Paul and I are now at Heathrow awaiting our flight from London to Montreal. Paul is very excited because a) we are at one of the world's newest air terminals and b) we have been upgraded. We always have loved London and our 5 days here have not disappointed. We have had a bit interest to satisfy us both; from riding the Underground and the Transport Museum to the Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Most significantly we arrived the day before the start of the annual midyear sales at the big department stores such as Harrods and Selfridges. Kathryn definitely knows how to plan her travelling around shopping.
London is still full of surprises. Firstly the weather was fantastic. London is in the middle of a heatwave and the past four days have all been over 30 degrees. For us it isn't too bad but for most Londoners you would think that we were living constantly in Bangkok. They even tried to state in most newspaper headlines that the temperatures were actually hotter than Bangkok. We all know that Britain is desperately trying to prove it is the centre of the universe and this was a strange way of doing it.
Our accommodation was another great surprise. It was located near Paddington station, nearer than we thought when we got into the cab at the station. The driver was most put out that he could only take us 2 blocks after having waited in the cab queue for a job for 45 minutes. We had a one bedroom apartment in a typical Bayswater street. We found that apparently only newly renovated it was already showing signs of rising damp and cracked paintwork. We also received a daily running commentary in either Swedish or Polish (we are not sure which) from our downstairs neighbours who seemed to crammed into a basement flat. For those of you who have ever rented in London you will know what these older buildings are like. It is like experiencing a tenement in New York or university college. However, it had cable TV and we were able to catch up on watching some movies in English and Wimbledon tennis live. We were also able to cook our own meals which enabled us to let ourselves loose on Harrods, Selfridges and Marks and Spencers' food halls. It also gave us a chance to have a rest after the last couple of weeks.
Paul always says that being in London is really like being on holidays because it is so familiar. However, since we have been here last there have been some changes to the city particularly down in the Southbank area. We walked along this area several times and went across the Millennium Bridge to St. Pauls. London. We experienced a trip on the London eye on a sunny day! Paul even acted as tour guide for a group of very lost East coast Americans who couldn't find Tower Bridge or Buckingham Palace. I think they thought he was British along with the poor cashier at Kew Gardens who asked him if he would like to make a donation to the gardens as a UK taxpayer. I don't know if she flattered Paul more with the glimpse of British residency or the tax paying part. South bank had also been transformed as part of an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. All the tree trunks were wrapped in polka dots, Paul can explain that this is part of a contemporary installation by a Japanese artist who is fascinated with polka dots as it was one of the many contemporary art exhibitions he has visited over the past 10 weeks. He is planning on writing a book on contemporary art installations and basing it on the work of Louise Bourgeois and Mark Rothko (to appreciate this point you must read my other stories of our travels in Madrid & Bilbao.)
Part of the purpose of our visit to London was to go to the Tate Modern gallery along Southbank. It had a show of contemporary works from its collection formed in a series of artist rooms. There were a lot of children in the gallery all sketching works by the various artists. It therefore made it a bit like a busman's holiday. Paul particularly enjoyed the rope installations, which consisted of coiled rope on the floor or the wood chips and rags piled in the corner as part of the Arte Povera installation. We did both enjoy the Futurist exhibition at the gallery and Paul was so inspired he actually made the suggestion to visit the Tate Britain the next day.
We also viewed the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. This show has been running for hundreds of years. The walls of the most esteemed art college and gallery in the country are hung with up to 1200 artworks. These are all for sale and they range from well known 'Royal Academians' to artists from the casual summer classes. It was very interesting to see the range and styles of work from the very highly skilled to the downright awful. Some works were infact so awful I wouldn't even put them in a student art exhibition. Even more poignant is that the works are selected from applications from the students to hang in the exhibition. I am sure the selection process is very political. You can just imagine the relatives of one artist buying the work to hang on their walls. I did admire the work of the oldest Royal Academian, a woman artist of 105. Although her still lifes were a bit misty, probably the concern of failing eyesight, they still showed great expression. This was very evident when you viewed the works of Contemporary artist Tracey Emin who is more know for her bad behaviour than her art making.
