cuponoodles

July 26, 2006

We managed to see a lot more of London. First we headed toward Trafalgar Square, home of the infamous pigeons and toured the National Gallery. Within we saw a number of classic paintings such as one of Van Gogh's sunflowers, The Ambassadors and its odd optical illusion of a skull, and many others. I was transfixed, for some reason, by Botticelli's Venus and Mars and ended up having to buy a souvenir magnet of the painting. I would have loved to have stayed there all day, but we only had a limited amount of time.

We walked toward the Thames to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, passing 10 Downing St — home of the prime minister — along the way. Then, after a short wait and 26 GBP, we went up in the London Eye and got a great view of the city.

An aside: the only thing I've had to be alerts about here in London (besides the food) is not pickpockets or con men; it's traffic. I know it's not as crazy as it supposedly is in southern France or Italy, but the cars drive fast in the city and they rarely stop for anyone. Motorcycles squeeze by taxis and the curb just to get a little ahead of everyone else. I don't think I'd ever own any sort of vehicle, even a bicycle if I lived in a city as big as London.

Anyway, after a lunch of pizza eaten with knives and forks, we made our way to the Tate Modern. Here you had many pieces from the likes of Picasso, Pollock and Warhol. All of it highly entertaining and all of it subject to debate as to whether they are art or not. I was pleasantly surprised to find Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus on display along with his Lobster phone. I had my second sighting of a Duchamp "Fountain" and was pleased to see a lot of Magritte on display.

If I had to generalize classic art versus modern art, I would say that the classic artists had a lot of skill but little imagination because most painting, though beautiful and breathtaking, were comprised of the same subjects and themes from Christianity (e.g., the birth of Christ). The modern artists, though many appeared to be less skilled (or skilled in a different way) had much more imagination and creativity. Of course I known that you debate on this subject for years and not get anywhere, but that's just what popped up in my mine at the time.

After a long and warm walk back toward hostel we found a supermarket and learned the simple pleasure of rehydrating oneself with flavored water after a long day filled with art and sightseeing.