Checking off more items

One exhibit I've been debating about seeing all semester is the Rothko showing at the Tate Modern and I finally decided yesterday just to bite the bullet, pay, and go see it. I was hoping to have a real artist with me, my blogging friend Plane Ride, but she was feeling poorly and decided not to brave the cold temperatures we've been experiencing. (Glad to report she's feeling better now.) So I headed over to the south bank of the Thames by myself. The picture at the right shows the Millennium footbridge that handily leads from St. Paul's to the museum (the tower is the landmark that identifies the Tate Modern, visible from almost anywhere in London).

The exhibit was very interesting, if, from my perhaps somewhat philistinian (is that a word?) perspective, a bit over-priced. But I'm glad I went to see it, since otherwise I'd have always wondered what I missed. In addition to some amazing large pieces displayed together for the first time, in one of the museum's cavernous galleries, there were interesting exhibits on the artist's techniques.

In the small world department, I must note that I might not normally have even known who Rothko is, but in the early '70's I participated in the dedication of the Rothko Chapel in Houston. A sub-group of the Rice Chorale, which I was singing with as a recent alum, performed a very strange piece of music as part of the dedication ceremony. (I'll always remember that we were asked to sing quarter-tones, which are indistinguishable to my poor intonation sense, but are accomplished, it seems, by singing a tone and then thinking about making it higher or lower.) At any rate, it was rather rewarding to see the Chapel prominently mentioned in the booklet accompanying the Tate exhibit; there's even a room in it devoted to sketches of the pieces Rothko planned for it. A small world indeed!

The rest of my day was spent finishing up (finally!) Christmas shopping and then meeting librarian friends for drinks and dinner. Since I had a hour or so to kill before joining up with them, and I just happened to be in the neighborhood of the British Museum, I spent the time there. Although I was too nervous to enjoy it properly—having such a strict timetable to follow in that place is very stressful! However, I was able to stroll through some galleries that I hadn't been in before, such as those devoted to Korea and to African art.

I wasn't too happy with any of the pictures I took yesterday, but I thought this one was fairly nice, showing the view back across the Millennium Bridge from the Tate's entry plaza. Notice the blue skies! I have been very lucky in the weather this last week; it's allowed me to do lots of walking in relative comfort as I say my farewells to this great city.

More London sights

We put in a full few days in London last week in addition to our day trips, and were fortunate in the weather most of the time. Some of our sight-seeing was constrained by errands needing to be run, such as picking up some forgotten souvenirs from the Stonehenge-Bath bus. Their office was near the Tower Bridge, though, so it was easy to combine the trips. (Plus we found a good inexpensive eatery—The Cat and Cucumber—in between bus lot and bridge for lunch.)

After walking across the Bridge (and taking many more photos of this incredibly photogenic structure) we headed upstream toward our main target, St. Paul's. Hal and Sally had heartily recommended climbing to the top and we found that to be good advice. It was a somewhat taxing climb, but the views, both at various points along the way, and at the summit, are fabulous. I was also quite taken with the details of the church itself, like the golden pineapple/acorn/or whatever in the picture above. I took this picture, I believe, from the Stone Gallery, which is the next-highest stopping point.

Here's a look at the view from the top (the Golden Gallery) of the lovely Thames, Blackfriars Bridge, The Eye, and points in between. What great weather for distance viewing!


The interior of the church is quite impressive, too, of course, and unbelievably huge, but no photos are allowed. The American Chapel on one end was a highlight for me. After walking all around we took some time to just sit and soak in the atmosphere (and also rest up from our climb).

We still had time for more sights, and since the Millennium Bridge is right there, leading to the Tate Modern, we went there for a quick visit. Here is a view of the Bridge from the Stone Gallery of St. Paul's. You might notice there's not much traffic on the footbridge. I didn't notice it until later, when we were crossing. There was a sign saying it was closed for a good bit of the day for inspection and maintenance. We trust they found no structural weaknesses!

Our visit to the art museum was brief, but about long enough for art that we old fogeys don't find as interesting as the older stuff. I did enjoy it more than I expected, however, particularly finding a gallery of Soviet propaganda posters quite fascinating. And the building itself is quite a marvel. Plus, it's so perfectly located in London! Here's a lovely sunset view from the Bridge heading back to the north bank, which is better for bus and tube catching.