2 May: Rainy Day…..
Door: Suzanne
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Suzanne
15 Mei 2010 | Verenigd Koninkrijk, Londen
Now it is back to English! I started writing about the 2nd of May and I quickly realized that the blog was becoming way too long :D Therefore, I decided to divide day and night into two blogs.
Oh and I will probably use lol quite a lot, which means laughing out loud :D
Sunday was, weatherwise, the worst day of our stay in London. According to the weather forecasts the rain, which started on Saturday, would not stop until late Sunday afternoon. With those forecasts in mind, Tonke and I decided that, at least for the time being, we would not undertake any activities outside. That meant: museum time (luckily most museums in London are free). Tonke wanted to go to the British Museum, while I preferred the National Galleries. So we each went our separate ways. I had passed the National Galleries quite a few times during my earlier visits to London. This time I would be able to see the National Galleries from the inside. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who decided to visit the Galleries. Many people with wet umbrellas walked in. There were even people who, for some reason, decided not to bring an umbrella or a raincoat. Needless to say: these people were absolutely soaked. Anyway, the National Galleries. Huge. It would be absolutely impossible to walk through the entire building in just a couple op hours. Therefore, I concentrated on the more modern paintings, from the 18th and 19th century. I suddenly remembered a school visit I once made to the World Press Photo. We were asked to select our three favorite photos. That is when I decided to, this time, pick my three favorite paintings in the National Galleries (my education proved to be useful for once lol).
I was pleasantly surprised that quite a few rooms were reserved for paintings by Dutch artists. Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh. Also works by several, lesser known, artists were present at the Galleries. I especially liked Rembrandt’s two self-portraits. One of a young Rembrandt, in his mid thirties. The other of a older Rembrandt, painted in the last year of his life. The greatest disappointment?? Ok, disappointment is a little too dramatic. But I was looking forward to Van Gogh’s famous sunflower painting. I spent quite a while looking at the painting and I did not really enjoy it. I expected to see many, little details in the flowers. I missed those details, but I am a novice when it comes to art (so maybe it is just me!) Still, the flowers on the painting looked old and worn. I would not buy such flowers ;) This being said, Van Gogh of course is a legend. And his painting(s), at least with me, inspire thought. That is a quality by itself. And I have to say that I preferred Van Gogh’s worn sunflowers over the huge, colorful paintings of (half) naked people. It was probably the style of the time, but all those paintings were too pompous and too grand for me (although I can imagine that other people would be awed by this grandeur).
During my time at the National Galleries, I found out that I especially liked the oil paintings of landscapes and cities. My three favorite paintings were all from these categories. One is a painting of Peter Paul Rubens, called “An Autumn View of het Steen in the Early Morning.” The other is a painting of Canaletto, “Venice: The Upper Reaches of the Grand Canal.” My favorite painting though was one of John Constable, “The Hay Wain.” I loved this painting and especially Constable’s careful attention to details. Tiny workers in the background. A dog (very important to me). The country home. And of course the hay wain itself. I ended up buying a minature version of “The Hay Wain.”
Right next to the National Galleries are the National Portrait Galleries. I thought it would be interesting to visit those as well. I paid special attention to the more recent pictures/portraits (there is a grand collection of Tudor portraits, but I skipped that). The newest addition to the collection of the National Galleries was a very nice portrait of Prince William and Prince Harry (in military uniform, I have always liked men in military uniforms lol). Very clever was the colorful portrait of architect Zaha Hadid, made by Michael Craig-Martin. Somehow the portrait kept changing color, the outline of Hadid’s face remained the same though. First I was looking at a bright green, purple and blue image, several seconds later the portrait had an entirely different color scheme. I also liked the segment of the Galleries specifically reserved for children’s art. Amazing how creative children, even the very young ones, can be. I have never been that creative, at least not when it comes to art :D
A few hours later, I left the National Portrait Galleries and it stopped raining heavily (still some drops of rain, but not that bad)!! There was still some time left before 4.30 pm (when I was supposed to be back at the hotel to meet Tonke). I took the metro, how well I have used my metro card during the stay in London, to South Kensington. I intended to take a look at the Natural History Museum. But after seeing the gigantic lines in front of the Museum, I walked into the Victoria&Albert Museum (which is closeby) instead. I wandered around the museum for a while and somehow came across a collection of John Constable paintings. Nice. By now, the rain had stopped completely!! Therefore, I decided to head back to the hotel by foot and not my metro. I passed the Royal Albert Hall (not a coincidence at all :D). The concert Tonke and I would attend that night, called The Night of 1000 Voices, also had a matinee at 4 pm. In front of the Royal Albert Hall, a man immediately came up to me and asked: “Do you want tickets for the matinee??” I was very very tempted to answer with: “Yes…” :D Instead I said “No” and I continued my walk back to the hotel, through beautiful Kensington Gardens.
After resting for a bit and changing into our evening clothes, Tonke and I looked for a place (close to the Royal Albert Hall) for some dinner. We ended up at an English Pub. I had Fish and Chips. The fish was nice, the chips were a little tasteless. After a nice cup of tea (in Tonke’s case coffee), we were ready for The Night of 1000 Voices....
