Sunday, October 17, 2010
Highlights of London
Here are some highlights of our four days in London.
Thames River Cruise
One of the most enjoyable experiences we had in London was an afternoon cruise in the sunshine down the Thames River, from the Embankment Pier to the Tower Bridge. It wasn't a fancy cruise, just a river taxi that is marketed as an extension of the London Underground. But it was really fun and an efficient way to get us to the Tower, which was a long way down the river from our hotel.
London Eye
Parliament and Big Ben
St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge
Millennium Bridge with Tower Bridge in the distance
Tower of London
The main reason we went to the Tower Bridge is that one of my photos of Oxford is featured in a temporary exhibition up there! That is quite an honor, and it was pretty great to be able to see it in person since it's only running this summer. In fact, we weren't totally sure the exhibition would still be there, so it made us extra happy to find that it was!
Tower Bridge from the boat - the exhibition is on the walkway way up high between the towers.
We had to ride a crowded elevator up to the walkways, but mercifully it was a very quick and smooth ride without any sensation of height.
General view of the exhibition
The exhibition is called "River Thames: From Source to Sea". There were strong reflections from the sunlight up there - sorry about the glare.
That's my photo on the left, representing Oxford.
The original photo
Yay!
The credit, at top right corner
The text that goes with it
St Paul's Cathedral
We didn't go inside St. Paul's this time, because we've visited a few times before, the admission is overpriced, and they don't let you take pictures. Lame! But we had a nice time taking some photos of the outside as we passed by one evening.
British Museum
One of the greatest museums in the world and one of my favorite places on earth. It's huge, it's free, and it's all laid out beautifully.
The Great Court
Assyrian lion guardian
Assyrian relief
The Hinton St. Mary mosaic, found in perfect condition in a Roman villa in Britain. It's one of the oldest surviving images of Jesus, dating from the 4th century. Those are pomegranates on the sides.
An ancient ivory Crucifixion - I'm sure I've seen this on the cover of one of my books at home.
Funny fish on a shard
Book and artifacts illustrating an Enlightenment antiquarian's fascination with Stonehenge and Druids
Ankh from Nubia, I think
Victoria & Albert Museum
I hoofed it for over an hour through the heart of London to get to the V&A, which I like even a little more than the British Museum because it has a friendlier vibe and they actually encourage photography rather than merely tolerating it - they've hosted Flickr events and everything. Rare in a museum.
Glass chandelier by Seattle/Tacoma artist Dale Chihuly in the foyer
They've also opened new Medieval and Renaissance galleries since my last visit, and I've been dying to see them. It didn't disappoint. I spent almost two hours in just the medieval galleries!
Unfortunately I wasn't feeling totally well by the time I finished with the medieval galleries - I've had weird intermittent dizziness that started that day and still comes and goes now, but seems to be just a minor inner-ear thing because I'm otherwise fine. I felt so wonky that I was only able to pop briefly into the ancient Buddhism gallery rather than spend the time I'd planned, which was a little sad, but I was mighty tired by then already. Thankfully, there's a taxi rank right outside the museum, so I took a long cab ride home, most of which was spent stuck in traffic. But it was sure better than walking!
And look what I saw from the taxi! Chipotle! Sadly, we didn't have time to go back and check it out, as it was fairly far from the hotel and we left the next day.
Tate Modern
While I was at the V&A, David was hoofing it down to the Tate Modern museum. He was intrigued by the industrial building and I had thought it was interesting on a previous visit, despite not generally being into modern art. He thought it was OK, but too crowded with people. He said it might have been a total waste of time if it weren't for the Picassos.
Picasso painting
Entrance to a gallery
People enjoying the latest temporary installation in the big Turbine Room - 100 million hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds. It was created by a Korean artist using Chinese labor over two years. Since each one is a mini work of art but they were mass-produced, it says something about the group and the individual. And you can play in it. David said he was creating a lot of dust.
Radisson Bloomsbury Street Hotel
We had a really great hotel room in London, which added a lot to our enjoyment of the city. They upgraded us to a king deluxe room on the top floor at a discount when we arrived, and it was huge and so nice. It's a lot easier to deal with the crowds and the noise out on the streets when you know you have a nice quiet place to retreat to!
