Our main Tuesday destination was the British Museum. The area around the museum was full of shops and pubs with great British names like, “Tea and Tattle,” “Thomas Farthing,” “Satchels and Company” and “The Intrepid Fox.” I was especially delighted to find “Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers.” Fellow Dickens fans will understand.
The “split-up-see-what-you-want-to-see-and-rendezvous-at-a-particular-time” model had worked very well at the Tower, and so became our modus operandi for most places like the British Museum.
I had Charis with me, but decided to turn entire control over to her and just follow where and when she led. At first she looked at me a little funny, but quickly grew accustomed to the arrangement. It was very interesting to let her follow her own interests and be on her timetable and agenda!
Charis was chiefly drawn to the mummies, so we spent a lot of time there. I ended up answering a lot of questions about death, dying, entombment, etc. She was most taken by the hair still intact on one of the mummies, but also spent a lot of time in the room containing art and artifacts from the tomb chapel of Nebamun.
We continued on through some of the early British treasures, particularly of interest to me for their connection to the era of Celtic Britain in which Stephen Lawhead set his Pendragon Cycle. Those who have read the books will recognize the ethos in the photos from that room.
We also went in the Assyrian Lion Hunt rooms and the Parthenon rooms. Charis was less interested in these, but was beginning to flag in general -- just in time to meet back up with the others in the courtyard outside and enjoy some Frisbee tossing and pigeon chasing.
After lunch at the nearby Ruskin’s cafe, the group split up again for the afternoon. Dietrich, Jen and Charis toured the HMS Belfast and did a little shopping. (Dietrich bought a scarf.) Anna, Emily, Gramps and Grams went to the cartoon museum then Grams went off to do her own thing. Gramps and the two older girls went to the London Bridge Experience. (If our collective memories succeeded in getting this on the right day.)
I wandered with Nora, first around the local streets and then by bus, tube or train to a variety of locations including Trafalgar Square (where we also went into St-Martin-in-the-Fields), Charing Cross, St. Paul’s Cathedral grounds and Millenium Bridge.
After crossing the bridge, we went briefly into the Tate Gallery (where we just bumped into Dietrich, Jen and Charis!). We only had time for one room, so I visited Gerhard Richter’s large canvas abstract paintings that he executed while listening to John Cage. While I am more fond of Richter’s experimentation with photo realism (see for instance, Reader), I am always interested in what he is up to. In this case, the idea of listening to an experimental musician while painting abstract art is very intriguing.
I also quickly perused the bookstore on my way out and found three I would really like to pick up sometime, Juliet Hacking’s Photography: The Whole Story, Geoff Dyer’s The Ongoing Moment and Fred Herzog: Photographs.
As I appear to have ceased taking pictures or jotting down notes for the evening, I have no idea what if anything we did.
Day 13 Reflections
Reflection One: It was great to see where Charis’ interest carried us in the British Museum. Entirely uninformed by any prior sense of greatness, excellence or art-historical significance, she guided us to what intrigued her at the moment rather than to any “Kodak picture spot” sense for museum going. I appreciated this approach and am committed to doing it more often.
Reflection Two: Back to the topic of the way Londoners' dress compared to Parisians'.
In Paris, there is a restraint and control of clothing as fashion, borne perhaps out of the combination of artistic sensibility, culture and maybe even a tinge of world weariness. Again, Paris seems an old city with old sensibilities. Even its vibrancy is mature and cultivated. (See, "Day 05 - Paris" for the dancing on the Seine.)
London, on the other hand, is all naive exuberance and accidental excess. London is a fresh young girl in a sundress with new high heels and bright lipstick, headed out to see the Queen for the first time.
Interestingly, both London and Paris are among the top four fashion capitals of the world (along with Milan and New York). It’s just that in Paris this sentiment seems to make it into every cafe, side street and urban park. In London … well, it certainly hasn't made it to St. James Park.
Click below to watch the slideshow or double click for more options. If you cannot navigate the slideshow, click here to go directly to the album.
_____
No comments:
Post a Comment