Oh and I will probably use lol quite a lot, which means laughing out loud :D
Sunday was, weatherwise, the worst day of our stay in London. According to the weather forecasts the rain, which started on Saturday, would not stop until late Sunday afternoon. With those forecasts in mind, Tonke and I decided that, at least for the time being, we would not undertake any activities outside. That meant: museum time (luckily most museums in London are free). Tonke wanted to go to the British Museum, while I preferred the National Galleries. So we each went our separate ways. I had passed the National Galleries quite a few times during my earlier visits to London. This time I would be able to see the National Galleries from the inside. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who decided to visit the Galleries. Many people with wet umbrellas walked in. There were even people who, for some reason, decided not to bring an umbrella or a raincoat. Needless to say: these people were absolutely soaked. Anyway, the National Galleries. Huge. It would be absolutely impossible to walk through the entire building in just a couple op hours. Therefore, I concentrated on the more modern paintings, from the 18th and 19th century. I suddenly remembered a school visit I once made to the World Press Photo. We were asked to select our three favorite photos. That is when I decided to, this time, pick my three favorite paintings in the National Galleries (my education proved to be useful for once lol).
I was pleasantly surprised that quite a few rooms were reserved for paintings by Dutch artists. Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh. Also works by several, lesser known, artists were present at the Galleries. I especially liked Rembrandt’s two self-portraits. One of a young Rembrandt, in his mid thirties. The other of a older Rembrandt, painted in the last year of his life. The greatest disappointment?? Ok, disappointment is a little too dramatic. But I was looking forward to Van Gogh’s famous sunflower painting. I spent quite a while looking at the painting and I did not really enjoy it. I expected to see many, little details in the flowers. I missed those details, but I am a novice when it comes to art (so maybe it is just me!) Still, the flowers on the painting looked old and worn. I would not buy such flowers ;) This being said, Van Gogh of course is a legend. And his painting(s), at least with me, inspire thought. That is a quality by itself. And I have to say that I preferred Van Gogh’s worn sunflowers over the huge, colorful paintings of (half) naked people. It was probably the style of the time, but all those paintings were too pompous and too grand for me (although I can imagine that other people would be awed by this grandeur).
During my time at the National Galleries, I found out that I especially liked the oil paintings of landscapes and cities. My three favorite paintings were all from these categories. One is a painting of Peter Paul Rubens, called “An Autumn View of het Steen in the Early Morning.” The other is a painting of Canaletto, “Venice: The Upper Reaches of the Grand Canal.” My favorite painting though was one of John Constable, “The Hay Wain.” I loved this painting and especially Constable’s careful attention to details. Tiny workers in the background. A dog (very important to me). The country home. And of course the hay wain itself. I ended up buying a minature version of “The Hay Wain.”
Right next to the National Galleries are the National Portrait Galleries. I thought it would be interesting to visit those as well. I paid special attention to the more recent pictures/portraits (there is a grand collection of Tudor portraits, but I skipped that). The newest addition to the collection of the National Galleries was a very nice portrait of Prince William and Prince Harry (in military uniform, I have always liked men in military uniforms lol). Very clever was the colorful portrait of architect Zaha Hadid, made by Michael Craig-Martin. Somehow the portrait kept changing color, the outline of Hadid’s face remained the same though. First I was looking at a bright green, purple and blue image, several seconds later the portrait had an entirely different color scheme. I also liked the segment of the Galleries specifically reserved for children’s art. Amazing how creative children, even the very young ones, can be. I have never been that creative, at least not when it comes to art :D
A few hours later, I left the National Portrait Galleries and it stopped raining heavily (still some drops of rain, but not that bad)!! There was still some time left before 4.30 pm (when I was supposed to be back at the hotel to meet Tonke). I took the metro, how well I have used my metro card during the stay in London, to South Kensington. I intended to take a look at the Natural History Museum. But after seeing the gigantic lines in front of the Museum, I walked into the Victoria&Albert Museum (which is closeby) instead. I wandered around the museum for a while and somehow came across a collection of John Constable paintings. Nice. By now, the rain had stopped completely!! Therefore, I decided to head back to the hotel by foot and not my metro. I passed the Royal Albert Hall (not a coincidence at all :D). The concert Tonke and I would attend that night, called The Night of 1000 Voices, also had a matinee at 4 pm. In front of the Royal Albert Hall, a man immediately came up to me and asked: “Do you want tickets for the matinee??” I was very very tempted to answer with: “Yes…” :D Instead I said “No” and I continued my walk back to the hotel, through beautiful Kensington Gardens.
After resting for a bit and changing into our evening clothes, Tonke and I looked for a place (close to the Royal Albert Hall) for some dinner. We ended up at an English Pub. I had Fish and Chips. The fish was nice, the chips were a little tasteless. After a nice cup of tea (in Tonke’s case coffee), we were ready for The Night of 1000 Voices....
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
