I had a free day yesterday, so I spent it in London! Classes ended on Thursday, and my exams don't start until Tuesday, so the timing was perfect. I caught the castle minibus to the train station, then took the train from Polegate station to London, and then the tube from London Victoria station to the British library.
Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed in the British Library, so I have nothing to show you! But I had a great time looking at their two exhibits, the permanent 'Treasures of the British Library' exhibit and the temporary Illuminated Manuscripts exhibit.
Both were fascinating, well laid out, lots of interesting documents! The 'Treasures' exhibit holds the British Library's two copies of the Magna Carta. I've also seen the copy in Salisbury, so now I've had the chance to see 3 of the 4 existing copies!! The Illuminated Manuscripts exhibit was full of gorgeously decorated books, mostly devotional, and mostly belonging to various members of the English royal family through time.
Afterwards, I went to Sir John Soane's Museum. It's very popular- there was a 20-minute wait to get in! Again, no pictures allowed unfortunately. It was completely unique among all the museums I've ever been to, and I absolutely I loved it.
John Soane was a private collector in the late 1700s-early 1800s; this was not uncommon for members of the upper class, but what is unusual is that he turned his house into a museum during his own lifetime, and his collection has remained intact. Other private collections from the time were split up, sold off, inherited by multiple people, etc. This is a rare example of an intact 18th-century collection: nothing has been removed or added, and it's still displayed the way Soane arranged it, without labels or explanations.
I am definitely not good enough at description to adequately depict this museum; it was completely unusual. Soane was an architect, and his house is like a surreal architectural playground. Entire walls are movable and open up by pulling on their handles, revealing the 2-story room next door that you look down into; narrow corridors open up into 3-story chambers with stained glass domes in the ceiling; it's lit only by candle light, and you turn a corner and come across a 7-foot Classical statue silhouetted against the dark. There's an Egyptian sarcophagus in the basement, and a 10,000-book library. Every inch of available wall space is covered with fragments of stonework from Classical buildings, rooms are crowded with statues, vases, and paintings. I loved it!
Now, here's some photos finally:
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| London Eye |
After the museum, I took the tube to near the London Eye, and walked along the Thames to the Tate Modern. There's an ice skating rink set up next to the Eye, and also lots of tables and chairs. I ate dinner at one of the tables, watching the people and the Eye among the trees lit up with Christmas lights.
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| London Eye |
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| London Eye, Parliament, and Big Ben |
As I was walking along the Thames, I came across the London Christmas Market set up along the river! It was 2 rows of wooden stalls selling Christmas ornaments, clothes, jewelry, carvings, and food. The food was a mix of German and French, plus sweets like The Gingerbread House and fudge stall.
Near the Christmas market, a book and print sale was also going on!
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| Books for sale |
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| Prints (of paintings and engravings mostly) for sale |
Further along the river is the National Theatre:
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| lamp post by the theatre- I liked the way the leaves looked. |
This picture isn't great, but I wanted to show you the trees. Along the river for a good part of my walk- between the London Eye and the Theatre- all the trees were brilliantly lit up with lights. I loved it!
When I reached the Tate Modern (art gallery), first I stopped to take this picture of St. Paul's Cathedral across the river. That's the Millennium Bridge on the right.
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| Claude Monet's Water-lilies!!!!! (in the Tate Modern) |
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at the Tate Modern. Giant display showing the development
of art movements through time. |
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| Tate Modern |
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| Tate Modern |
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| Tate Modern |
The gallery was a mix of photographs, sculpture, painting, video, and big installations. I don't know anything about modern art but I still definitely enjoyed looking around!
