The next day I started at the Natural History Museum, and though I wouldn't normally visit such a place on a short trip to a new city, there was one exhibit that was highly recommended. The Veolia Wildlife Photographer of Year is an exhibit that highlights photographs from an international competition of wildlife photography. With many categories ranging from young people to professional and animal behavior to geological landscape, there were so many beautiful pictures it was hard to take it all in. There were stunning mountain scenes, the northern lights, closeups of animals, and the winning set of pictures from the BP oil spill last year. Some of the aerial shots over the gulf of Mexico show colorful designs in the oil floating on the water which is sad and yet beautiful. But overall they were inspiring and beautiful pictures of our natural world in the heart of one of the busiest cities. After this exhibit I took a traditional London walking tour from Wellington Arch through Green Park, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, and the Parliament. Though it felt a bit touristy, it was good for me to see some of these main sites all at once and get some historical tidbits along the way. It was somewhat surreal to see all of these famous spots in person when I have seen them so many times in pictures and movies.
Saturday evening, I headed up to Oxford to visit my friend Yoni, who I had not seen in a couple of years. He is doing a one year masters there and I was greatly looking forward to reconnecting with him and to getting a tour of Oxford from a real student. Though I wouldn't really think of spending time in Oxford as a tourist, there were many visitors there and you can tell that it is a place for tourism. Luckily I was with a student who could get me in for free to many buildings that visitors have to pay for! It was certainly amazing seeing this place, probably the most famous college in the world, and thinking about all the history that has happened there for almost a thousand years. It was great to learn about the college system and how the students are divided among 35 colleges that each has its own building and community. Yoni goes to Brasenose which is right in the center by the Radcliffe Camera. It is also near the famous Sheldonian Theatre with the fence mounted with carved heads. We walked around to see some of the big colleges, through Christ Church Meadow, and around Magdalene College. There is a beautiful deer park, with lots of deer, an ornate chapel, and classic looking courtyards where you can imagine a tradition of studying taking place for hundreds of years. It was peaceful and awe-inspiring. Yoni has been involved in the rowing team which is a big deal at Oxford for all the students and so while hanging out at a bar with some of his friends, I got to hear all sorts of rowing discussions. Although I didn't understand most of it, I still appreciated their enthusiasm and thought it was cool how into it everyone seems to be there. We had our afternoon cream tea which is tea, scone (biscuit), clotted cream, and jam; it was quite delicious. I also got to eat dinner in the Brasenose Hall which was quite grand and Harry Potter like, though not nearly as big!
I returned to London Monday morning to do my personal walking tour through some of the older parts of the city Eastward toward the Tate Modern museum. From Buckingham Palace I walked toward Trafalgar Square and got a closer look at St. Martin in the Fields, a famous church known as a music venue. I went to Covent Garden, which I knew for the opera house but is also a very popular shopping destination. In addition the the high-class stores inside the galleries, there was also an antique market of the kind you would see on TV. English people wander up and down the aisles looking closely at jewelry with a magnifying glass and discussing the merits of various items. From there I walked toward St. Paul's Cathedral making sure to look for Sweeny Todd on Fleet Street. There was quite a large camp of Occupy London protestors outside the church although I think their size has diminished a bit in the last few weeks. The Cathedral itself was spectacular on the inside, in beautiful condition with all the ornate decoration I would expect to find. I walked through a bit more of the financial district to get to London Bridge so that I could cross over the Thames. I knew I wasn't going to have time to make it to the Tower of London but I could get a great view of the famous Tower Bridge while crossing on the less famous but still standing London Bridge. Once I was south of the river, I made my way to the Tate Modern museum while stopping to get a good view of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I am not sure if it is original in many ways but it does look exactly as I saw in pictures and they do still have plays going on in the open air. The Tate museum was recommended to me by several people which is why I chose it as the one art museum I would see in London, and because I love modern art. Completed in 2000, the museum is so popular that they are already planning an addition for the next couple years. It is a massive building that used to be an electrical powerhouse and still retains the industrial look with one section completely open from the ground up to the fifth floor. One exhibit I went to was called "Energy and Process" and focused on Italian Arte Provera and American Post-Minimalism as well as other fairly recent movements. These works used a variety of materials and took on many different forms but all share opinions about the modern world and about the history of art in relation to contemporary fashions. The other exhibit I spent a lot of time in was called "Poetry and Dream" and it focused on Surrealism and later artists which used similar ideas. The surrealists focused a lot on dreams which is why their work often uses free association of objects, unspecific forms, the use of chance, and bizarre symbolism. It was great to see some classic examples from Dali and Man Ray as well as a wide range of works that continue the tradition into the present day.
