After a mini-shower and some pigtails, we headed downstairs and...were late again, accidentally. We filled our purses with continental breakfast food and joined the rest of the group on the bus. A new guide - a London guide - and a bus driver guided us through London, pointing out the 'important' things. Then, we arrived, St. Paul's Cathedral, by Christopher Wren. Absolutely breathtaking! I am reminded of why I am a humanities major. We are not allowed inside - official church goings on are happening, but we are able to visit the crypt (1400 years old!) and the gift shop : )
Oops, our tour bus got a parking ticket : /
There were, in the gift shop, photos of the dome surrounded by smoke, the smoke of WWII. It seems that, in the midst of Germany exercising their military might, Winston Churchill insisted that St. Paul's be preserved, using buckets and sponges as needed.
Jamie Lee Curtis is a member of the House of Lords! and back on the road to see more interesting sights.
We disboard the bus again at Buckingham Palace. Fortunately, for us, the Queen is actually in the palace AND the British military are about to practice the official 'queen's birthday' procession, which will take place in a couple of weeks. We hang out for a while, waiting for the event to start. In the meantime, our new London tour guide tells us all about the beautiful buildings, as well as several other residences.
A few of us being to play with the birds on the knoll below. I gathered a crowd of pigeons, a couple of geese (one of which I hit on the head), and a duck with a small box of cereal. We even saw a gigantic white bird on the stream, which we, accurately or not, identified as a pelican, though it seemed much longer.
The procession was very fun to watch - some with swords, some with instruments and some with top hats: all in some sort of uniform or other. Though thoroughly amusing, the even was smaller and shorter than I had anticipated. After, a pair of street-cleaner things picked up after the horses.
Simon then led us back to Leicester Square for lunch. A few of us opted to eat peanut putter/nutella/jelly sandwiches - compliments of the Holiday Inn. Megan and I checked out the gelato situation - for our late night adventures, and then I decided to get some money changed into pounds. I gave the man behind the glass $25 USD and he gave me 30+ GBP. I was confused until Megan and I decided that he had made a mistake. A big part of me wanted to keep it, but a combination of my conscience and a witness, I returned the pounds. The man thought I have given him $70 and thanked my earnestly, explaining that the extra funds would have come out of his pocket. I felt better, thought a little disappointed when he handed me my 10 pounds - I was poor again.
Once lunchtime ended, Simon led us further to the National Gallery, a place full of culture, history and art I've only read about. I was initially overwhelmed, but was quickly drenched with wonder, as I examined the masterpieces in disbelief.
A few of the pieces, particularly the ones I recognized from Arts and Ideas, really struck me - to see them in person was quite an experience. Two of these were self-portraits by Rembrandt. The first was done when he was a younger man - 34. In it, he is confident, cocky, even, and very sure of his own artistic ability. This is communicated through the way he is leaning on a fence - a pose reminiscent of other pieced painted by grand masters. No doubt, his confidence is not unwarranted - the detail and skill seen in his clothing is extraordinary.
The second piece in the pair, another self-portrait, was painted much later on in his life - early sixties. The image is much different. It is one of a broken man. He became impoverished later in his life and it is seen on his face. His eyes are tired - captivating eyes. Each of these paintings bring a great amount of depth and meaning to the other, and to be able to see both originals, together, was wonderful.
Another painting that intrigued me was The Virgin of the Rocks, by Da Vinci. First of all, it was by Da Vinci, so that, in itself, was unreal. Second, the way that the faces were shadowed and shone was incredible to me, especially having been an oil painting student myself. The subject matter is Mary, Jesus, John and an angel, during the famous flight to Egypt. The spiritual significance of this piece, and a great deal of others, as well, helped to put me in a solemn, appreciative mood.
Bacchus and Ariadne, a painting by Titian that treats topics of mythology, was stunning. The nature of the subject caused the piece to take on an air of surrealism unlike the religious work - a more fantastic feeling, caused by the several characters of ancient mythology. Bacchus has fallen in love with Ariadne and is about to pursue her. The colors are brilliant and the scene full of drama and romantic tension.
To back track a little bit, I must mention the several buildings seen on the bus tour. As we drove through the 'financial part' of London, we were told that that section had only recently, and is continuing to be rebuilt. SO, there were many bright, shiny, metal and glass buildings. This fact made the older buildings even easier to spot. St. Paul's Cathedral, for instance, built in the baroque style and Westminster Abby, built in the gothic style. We also saw an ancient Egyptian obelisk - a gift from Egypt and millenniums old! Equally impressive was a portion of an ancient Roman wall still standing. We also saw the building that holds up bi Ben, and which also houses the Parliament - another architectural masterpiece adjacent to Westminster Abbey.
After I was through at the National Gallery, now alone, I set out to find Leicester Square. As it turned out, I didn't know where Leicester Square was, in relation to the National Gallery. So, I asked a few people for directions, walked around, panicked a bit and finally found it. Simon suggested I get myself a watch. This wounded me and I fell that our relationship may never recover.
We had dinner at Wagamama (Japanese) in Soho. It was pretty good, especially since, after dinner, we were free for the rest of the night. A group of us headed to Covent Garden. We bought some cigars, saw some street performers, walked around and then met back up. At this point, some of the relatively large group wanted to peruse some book stores, while others, myself included, wanted to return to the hotel to drop off bags before the night's festivities. SO, we split and planned to meet back in one hour and 15 minutes (at 9pm). Little did we realize it would take us 40ish minutes just to get back to the hotel and that Leah, Megan and I are, unfortunately, already notoriously slow. As a result, despite our hurrying, we didn't reach the meeting spot until 10pm - one hour late! We tried to think of excuses (run-in with a musical gang?!), but the others, not surprisingly, were not there. WE felt awful, but lit up our cigars and continued to explore the city. I soon realized that I did not enjoy the cigars - unfiltered and strong, as they were. We debated about visiting a Hookah bar, but decided to pursue gelato instead. We headed back to Leicester Square (our second home) and sought out the tasty frozen treat destination - 'Rendezvous', a place Megan and I had discovered earlier in the day. We purchased gelato, and other delicious desserts and sat outside in the chilly London night air. Once we finished, we resumed wandering, and began to talk, again, about the Hookah bar. Amusingly enough, we were stopped by a club guy, (not unusual) but when we asked to be directed to a Hookah bar, he asked if he looked like the kind of guy who wen to Hookah bars. We were confused, and finally got directions to a Shisha place a couple of blocks away. It seems he thought we were asking directions to a strip club. Hookah=hooker in British?
We found the place, got prices and left with plans for tomorrow forming in our heads. While heading back towards the hotel, we were stopped by a bar girl. She lured us into her club with tales of a cool new UK-originated type of music (bass and drum?) and the news that only Jacob would have to pay a five pound cover. We accepted, with nothing better to do, and a half hour to kill.
The place was okay - no dancing yet, no open tables. We stood around and a few of us smoked more cigars - myself included. I thought they tasted bad, but it was fun to play with the smoke and, as before, we had nothing better to do. Idle hands really are the devil's playground, I suppose. We took some silly pictures and I offered 1.50 pounds (all I had left) to Jacob if he would bring a random girl to the dance floor. Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for my wallet, the floor did not open until after we needed to leave to make curfew. We rushed back to the hotel, so as to not disappoint Dr. Thomas.
Once in the room, we snacked on peanut butter (crunchy and smooth) and nutella and chatted until this vigorous journalling started. The day was great, save when Simon made me feel bad, and I am increasingly glad I am here.
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