Let's see about today. The forecast is for "overcast" (no rain), with tempatures in the 50s (I'm just wearing my jacket-and-tie, while everyone else seems to be in down parkas). Tomorrow, however, they are calling for "Rain", so I'm going to try to fit-it-all-in today:
I doubled-up at Breakfast = 2 croissants, then hit the streets at 8:40. I grabbed a few Post Offices, and saw some nice "London streets":
At one point I saw a car turn down into "Devonshire Place Mews" - looks very nice and calm and quiet:
A couple of nice pictures in London, including the BBC Tower:
My first stop today was The Wallace Collection, which opened at 10 AM:
I am a fan of the Rooms and Gallery themselves:
Beauties include: Rembrandt van Rijn - "Self Portrait", c. 1637 oil:
Canaletto - "Venice: the Bacino di San Marco from the Canale della Giudecca", c. 1735-1744 oil:
Richard P. Bonington - "The Piazza San Marco, Venice", 1828 oil:
Francesco Guardi - "Venice: San Giorgio Maggiore with the Giudecca and the Zitelle", 1780s oil:
Fun Museum:
Back out on the street I had some lunch:
Speaking of the Streets of London, THE CITY IS FILTHY! I don't want to say anything bad about any place, but there is trash everywhere. I think the major reason is there ARE NO GARBAGE CANS ANYWHERE (maybe one every 10 blocks, and certainly none at any of the MAJOR INTERSECTIONS). As a result, my rule here is DO NOT PICK UP TRASH UNLESS YOU SEE A PLACE TO PUT IT:
My next stop was The British Museum:
The Rosetta Stone:
The Elgin Marbles:
Assyria/Nineveh carvings:
Finished The British Museum at 1:45
And then off to Sir John Soane's Museum at 2 PM:
On their website they have a REALLY COOL "Virtual Tour" (click here)
How can I be polite about this - Sometimes people just collect TOO MUCH STUFF (I know, I know - Look in the mirror, Dennis):
I think we can still fit one or two more paintings up there:
Beauties include (facsimilies of his original drawings by) Piranesi - 15 original Piranesi drawings for Paestum in his Picture Room:
Canaletto (1697-1768) - "Riva degli schiavoni, Venice", c.1734-35 oil:
J.M.W. Turner - "Admiral van Tromp's Barge at the entrance to the Texel, 1645", 1831 oil:
It was only 2:30 when I was done, so I walked down to the Tate Britain, passing Westminster Abbey on the way:
I reached the Tate Britain at 3:10
This is where "The Turner Bequest" wound up. For J.M.W. Turner, I took pictures of 53 oils, 28 watercolours, and 3 etchings/engravings. The 6 best are:
"Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps", exhibited 1812 oil
"The Shipwreck", exhibited 1805 oil:
"Regulus", 1828, reworked 1837 oil:
"Ancient Rome; Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of Germanicus", exhibited 1839 oil:
"Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth", exhibited 1842 oil:
"The Dogana, San Giorgio, Citella, from the Steps of the Europa", exhibited 1842 oil:
The Museum is Beautiful:
Besides J.M.W. Turner, other wonderful artists include:
Henry Moore 1898-1986 - "Working Model for Unesco Reclining Figure 1957", cast c.1959-61 bronze
Samuel Scott 1702-72 - "An Arch of Westminster Bridge", c. 1750 oil:
John Martin 1789-1854 - "The Great Day of His Wrath", 1851-53 oil:
Richard Parkes Bonington 1802-1828 - "A Distant View of St-Omer", c. 1824 oil:
It was 4:30 when I exited The Museum:
Lambeth Bridge is beautiful (with The London Eye behind it):
Wow, "London At Night" is just wonderful, from The Houses of Parliment to Big Ben to Westminster Abbey:
I made my way up to Waterloo Gardens and up "Regent Street Saint Jame's":
Unfortunately (or "fortunately" - I guess it depends on your point-of-view), the street runs into "Piccadilly Circus" = London's version of Times Square:
I made my way up to Sotheby's - unfortunately The Galleries were closed because they are having an Auction tonight:
Walked back to my hotel. That was a Fun Hike Around London:
Near as I can figure out, I walked 11.0 miles today. Thank you God for these wonderful "Adventures-in-London" days!
Past entries of this blog are available on the website https://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/
Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine/New York:
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/
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