In which I explore London

With Camilla departed to NZ and my brother working all day it was now up to me to explore London all on my lonesome. Of course this was sort of great because I got to pick all the sights I wanted to see, but also difficult because London is just a ridiculous expanse with so much to do. I mean, how is one person supposed to choose from all the possibilities?! Luckily I had almost 2 weeks in London, and the cost of a lot of the tourist-y activities helped narrow things down. In the end I more or else decided to wander around various areas of London, just taking in as much as possible.

My second day out in London began with a stop at Trafalgar Square, and intentions to check out the two nearby art galleries. The last time I visited Trafalgar Square would have been some 9 years ago, so I don't have a particularly strong recollection. What I do remember was the massive crowds. Not crowds of people that is (although I'm sure there were plenty), but masses of pigeons, everywhere. As most people know I don't really mesh well with wildlife, so I was pleased to discover that this was no longer the case. When I was there the Square was actually more or less empty (probably to do with the poor weather), so I had, on the whole, quite a relaxing crowd-free, bird-free morning. 

I would also like to add that I was really pleased just to find a place to sit. One of the struggles I've had in London is wanting to take a break. There are apparently no benches anywhere, and if you pause for even a second on the street you suddenly find yourself in the way of 50 businessmen all trying to get to work. All I'm asking for is the chance to rest my feet or check google maps for the 25th time that morning. The struggle is real.

My next stop was the National Portrait Gallery, just around the corner. This pretty much provides what it says on the label, with 3 floors of portraits (mostly paintings, plus a few sculptures and photos) from the Tudors through to modern day. I tried to see a range of paintings from different eras, while avoiding other people as much as possible. I like my quiet time, but unfortunately museums and galleries are a magnet for school field trips, so I generally chose sections of the gallery with the minimum number of squealing children. I did enjoy my visit, and particularly enjoyed the more recent portraits, as I knew more about the subjects, but I definitely prefer the more complex scenes and landscapes found in the National Gallery.

I actually have quite fond memories of the National Gallery from my previous stay in London, which was unusual given my general disdain for art galleries as a 12 year old. In any case, my return to the gallery was just as good. On the whole I much prefer older paintings to modern art, because I like to be able to see what I'm looking at, rather than having to figure it out. I don't like to work for my art, apparently. I also like that these paintings give us a view of different eras, what people were wearing, how they behaved, what the landscape looked like, and all that jazz. My other favourite thing about exploring these galleries is the buildings themselves, which often seem to be a work of art in their own right. If you're interested in my personal favourites, I would have to say Thomas Gainsborough, along with Van Gogh and Monet. I remember loving Gainsborough's unfinished paintings when I was younger, because I liked the mystery of not quite knowing what would have filled the spaces he left. 

Having exhausted my capacity for galleries for the day I decided to check out another famous landmark, St Paul's cathedral. I was surprised to realise how easy it was to see St Paul's from all over London central. The dome is actually very distinctive in the London skyline, which is great because it's both attractive and easy to find. When I arrived it was pouring with rain, and there were no birds to feed (disappointed Mary Poppins fan alert), so I took a quick glance of the inside before deciding not to pay the exorbitant entry fee. That is another thing to note about London, while the museums and galleries are mostly free, which is great, the rest of the tourist attractions are mad expensive, so I simply enjoyed them from the outside.

 
 I followed a similar theme the next couple of days of just wandering around London, seeing particular landmarks that took my fancy. I got the chance to check out the Tower of London and Tower Bridge up close. This was very cool, although I do think Tower Bridge actually benefits from being seen at a distance. Standing on London Bridge and looking out to it you get to see the full bridge, which is really the iconic image. I also like to think that I'm beginning to master the sly photo capture using my phone. This way I can pretend to text while really taking photos and avoid looking like a tourist (although I'm not sure standing on a bridge moving my phone to the perfect angle is actually that subtle).

On the Thursday evening I also had the chance to go to a Stand-Up Comedy night with my brother and friends. Beforehand we went to a pub near Chinatown which I would thoroughly recommend for the building alone. It was all old-fashioned decor, and the bar itself was set up over a whole range of levels, like a maze. Very cool, and deceptively big. The comedy event itself was just a small thing at a bar near Leicester Square with mostly unkown acts, but still very funny. I would definitely suggest getting along to one of these, as it's a great laugh, especially if you love the British sense of humour. And you never know, one of those acts might make it big and you'll get to lord it over other people that you discovered them first.

My last day in London before heading to my Uncle's for the weekend I visited the British Museum. This museum is so ridiculously large with so many different artefacts from all over the world, so one has to be a bit picky with what to see. On the plus side I had a whole morning, and there wasn't anything particular I desperately wanted to see, so I just wandered around different exhibits as I felt like it. I'm always impressed by the huge artefacts from Egypt, and Greece, it's just hard to believe people could build and sculpture such large things, and that they managed to get them inside a museum. I particularly like the objects with a good story, so I decided to tag along to a tour in one of the European rooms. I particularly enjoyed the explanations for a series of wall tiles detailing stories of Jesus from the Biblical apocrypha. Apparently the apocrypha were more interested in detailing historical stories than converting people, so they often contained the less charming details of Jesus's life, particularly the teenage years. These seemed to consist mostly of a youthful Jesus getting mad at his peers and smiting them dead before begrudgingly resurrecting them at the insistence of his mother. Trust me, these were some quality tiles.

I'm heading to Nottingham University in just a couple of days so I may be too stressed/excited to write anything more for a while, but I promise that there will be details of my trip to Saffron Walden/Cambridge, plus a whole nother week in London. Just you wait.

Byeeeee!

(PS the British Museum building was totally rad)