Monday night was the culmination of my trip to London in a performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony at Royal Albert Hall. The hall was round and looked like the old style opera houses though it is more of a concert venue that theatre. I sat on the ground level and there were rows and rows of seats and boxes going up all around me. The giant organ held its prominent position in the front of the room and the numerous acoustical features provided color and some modern flair to the otherwise classic looking venue. Nicknamed "The Symphony of A Thousand" the ensemble for this looked like it could have almost made that number. It was simply amazing to see two enormous choirs rising from the orchestra almost to the top of the room as well as a children's choir and a massive orchestra. When the piece first started, with organ and choir, I got the chills and was immediately taken away with the sound of all those people singing. England is known for its great choral tradition and this collection of choirs did not let me down at all. The intonation and tone were strong throughout and their dynamic contrasts gave the piece waves of excitement alternating with calm and mysterious. The piece is not divided into movements like a traditional symphony, rather it has two distinct parts with different stories that all tie into the Christian ideas about redemption and love. The first part is based on a Christian hymn and is quite energetic and powerful with beautiful lyrical sections as well. This part of the piece was easier to follow and generally more exciting than the second half, which is a concert version of the last scene of Goethe's Faust. It begins softly and with lots of mystery as the story of Faust's ascension unfolds. The music keeps up the drama of the situation eventually moving into prayer for Faust's soul and the love of the Virgin Mary. Though some of this symbolism and intensity of plot was lost on me, the general idea came across and by the end I could really feel the power of emotion in love and redemption out of the lower and mysterious sounds to the glorious full major harmonies. The performers were Barts Choir, Wimbeldon Choral Society, and Berkshire Young Voices accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Ivor Setterfield. Since the choir was the center of the piece, the orchestra was often just supportive and adding color, though the brass fanfares and chorales were always exciting and easy to hear. The soloists were all good though no one really shined compared to the sheer force of the rest of the ensemble, though it was quite amazing when I could pick out the voice of the solo soprano over everything else. Witnessing this piece was certainly an experience I will not forget.
My last day in London I had a couple hours to spare before getting to the train station and so I took my hosts recommendation and went north to Camden Town and Camden Lock Market. Though I had never heard of it, I found that this enormous marketplace is quite the tourist attraction. Located along a canal and in an old stables, the are countless stalls and stores selling clothes, jewelry, furniture, books, art, food, and almost anything you could imagine. Much of it reminded me of things you wind along Venice Beach in LA or in the East Village in NYC but it still had its unique British charms and was a fun way to wander about for my last bit in London. There were plenty of colorful people and an amazing variety of styles among the clothes and decorations. The canal was also cool to see because it was the only one around and I could imagine how big of a deal it was when it was built about two hundred years ago. From Camden, I wandered through Regents Park and some gardens to get back to the train station and head up to Glasgow. I know there is so much more to see in London but I feel satisfied with the amount that I saw already and certainly love the life of the city enough to return in the future.
