Unlike the title implies, the week back was not nearly as terrifying as I expected it to be. It seemed that all of our professors took pity on us, and had mandated all assignments be turned in the following week. One would expect a conscientious and diligent student to use this time to catch up on work and prepare for the inevitable panic that the next week would surely induce. Well, sorry folks, but this student is much happier to make London her classroom. Therefore, with my large gap of time on Monday, I chose to visit the Wallace Collection.
The Wallace Collection is a rather extraordinary art gallery housed in Hertford House, featuring various works and relic collected by the 4th Marquess of Hertford. This collection in its entirety was left to his son, Sir Richard Wallace, whose widow bequeathed it and the house to the nation upon his death. The house itself is a work of art all on its own. Still upheld in the Rococo style in which it was left, it features a stunning assortment of plush couches, ridiculously over-embellished ceilings, and gaudy wallpaper. It succeeds, however, in giving off the vibe of the rich and lavish, in addition to it being beautiful.
The galleries themselves contain works by such artists as Titian, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Rubens, names I would not have thought to find in a lesser-known gallery. I loved looking at the paintings, decorating every wall. However, my true point of interest, in addition to being my initial reason for visiting the gallery in the first place, was the armory.
The display, spanning multiple rooms, features armor and weaponry from various countries across medieval Europe. Gilded armor from Germany, France, and England fills glass cases lined against the walls, set up as if to appear in motion. I was shocked at how well preserved it all is, particularly the plates for warhorses, as those were typically quite damaged in any sort of fray or confrontation.
The armory did not just exhibit European armor, however; there was also a display featuring the accoutrements of soldiers of the Middle East. I loved how different the two types of armor were by comparison. It really made one think about the different styles of fighting, weather conditions, and how culture impacts appearance, even down to something as functional as armor.
Monday I also had the good fortune to be able to return to the Sam Wanamaker Theatre to see The Knight of the Burning Pestle. It was uproariously funny. At one point, one of the characters – a heavy drunken man with a perpetually red nose – came up to the gallery and danced in his underwear right beside me. I laughed so hard that by the time he left I was wiping away tears. Critics were worried about how a comedy would fare in the intimate, candlelit space, but I thought that they absolutely nailed it.
On Tuesday, before my Urban Geography walk, I took it upon myself to visit Kensington Gardens. I had been dying to see the Peter Pan statue, and so wandered around the area. Somehow, I missed it, but doing so allowed me to meander through the garden in its entirety, all the way to the Royal Albert Hall. I did find it on the way back, however, and was thrilled. I could not say why I am so drawn to the statue – I just think it is one of the coolest things in London, a combination of the literary and the visual expressed in a new way.
For my theatre course, we are supposed to go and see two fringe theatre shows on our own. As I had yet to go to one and Maddy accidently bought an extra ticket, we went to see Sizwe Banzi is Dead on Wednesday afternoon. It was nothing like I expected. A show about apartheid in South Africa, they separated us by race upon entering the tiny theatre. We sat very close together on cushioned benches, mere feet from the two performers. While something I would not likely have attended on my own, I was so glad that I had – the performance was amazing. And about the last piece of “work” that I did for the week. On to the weekend!