Food Highlights
Bread pudding from room service, which we may have ordered two nights in a row. It was hot and seriously delicious, even including the out-of-season strawberries.
We had breakfasts of muesli, yogurt and porridge from Pret a Manger most days, and a sandwich lunch or two as well. We could both happily eat their tuna and cucumber baguettes sandwiches for many days in a row!
Jamie's Italian, owned by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. We had lunch here one day and it was really good.
Octopus appetizer
Spaghetti bolognaise for two
"Polenta chips" - a unique and really delicious idea.
Our last night, we had dinner at The Ultimate Burger down the street from our hotel. It's not a place we've tried before and it was really empty, so we weren't so sure it would be good, but it turned out to be excellent.
I had a chicken, bacon, and avocado burger.
David had a Moroccan lamb burger.
Miscellaneous Other Stuff
Sculpture at the Temple Church, beautifully taken by David on his way back from the Tate. He stopped by twice, on his way there and back, to take pictures for me, but it was closed both times. What a guy!
London bus detail
Bertrand Russell's house
Our hotel was near the theatre district around Covent Garden, so we saw a lot of these.
Covent Garden
Piccadilly Circus
Two of several cinemas in Leicester Square. It looked like they were getting ready for another premiere at the primary one, the Odeon. I got to see some movie stars at a premiere here a few years ago!
Sir Sean Connery's hands in Leicester Square. I didn't put my hands in them - it's a London street, after all!
Muji, my very favorite store in London. It's actually Japanese, and now has stores in other major cities in Europe and the eastern USA as well. Hopefully it will at least make it to Seattle one day! It sells great, simple, beautifully designed office supplies and home and travel things.
Egyptian Escalators in Harrod's
Bakery department in Harrod's
FYI, I touched a $15,000 dress in the Dior department in Harrod's. Very carefully.
Tonight we are settled in our new hotel in Mainz and tomorrow we go to Heidelberg for two nights. Looking forward to it!
Thames River Cruise
One of the most enjoyable experiences we had in London was an afternoon cruise in the sunshine down the Thames River, from the Embankment Pier to the Tower Bridge. It wasn't a fancy cruise, just a river taxi that is marketed as an extension of the London Underground. But it was really fun and an efficient way to get us to the Tower, which was a long way down the river from our hotel.
London Eye
Parliament and Big Ben
St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge
Millennium Bridge with Tower Bridge in the distance
Tower of London
The main reason we went to the Tower Bridge is that one of my photos of Oxford is featured in a temporary exhibition up there! That is quite an honor, and it was pretty great to be able to see it in person since it's only running this summer. In fact, we weren't totally sure the exhibition would still be there, so it made us extra happy to find that it was!
Tower Bridge from the boat - the exhibition is on the walkway way up high between the towers.
We had to ride a crowded elevator up to the walkways, but mercifully it was a very quick and smooth ride without any sensation of height.
General view of the exhibition
The exhibition is called "River Thames: From Source to Sea". There were strong reflections from the sunlight up there - sorry about the glare.
That's my photo on the left, representing Oxford.
The original photo
Yay!
The credit, at top right corner
The text that goes with it
St Paul's Cathedral
We didn't go inside St. Paul's this time, because we've visited a few times before, the admission is overpriced, and they don't let you take pictures. Lame! But we had a nice time taking some photos of the outside as we passed by one evening.
British Museum
One of the greatest museums in the world and one of my favorite places on earth. It's huge, it's free, and it's all laid out beautifully.
The Great Court
Assyrian lion guardian
Assyrian relief
The Hinton St. Mary mosaic, found in perfect condition in a Roman villa in Britain. It's one of the oldest surviving images of Jesus, dating from the 4th century. Those are pomegranates on the sides.
An ancient ivory Crucifixion - I'm sure I've seen this on the cover of one of my books at home.