I returned to London Monday morning to do my personal walking tour through some of the older parts of the city Eastward toward the Tate Modern museum. From Buckingham Palace I walked toward Trafalgar Square and got a closer look at St. Martin in the Fields, a famous church known as a music venue. I went to Covent Garden, which I knew for the opera house but is also a very popular shopping destination. In addition the the high-class stores inside the galleries, there was also an antique market of the kind you would see on TV. English people wander up and down the aisles looking closely at jewelry with a magnifying glass and discussing the merits of various items. From there I walked toward St. Paul's Cathedral making sure to look for Sweeny Todd on Fleet Street. There was quite a large camp of Occupy London protestors outside the church although I think their size has diminished a bit in the last few weeks. The Cathedral itself was spectacular on the inside, in beautiful condition with all the ornate decoration I would expect to find. I walked through a bit more of the financial district to get to London Bridge so that I could cross over the Thames. I knew I wasn't going to have time to make it to the Tower of London but I could get a great view of the famous Tower Bridge while crossing on the less famous but still standing London Bridge. Once I was south of the river, I made my way to the Tate Modern museum while stopping to get a good view of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. I am not sure if it is original in many ways but it does look exactly as I saw in pictures and they do still have plays going on in the open air. The Tate museum was recommended to me by several people which is why I chose it as the one art museum I would see in London, and because I love modern art. Completed in 2000, the museum is so popular that they are already planning an addition for the next couple years. It is a massive building that used to be an electrical powerhouse and still retains the industrial look with one section completely open from the ground up to the fifth floor. One exhibit I went to was called "Energy and Process" and focused on Italian Arte Provera and American Post-Minimalism as well as other fairly recent movements. These works used a variety of materials and took on many different forms but all share opinions about the modern world and about the history of art in relation to contemporary fashions. The other exhibit I spent a lot of time in was called "Poetry and Dream" and it focused on Surrealism and later artists which used similar ideas. The surrealists focused a lot on dreams which is why their work often uses free association of objects, unspecific forms, the use of chance, and bizarre symbolism. It was great to see some classic examples from Dali and Man Ray as well as a wide range of works that continue the tradition into the present day.
Monday night was the culmination of my trip to London in a performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony at Royal Albert Hall. The hall was round and looked like the old style opera houses though it is more of a concert venue that theatre. I sat on the ground level and there were rows and rows of seats and boxes going up all around me. The giant organ held its prominent position in the front of the room and the numerous acoustical features provided color and some modern flair to the otherwise classic looking venue. Nicknamed "The Symphony of A Thousand" the ensemble for this looked like it could have almost made that number. It was simply amazing to see two enormous choirs rising from the orchestra almost to the top of the room as well as a children's choir and a massive orchestra. When the piece first started, with organ and choir, I got the chills and was immediately taken away with the sound of all those people singing. England is known for its great choral tradition and this collection of choirs did not let me down at all. The intonation and tone were strong throughout and their dynamic contrasts gave the piece waves of excitement alternating with calm and mysterious. The piece is not divided into movements like a traditional symphony, rather it has two distinct parts with different stories that all tie into the Christian ideas about redemption and love. The first part is based on a Christian hymn and is quite energetic and powerful with beautiful lyrical sections as well. This part of the piece was easier to follow and generally more exciting than the second half, which is a concert version of the last scene of Goethe's Faust. It begins softly and with lots of mystery as the story of Faust's ascension unfolds. The music keeps up the drama of the situation eventually moving into prayer for Faust's soul and the love of the Virgin Mary. Though some of this symbolism and intensity of plot was lost on me, the general idea came across and by the end I could really feel the power of emotion in love and redemption out of the lower and mysterious sounds to the glorious full major harmonies. The performers were Barts Choir, Wimbeldon Choral Society, and Berkshire Young Voices accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Ivor Setterfield. Since the choir was the center of the piece, the orchestra was often just supportive and adding color, though the brass fanfares and chorales were always exciting and easy to hear. The soloists were all good though no one really shined compared to the sheer force of the rest of the ensemble, though it was quite amazing when I could pick out the voice of the solo soprano over everything else. Witnessing this piece was certainly an experience I will not forget.
My last day in London I had a couple hours to spare before getting to the train station and so I took my hosts recommendation and went north to Camden Town and Camden Lock Market. Though I had never heard of it, I found that this enormous marketplace is quite the tourist attraction. Located along a canal and in an old stables, the are countless stalls and stores selling clothes, jewelry, furniture, books, art, food, and almost anything you could imagine. Much of it reminded me of things you wind along Venice Beach in LA or in the East Village in NYC but it still had its unique British charms and was a fun way to wander about for my last bit in London. There were plenty of colorful people and an amazing variety of styles among the clothes and decorations. The canal was also cool to see because it was the only one around and I could imagine how big of a deal it was when it was built about two hundred years ago. From Camden, I wandered through Regents Park and some gardens to get back to the train station and head up to Glasgow. I know there is so much more to see in London but I feel satisfied with the amount that I saw already and certainly love the life of the city enough to return in the future.
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