Today with visited the Tate Britain (known for its collection of British art) and the Banqueting House (known for the Rubens paintings on its ceiling). I enjoyed the Tate Britain, which I usually do. It has a wonderful collection of the old-school British “big” names (Turner, Hogarth, Constable, Gainsborough, Reynolds, etc.), a great collection of Pre-Raphaelite canvases, and an enjoyable collection of contemporary works (including that of the Young British Artists, like Hirst and Emin). Last year I discovered the work of Jeremy Moon. This year, I was interested in the 1990s abstractions by Julian Opie and Ian Davenport.
Today was actually my first visit to Banqueting House, despite numerous trips to London over the past decade. My thought was that the admission (today 4.50 – about $9 – per person) was too high for what you get to see… essentially a large room with Rubens on the ceiling. But, Libby really likes this venue, and I agreed I should see it—not entirely unlike a child who’s forced to eat his vegetables. Now, having done so, I’m back to “it’s too expensive for what you get to see” as my official position on the subject. :-)
We also walked around Westminster and into the West End, playing London tourist (Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, etc.). The weather today was perfect and very enjoyable… sunny, partly cloudy skies, mild temperatures.
Tomorrow we depart for home (via Atlanta) from London-Gatwick on Delta Airlines. I’ll try to post an update or two throughout the day, time and flights permitting.
I still owe my fellow NCL cruisers some additional information, which they’ve asked about (like “Freestyle Daily” and menu images). I also still intend to write about the Cy Twombly exhibition at the Tate Modern (perhaps more for my own future reference than anyone else’s benefit). In addition, I plan to post some overall reflections on the trip sometime next week. Finally, I post links to pictures!
Indeed, since I have a proper Internet connection in London, I’ll end tonight with a picture from today. Goodnight all!
Today was actually my first visit to Banqueting House, despite numerous trips to London over the past decade. My thought was that the admission (today 4.50 – about $9 – per person) was too high for what you get to see… essentially a large room with Rubens on the ceiling. But, Libby really likes this venue, and I agreed I should see it—not entirely unlike a child who’s forced to eat his vegetables. Now, having done so, I’m back to “it’s too expensive for what you get to see” as my official position on the subject. :-)
We also walked around Westminster and into the West End, playing London tourist (Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, etc.). The weather today was perfect and very enjoyable… sunny, partly cloudy skies, mild temperatures.
Tomorrow we depart for home (via Atlanta) from London-Gatwick on Delta Airlines. I’ll try to post an update or two throughout the day, time and flights permitting.
I still owe my fellow NCL cruisers some additional information, which they’ve asked about (like “Freestyle Daily” and menu images). I also still intend to write about the Cy Twombly exhibition at the Tate Modern (perhaps more for my own future reference than anyone else’s benefit). In addition, I plan to post some overall reflections on the trip sometime next week. Finally, I post links to pictures!
Indeed, since I have a proper Internet connection in London, I’ll end tonight with a picture from today. Goodnight all!
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