Tuesday 5 April 2011

Culture Vultures

Firstly I'd like to thank everyone who has commented on blogs over the last little while and apologise for not replying. I've been having terrible problems with my email; can't receive, can't send. Plus we've been away for a week on holiday.

We took our camper van to a site near where we used to live, south of London, and took taxis to the station nearly every day and then got a train to London. We tramped about quite a lot, just doing some sightseeing, although we both know London pretty well. We visited three exhibitions and saw three plays. We went to the Watteau drawings exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art; exquisite chalk drawings. I felt that I'd have known any of the people he drew immediately, he was able to put such life and expression into them. We also visited the Afghanistan: Crossroads of the East exhibition at the British Museum, very interesting and some stunning artefacts on show. And finally we went to the Design Museum, where we saw the future coming towards us. They had a display of designs that had won awards in the Brit Design competition and some of them will doubtless become everyday designs in the near future.

We saw three plays; 'Clybourne Park', an American play about race relationships in the 1950s and the present time, a satirical comedy which was very entertaining. 'The Wizard of Oz' at the London Palladium was good fun. 'Flarepath' by Terence Rattigan was excellent, beautifully written and excellently acted.

We only ate in the van once, as we had lunch and supper out most days. We saw various friends and finished up with a lunch organised by our two sons in a restaurant for Mothering Sunday. I've come home exhausted but having had a very enjoyable week.

The slideshow shows a random selection of photographs that I took. One of the things I love about London is that you can stand almost anywhere and see architecture that dates from way back alongside the very modern. I stood outside Tower Green tube station and could see parts of the Roman wall that used to surround London; the Tower of London (started in 1080); a monument to people executed there in Tudor times; monuments to the dead sailors of two world wars; buildings built after the Great Fire of London in 1666; Victorian buildings; 20th century buildings; and The Shard, which is in the process of being built now. Brilliant.

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow




10 comments:

jabblog said...

It's good to hear you had a thoroughly enjoyable, if exhausting, holiday:-)

Amelia said...

Sounds like a very interesting fun trip. As always, enjoyed the pictures.

Lynn said...

Art exhibits, plays, dining out, visiting friends tours, what a wonderful time it sounds like you had and accomplished so much in such a short time. Thanks for the pictures, it was fun "touring" with you.

Unknown said...

Sounds like an ideal way to see our capital city :)

Jude said...

It looks like you had a ball and having a rest from sewing can be benificial. Now you will have lots of new ideas to play with.

Kay said...

That sounds like so much fun, Amanda. Our first family trip abroad was to London and Wales. Your photos bring back such lovely memories. I loved those letter boxes and seeing the Tower of London was awesome, too. We even caught a glimpse of the queen. Are you going to THE wedding?

Amy said...

:0(
Oh, how I wish I could see England live.....

Candace said...

Like Amy I would love to see London live, but your album was a nice taste of it. Thank you for sharing.

Anonymous said...

It all sounds like fun, but what happened to Liberty?

suz said...

sounds like you had a wonderful time - thank you for sharing your photos.