Funny fish on a shard
Book and artifacts illustrating an Enlightenment antiquarian's fascination with Stonehenge and Druids
Ankh from Nubia, I think
Victoria & Albert Museum
I hoofed it for over an hour through the heart of London to get to the V&A, which I like even a little more than the British Museum because it has a friendlier vibe and they actually encourage photography rather than merely tolerating it - they've hosted Flickr events and everything. Rare in a museum.
Glass chandelier by Seattle/Tacoma artist Dale Chihuly in the foyer
They've also opened new Medieval and Renaissance galleries since my last visit, and I've been dying to see them. It didn't disappoint. I spent almost two hours in just the medieval galleries!
Unfortunately I wasn't feeling totally well by the time I finished with the medieval galleries - I've had weird intermittent dizziness that started that day and still comes and goes now, but seems to be just a minor inner-ear thing because I'm otherwise fine. I felt so wonky that I was only able to pop briefly into the ancient Buddhism gallery rather than spend the time I'd planned, which was a little sad, but I was mighty tired by then already. Thankfully, there's a taxi rank right outside the museum, so I took a long cab ride home, most of which was spent stuck in traffic. But it was sure better than walking!
And look what I saw from the taxi! Chipotle! Sadly, we didn't have time to go back and check it out, as it was fairly far from the hotel and we left the next day.
Tate Modern
While I was at the V&A, David was hoofing it down to the Tate Modern museum. He was intrigued by the industrial building and I had thought it was interesting on a previous visit, despite not generally being into modern art. He thought it was OK, but too crowded with people. He said it might have been a total waste of time if it weren't for the Picassos.
Picasso painting
Entrance to a gallery
People enjoying the latest temporary installation in the big Turbine Room - 100 million hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds. It was created by a Korean artist using Chinese labor over two years. Since each one is a mini work of art but they were mass-produced, it says something about the group and the individual. And you can play in it. David said he was creating a lot of dust.
Radisson Bloomsbury Street Hotel
We had a really great hotel room in London, which added a lot to our enjoyment of the city. They upgraded us to a king deluxe room on the top floor at a discount when we arrived, and it was huge and so nice. It's a lot easier to deal with the crowds and the noise out on the streets when you know you have a nice quiet place to retreat to!
Food Highlights
Bread pudding from room service, which we may have ordered two nights in a row. It was hot and seriously delicious, even including the out-of-season strawberries.
We had breakfasts of muesli, yogurt and porridge from Pret a Manger most days, and a sandwich lunch or two as well. We could both happily eat their tuna and cucumber baguettes sandwiches for many days in a row!
Jamie's Italian, owned by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. We had lunch here one day and it was really good.
Octopus appetizer
Spaghetti bolognaise for two
"Polenta chips" - a unique and really delicious idea.
Our last night, we had dinner at The Ultimate Burger down the street from our hotel. It's not a place we've tried before and it was really empty, so we weren't so sure it would be good, but it turned out to be excellent.
I had a chicken, bacon, and avocado burger.
David had a Moroccan lamb burger.
Miscellaneous Other Stuff
Sculpture at the Temple Church, beautifully taken by David on his way back from the Tate. He stopped by twice, on his way there and back, to take pictures for me, but it was closed both times. What a guy!
London bus detail
Bertrand Russell's house
Our hotel was near the theatre district around Covent Garden, so we saw a lot of these.
Covent Garden
Piccadilly Circus
Two of several cinemas in Leicester Square. It looked like they were getting ready for another premiere at the primary one, the Odeon. I got to see some movie stars at a premiere here a few years ago!
Sir Sean Connery's hands in Leicester Square. I didn't put my hands in them - it's a London street, after all!
Muji, my very favorite store in London. It's actually Japanese, and now has stores in other major cities in Europe and the eastern USA as well. Hopefully it will at least make it to Seattle one day! It sells great, simple, beautifully designed office supplies and home and travel things.
Egyptian Escalators in Harrod's
Bakery department in Harrod's
FYI, I touched a $15,000 dress in the Dior department in Harrod's. Very carefully.
Tonight we are settled in our new hotel in Mainz and tomorrow we go to Heidelberg for two nights. Looking forward to it!
posted by Holly @ 10:11 AM
by the same author.
