Best laid plans . . . . .

We're really enjoying our apartment on Pitt Street in Kensington.  One of the reasons we picked it is because it's only a short five minute walk to the Kensington High Street tube station.  We're using the tube and bus system extensively while we're here as it's extremely convenient to get around and visit all of the places we want to see, or so we thought .......

They are doing a lot of construction work during the "festive period" which wasn't being advertised when we made our housing arrangements.  Fortunately the Notting Hill Gate tube station is close by and served by a different line.  All of the buses that serve our neighborhood stop there, so we can hop on any of them and be there in 5 minutes.  Thank goodness for that.

London at Night

During our jaunt to the Tate Modern, we traveled by St. Paul's Cathedral and across the Millennium Bridge over the River Thames.  A couple of my favorite shots --

St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge seen from the Tate Modern

St. Paul's Cathedral from the Millennium Bridge

Art at the Tate Modern

After dinner Saturday night, Mom decided to rest up so Mona and I went out to visit the Tate Modern which is open until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.  As the name implies, the Tate features modern art, from the works of Picasso and Salvador Dali to living artists with whom we're not familiar.  With apologies to my artist friends and art aficionados, I've divided this into Art I could Do/Why is this Art? and Art I Can Appreciate.  All of these are currently on display at the Tate Modern.

Art I Could Do/Why is this Art?

 
Why is air conditioning duct or random squiggly painting renowned art that is exhibited at a prestigious museum?  Wood painted in a multi-colored block pattern?  I think I could do these.


Art I Can Appreciate

The Three Dancers by Pablo Picasso

While abstracts don't appeal to everyone, I certainly appreciate their artistic merit.  They say one man's junk is another man's treasure.  Can the same be said for art?

Variation on the Form of an Anchor
by Tristram Hillier

British Museum

Rosetta Stone

After the Portobello Market, we decided to finish our afternoon at the British Museum.  Of all the museums we've been able to visit, this is probably one of our favorites.  Where else can you see the Rosetta Stone,  Egyptian mummies, ancient Greek and Roman artifacts that pre-date Christ, a giant head from Easter Island, and samurai armor from medieval Japan?  Best of all,

Portland Vase -- Roman glass vase circa
25 BC - 15 AD 

it's free.  The building is enormous, and you easily can lose track of time wandering from gallery to gallery.  Even though we've been before, we only scratched the surface during our visit, so maybe we can find time to
return before we leave London.

Easter Island Statue Hoa Hakananai'a

Portobello Road Market

If you've seen the movie Notting Hill, then you've seen the Portobello Road Market.  There's a great scene where Hugh Grant's character is walking past all of the vendor stalls as the weather changes from season to season.  The Portobello Road Market is probably the most popular outdoor market in London, with vendors selling everything from produce to antiques to everything in between.  Saturday is the busiest day as that's when all of the vendor stalls are occupied.  The crowds were out in full force -- I think because of the holiday week, everything is going to be more crowded.  We spent our morning perusing the stalls and enjoying the atmosphere.

Notting Hill is a fun neighborhood to walk around in.  There's all kinds of neat shops, great architecture, and quiet streets once you get off the main road.  We tried finding several of the filming sites from the movie, including what stood in for William Thacker's travel book shop.  We hope to get back here before our week is up and explore a little more with hopefully a few less people.

Happy Boxing Day

Our flight over the pond was great and we landed at Heathrow around 7am local time.  We rented an apartment for the week and arranged for a car service through the rental company to take us to the apartment.  Our driver David met us after collecting our luggage and away we went.

Shopping at Harrods

The nice thing about traveling on Christmas Day is that traffic was light and it was easy getting through the airports.  Although our flight was full, there wasn't the normal throngs of people that we usually encounter in the airport.  Our drive into London from Heathrow was the same.  Very little traffic and not a lot of people out.  Today is Boxing Day -- also a holiday in the UK.  Traditionally, Boxing Day was when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts -- called a "Christmas Box" -- from their employers.  Today it's a bank holiday and many things are closed.  This makes traveling a little trickier as public transport is reduced and the Heathrow express trains don't run.  Just like America, it's a big day for shopping.

Our apartment for the week is on Pitt Street in Kensington, close to Notting Hill and Kensington Palace.   We went to the Tube station -- that's the subway for you Yanks -- to buy our travel card for the week and hit the grocery store.  After a much needed nap, we went out in the Boxing Day frenzy to Harrods.  As you can see from the picture, the Tube was jam packed with people.  Harrods was no different.  Tons of people and twice as many shopping bags.  Definitely something to experience but I think we'll come back a different day to shop when there's a few less people.

Packed like sardines on the Tube

We capped our first day with dinner and a play.  Mom wants to see Mamma Mia, but the tickets left for tonight were too expensive.  Instead, we chose a British comedy play called Neville's Island -- four guys stuck on an island while on a corporate team building exercise.  We had a good laugh and enjoyed the British humor.  With only a nap to carry us through our day, lack of sleep is catching up to us.  Now it's back to the apartment for a good night's sleep.

London Calling

Merry Christmas!  Or as the Brits would say -- Happy Christmas!  We've started our journey to London and are waiting to board our flight to Heathrow.  Mona's parents usually travel with us when we go overseas, but this time my Mom Kathy is joining us.  We're spending a week in London and this is a bucket list trip for her.  It's been 20 years since Mona and I have been to London so we're interested to see what's changed and visit some sites we haven't seen before.  Although the weather will be cold, the city will be decked out for Christmas and it will be fun to see all the decorations and see how Londoners celebrate Christmas and New Year's.  Now for the flight over ...... hopefully we can sleep some as we arrive at 7:00am.