Monday, April 28, 2008

Days 0 - 2

Day 0, or "CIBC Sucks (Here, There, and Everywhere)": We arrived at Gatwick on the same flight as some of my classmates, so we shared a train to Victoria Station. Jenn and I found an ATM willing to dispense money on only our third try. Note: my debit and credit cards, both TD-issued, work quite well. Jenn's cards, from the venerable CIBC, not so much.

We spent the day hiking along the Thames with our packs to the hostel, where we promptly collapsed. However, since we are not the brightest bulbs you have ever read by, we got up again and wandered around Covent Garden for a while, watching the street performers.

Day 1, or "Modern Art (Not a Second Time)": We visited the Tower of London, a worthwhile place with many interesting artifacts therein, including the Crown Jewels. We visited Tate Modern, a worthwhile place, still filled with the clutter of moving in, apparently.



We spent the evening wandering around St. James park, where there are Geese and flowers.





Many buildings are beautiful at night, as we discovered on our walk home.



-Colin

Day 2, or "Too Much Art (Don't Pass Me By)": Culture day. No, there will not be another. We saw rare original manuscripts at the British Library, including the Magna Carta, Rachmaninoff's 2nd Symphony, and Shakespeare's Sonnets.

At the British Museum, we saw statues and works of art from ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and Canada (yes, they were all stolen. Huzzah for the British Empire). Apparently, if your country was pillaged and you write a nasty enough letter, you'll get a replica of the item in question: it worked for Egypt, whose Rosetta Stone was taken. Then again, it didn't work for Greece: as they still have the Parthenon itself, I suppose they're not eligible for receiving a knock-off of the statues taken from it.

At the National Gallery, we saw precious works of art from across history. My favourite was, of course, Van Gogh's Sunflowers.

Unfortunately, if you touch any of the items at any of these places, they chop off your hands.

-Jenn

Day 3, or "Happy Five-Year Anniversary! (All You Need is Porn)": ...if you're not Dan, you might be confused here. Still to occur.

3 comments:

newbeginnings said...

At the National Art Gallery in Ottawa no one chops off a hand but if you touch the art or cross the line a voice booms out from the empty space "Don't touch the installation!' Step back from the line!" It canbe quite startling.

Unknown said...

We love the pictures - MORE!MORE! Please read your E-mail and reply to Mum's tax question right away.

cityrambler said...

Hi nerds

while in the UK had you thought of taking a walktalktour? They're MP3 audio tours and a great way to get under the skin of London, Edinburgh and York. Take a look at www.walktalktour.com for next time you are over.