Paul also enjoyed returning to the Rothko Room at the Tate Britain and we returned there at his insistence. Works by Turner have been hung alongside works by artist Mark Rothko as although Turner painted 100 years before Rothko and the Abstract Expressionists his work is seen as having an enormous influence on these artists. When we visited this room 12 years ago, which is a favourite of mine, I had to send Paul out because he was laughing too much. This time he glanced in and proceeded to find a Turner that would quench his mirth. However, this didn't last long as I found him observing a group of primary students having a lesson in front of a Turner. He was particularly amused by the little girl, when she was asked to come up for a title of the painting she was looking at she gave it the title “Water High Street” the work was infact a canal in Venice. At least she got the comparison correct. Paul also enjoyed viewing the archeological installation by the Chapman Brothers (another group of contemporary British artists) this was a room of carved indigenous statues with a twist. Sprinkled amongst the traditional carvings of Papua New Guinea and Samoa were carvings of Macdonalds restaurant statues out of wood including Ronald himself and the Hamburgler. I don't think Paul remembers the earlier works of the Chapman Brothers which consisted of decapitated bodies strung from trees in a translation of the work of Spanish artist Francisco Goya. I think he might of taken such a liking to the work.
As I mentioned the sales were on and we risked Oxford Circus on the first day of the sales just to experience the atmosphere. There were more people than one saw at the Olympic Games in Sydney squashed into the street. However, Kathryn's desire for shopping prevailed and she would have made her father proud to battle the the women at clothing store Banana Republic to score 2 shirts for the price of one. My father has a policy of always attempting the Boxing Day sales on the first day and I couldn't let him down! Over the week we managed to enter Selfridges, Harrods and Liberty to pick up some goods. So next time you see Kathryn she will resemble a designer celebrity from Top Shop.
We had afternoon tea in Fortnum & Mason and we have retitled it 'Fortune & Mason'. Sadly the store has adopted a more contemporary edge and gone are the little old ladies sipping tea and eating scones and plates of cucumber sandwiches. The closest we got to that experience was the tea (definitely good) and a plate of Iberian Ham and 2, what Paul said, were the stalest scones he has come across. Perhaps all the little old ladies have defected to Harrods.
Speaking of Harrods, that too has changed somewhat. Enter Harrods doors now and you would think that you have entered a high class shopping centre in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. There are throngs of black shrouded women who we saw clawing over designer handbags and clothing. We made a bee line for the toy and children's section now we have a new motive in our shopping plans to buy some items for at that time my unknown niece or nephew. The toy section as per usual does not disappoint with every shape and size of bear, Sesame Street toy, Disneytoy or animal that barks, mews, quacks, roars and gallops, jumps, waddles and crawls. You can buy anything from a Pingu Penguin that speaks in Italian and blows Rasberries to a miniature Tyrannosaurus Rex that you sit on whilst it moves its head, blinks and roars. Paul had to restrain Kathryn from spending the 800 pounds on this item.
Influenced by the extravagance of Harrods toy department we booked tickets to see 'Priscilla' The Musical in the West End. We know that the show has run in Sydney and Melbourne but we never got the opportunity to see it. As we have been away from home now for nearly 3 months the spectacle and costumes of the production were fantastic as was the lead played by Jason Donovan. He has come a long way since Neighbours and playing the role of a drag queen he did have some quips about Kylie Minogue. We also too may have been away from home for so long that we appreciate anything that relates to Australia, how tacky it may be. The production is fantastic for its costumes and lighting and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
On the other hand we saw '39 Steps' which is a comedy based on the Alfred Hitchcock thriller. The play is carried out by only four actors with very inventive movements in acting out the drama. At times they play up to 2 characters in one scene with quick costume changes. It was short and light and was worth the experience of seeing a bit of theatre in the West End.
Sadly during our time in London we failed to see any member of the Royal family. Infect the closest we got was to see the statue of Diana and Dodi that Mr Fayed has installed in the foyer of Harrods. Everywhere you go there are little memories of Diana so we think that the current royal family is trying desperately to make amends in areas that cover anything from Children's Playgrounds through to glass houses at Kew Gardens. I think it is quite ironic that the glass house at Kew named after Diana is primarily a cactus house. At the time we were in London the papers were publicising that the queen had overspent on her royal budget by 5 million pounds and that the taxpayer was going to have to pay the difference. Maybe that was why Paul was asked for the donation at the Kew Gardens gate. We also saw numerous advertisements on the tube for Windsor Palace to visit and experience the 'real residence' of the queen. It didn't seem to make much difference that she was in Scotland for most of June and July.
So it is now that we farewell Europe and fly to Canada. There really is no change here. Same monach, different country. However, we do know that the food is better. Perhaps there is more shopping to be done as Kathryn slowly returns home.
