We arrived in the UK a few days before our Oceania cruise starts so we didn’t have to deal with any jetlag issues. We also had friends arriving early. We have done much of London previously, having been here about 20 years ago, and I’m glad we didn’t have a ton of items to see, as it’s incredibly crowded this time of year! Just trying to walk past the London Eye was like trying to get to the front of the stage at a Who concert, which I did back in 1980! The below shot is from the Westminster Bridge, which was just as crowded. I never thought I’d long for the days of Covid.
We got lucky with the weather on this first day.
Pretty cool statue of Winston near Big Ben.
Watching all of The Crown episodes had me thinking we could just walk up to 10 Downing Street and get a shot of the Prime Ministers front door. No such luck.
This photo is from the front of the Household Calvary Museum. Despite the signs every body was petting the horses….or at least attempting their Instagram pose next to them. I felt bad for these poor horses forced to just stand there.
It was getting pretty warm so we decided to visit a site we missed the last time we were here, the National Gallery, right off Trafalgar Square. Here is a photo from the entrance to the Gallery.
The National Gallery has some impressive artwork, more than I expected. Plus, it’s free to enter! Do yourself a favor and pre-book your entry time so you don’t have to wait in the sun for 20 minutes like we did.
The first area we viewed was a temporary exhibition focused on St. Francis of Assissi. This is by El Greco, and represents St Francis receiving the Stigmata, the marks of Christ on the cross.
St. Francis was one of the first Environmentalists of the time, a lover of animals and nature. This artwork was created with him in mind. It’s supposed to represent a doorway into the history of the cedar tree it was chiseled into. We thought it was pretty cool.
This garment is supposed to be the clothing actually worn by St. Francis. I think it’s one of those things you just have to have faith in, like the Shroud of Turin.
Religious art isn’t really our thing, so we did some walking around and found stuff that is our thing, Impressionism. The below is The Beach at Trouville, painted by Claude Monet in 1870.
We love pointillism, and were surprised to see an artist we had not seen previously. This is Coastal Scene, painted by Theo van Rysselberghe in 1892.
The National Gallery has one of Van Gogh’s five Sunflower paintings, painted in 1888. I took the photo from the side as the horde wouldn’t move from the front of the photo. Throw a Van Gogh on the wall and the crowds gather like flys on shit.
This Water Lily painting by Monet is closely related to paintings Monet created for his exhibition at the Orangerie of the Tuileries in Paris, a museum we visited last summer. This one seems so subdued to me, compared to other works of his.
Monet is very well known for his Water Lily Pond paintings. The Japanese Bridge in his garden at Giverny was the subject of 18 of his paintings, this one completed in 1899.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s style is unmistakable in this painting, The Skiff, painted in 1875. Damn this is a great gallery!
Another of Renoir’s famous paintings, this is The Umbrellas, painted from 1881-1886.
We were surprised to find a painting by Johannes Vermeer, as we thought they were all in the Netherlands. This is A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, from 1670-1672.
Our group gathered for dinner at Hutong on our first full day in London. This restaurant is located on the 33rd floor of The Shard building, one of the most famous parts of the London skyline. Below is a view from reception, with Tony and Julie enjoying the skyline across the River Thames. By the way, Tony and Julie rode up the elevator with Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame.
The Tower Bridge from the same spot.
This is an exterior view of The Shard building.
Our second day in London was a bit rainy, but fortunately Tony and Julie had booked a play for us called Witness for the Prosecution. This is an Agatha Christie story that was made into a movie and now a play with a set created to look like a 1950’s London courtroom. If was quite good! Now we have to watch the movie.
Our last night in London the group had dinner at OXO Tower, right on the banks of the River Thames. The view was excellent. The food was ok.
This is a shot of how the exterior looks. The building was originally a power plant.
The view up the River Thames.
Next up, we board our ship and head to Antwerp, Belgium.