Across the Pond: Day One

We're back from yet another trip.  This time it was to Great Britain--London and Edinburgh which was a graduation gift to our grandson.

We loaded into the plane on a Friday evening and made the nine hour non-stop flight to London.  There's no sleeping on airplanes, for me anyway, so when we arrived in London at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday we were a little tired.

We had arranged accommodations in a flat near Camden Town.  The owner had sent specific instructions on how to find it.  First step was to find the Piccadilly Line of the Underground.  London has a great public transportation system.  It took us a little while to reacquaint ourselves with it, but then we took it all over the city.

The owner greeted us personally at the flat and made us feel very welcome.  We stayed in a neighborhood that had a very mixed ethnicity, cultures, and religions.  We heard languages from all over.  It made me happy to be in a place where different types of people co-exist.  Our country could use a lot of this to combat the hatred of immigrants, racism, and Islamophobia.  If people were to experience other cultures then maybe they wouldn't be so afraid of people who are different from themselves.

Even though we were exhausted we knew it was important to go out and explore the city so that we would be forced to stay up until bedtime.  First stop was Westminster Abbey.

This is one of my favorite places in London because of the history.  It has been around for over a thousand years.  Every coronation has taken place here since 1066. 

What I like best is the history contained within the walls.  Over 3,000 people are buried or entombed in Westminster.  In one of the side chapels you can stand right next to Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Now, when you travel with a Polyard you are soon reminded of their impatience.  We weren't the only tourists in London so there was a queue to get in. I think they would prefer to miss the experience rather than stand in line, but I insisted.  (I think a long "stop and smell the roses" retraining is needed for the Polyard I live with.)

There were a few yawns while waiting.

That's Big Ben behind all that scaffolding.  This is our third trip to London and I think it has always been in scaffolding during our visits.

I was disappointed that Shiloh had never heard of the Abbey and in fact, knew very little English history.  I thought he wanted to come to this part of the world because of the history.  Oh well, maybe he learned something on this trip.

Here's my attempt at getting an artsy shot of the Abbey.

After touring the Abbey we were all a little light headed and hungry so it was time to find a pub and get some grub.  The drinking age in England is 18 so Shiloh had a taste of my beer.  It was an IPA so it was a little bitter for him.

He was happy to find a hamburger with a fried egg on top.  No veggies of course.

Irv and I both went for the fish and chips.  You can't go wrong with that choice when in England.

After we refueled I made a suggestion that I knew might be controversial.  I knew we were nearby so I suggested we make a quick trip to the National Gallery.  Much to my surprise, the boys agreed.  So off we went through a beautiful park.

We said hello to some of the queen's swans.

There it is--Trafalgar Square and..

...the National Gallery.  A collection of some of the best artwork in the world.  The best part is that there no admission to get in!

I think Shiloh thought Trafalgar Square was pretty cool.  There was a lot going on from street performers and vendors to demonstrations.  Come on boys...let's get inside the Gallery before it closes.

I knew our time was limited so I looked up where the Impressionist rooms were and headed straight there.  The first thing I spotted was one of Monet's water lily paintings.  I've gotten pretty good at recognizing an impressionist's style so I can usually tell who the artist is from a distance away.  What I'm really proud of is Irv--he has learned and retained a lot of what I've tried to teach him over the years.  I'm pretty sure he could identify a Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Klimt or Seurat from a distance.

Renoir!

Klimt!  There's only about 14 Klimts in the world so this was a treat.

Degas Ballerinas!  

Then I found my favorite--Van Gogh!

I was there specifically to see this painting.  One of Van Gogh's Sunflowers.  It is the centerpiece of the room.  Crowds of people surrounded it, most of them just wanted a selfie with it.  They cared nothing about the talents of the artist, all they knew was that it is a famous painting and they wanted a selfie.  I was patient though and waited my turn.  I wanted to be directly in front of it so I could appreciate the simplicity of Van Gogh's work.  I was not disappointed.

When I finally pulled myself away I found a Seurat.  Do you realize his work was done with dot's of paint?  Next time you see one stop and take a good look at it--he was a master of pointillism.  I tried to show Shiloh the different painting techniques of the impressionists, but I don't think he really cared.  Maybe when I'm dead and gone he'll remember something of what I showed him.

I had promised the boys it would be a quick visit so we headed out, but not before I spotted the painting above by Rosa Bonheur.  She was a French realist.  When I took an art history class in college I wrote a paper on this exact painting.  I was in awe. Women painters were rare during her time, but she was a master just like the men.

From here we headed back to our flat.  Shiloh was asleep by 7:00 p.m. and slept straight through for the next 12 hours.  Oh, to be young again.