospects of plastic. It was a decent display but I walked through it in the wrong direction and that made it odd.
After I had spent the time I had at the science I got on the train and FINALLY made it to the Tate brittian. As I entered the first gallery room there on the wall, as soon as you enter, is John Singer Sargent's Carnation Lily Lily Rose. It is magnificent, well worth traveling half way around the world to see. I had been planning to just wander and look, but I ended up doing another impressions journal. It was neat to see so many of the works I had been introduced to at school hanging on the wall in full size only inches away. I also discovered the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group dedicated to the style of painting from before the renaissance. The most well know seems to be Rossetti and his works are amazing. In the contemporary art wing I saw some very cool works done with white chalk on large black canvases by an artist whose name I don't remember but I wrote in the journal.
After a mere three and a half hours I left the Tate and joined the walking tour of old London. This tour goes to or past; Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, the monument to the great fire of London, Bank of London (which is the Brittish version of Ft. Knox.), St. Paul's Cathedral, Fleet St. And the memorial to the Blitz. It was a good tour and the guide was great, (she reminded me of Leslie Anglese) but I think the royal tour is slightly better.
After the tour I wandered more around the city, coventon gardens and trafalger sq. Then I went hunting for somewhere to sleep. I found that the backpacker's inn just north of Hyde park had room and was £10 a night cheaper than where I had been. I walked across the park and the five blocks back to get my luggage. I took final advantage of their free wifi and then strapped on my pack and headed to the tube. This, in retrospect, was a mistake. The train I needed was packed with drunken, wild youths, who were banging on the windows and spraying beer everywhere. Then a train pulled in going the otherway so I switched over to it. With all the rowdiness the line I had started on was completely shut down in both directions and I needed to take two transfers to go just over a mile, but in the end I got back to my hostel and headed to bed.
As I walked down the street, only a block from where I had been staying, I discovered the Brittish Museum of Science. I had planned to go to the Tate and Brittish National Gallery, but I do enjoy a good science museum, so I went in. I was well rewarded by a very impressive exhibit on steam engines and their development. They also had a space/ rocketry exhibit, which is not as good as some I have seen, but it had a great display focused on the German V-2 program. There was also an exhibit on the history, development, and future prospects of plastic. It was a decent display but I walked through it in the wrong direction and that made it odd.
After I had spent the time I had at the science I got on the train and FINALLY made it to the Tate brittian. As I entered the first gallery room there on the wall, as soon as you enter, is John Singer Sargent's Carnation Lily Lily Rose. It is magnificent, well worth traveling half way around the world to see. I had been planning to just wander and look, but I ended up doing another impressions journal. It was neat to see so many of the works I had been introduced to at school hanging on the wall in full size only inches away. I also discovered the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group dedicated to the style of painting from before the renaissance. The most well know seems to be Rossetti and his works are amazing. In the contemporary art wing I saw some very cool works done with white chalk on large black canvases by an artist whose name I don't remember but I wrote in the journal.
After a mere three and a half hours I left the Tate and joined the walking tour of old London. This tour goes to or past; Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, the monument to the great fire of London, Bank of London (which is the Brittish version of Ft. Knox.), St. Paul's Cathedral, Fleet St. And the memorial to the Blitz. It was a good tour and the guide was great, (she reminded me of Leslie Anglese) but I think the royal tour is slightly better.
After the tour I wandered more around the city, coventon gardens and trafalger sq. Then I went hunting for somewhere to sleep. I found that the backpacker's inn just north of Hyde park had room and was £10 a night cheaper than where I had been. I walked across the park and the five blocks back to get my luggage. I took final advantage of their free wifi and then strapped on my pack and headed to the tube. This, in retrospect, was a mistake. The train I needed was packed with drunken, wild youths, who were banging on the windows and spraying beer everywhere. Then a train pulled in going the otherway so I switched over to it. With all the rowdiness the line I had started on was completely shut down in both directions and I needed to take two transfers to go just over a mile, but in the end I got back to my hostel and headed to bed.
posted by a.lost.boy | 1:17 PM
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