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beelikejRight before travel was shut down to slow down the spread of the Corona virus, I went on a weekendtrip to London I had planned months before. I had a ticket to a play on Saturday and on Sunday I was going to meet up with friends at the British Museum, that I'd never been to. Unfortunately my friends had to cancel last minute, so I visited the museum by myself, specifically to find the Lewis Chessmen, a medieval chess set that was the inspiration for the Wizard chess in the Harry Potter films:)
But before that I spent a day strolling around and doing some (grocery!) shopping and of course I'm once again sharing photos of the traveling process *grins*
Here's a picspam of my two days in London!
Friday, March 13, 2020
I cycle to the station, then take the train to Rotterdam.
New: the subway/tram from Rotterdam to Hoek van Holland, the old trainstation, where you walk straight from the platform to the check-in for the ferry to England:)
Yay, on board they put steakpie back on the menu, and it's even upgraded to a fancy version! I so love being on the overnight ferry.
Bye, Netherlands. Hello freaky carpet on the ferry:)
Saturday, March 14, 2020
I always get confused by the time change; on board everything is in the Dutch timezone, but as soon as you leave the ship, it's an hour earlier.
Hello, Harwich!
Instead of the usual train there was a replacement bus to London, where I arrive a little after 9 a.m.
I have breakfast in a fancy pub in Liverpoolstreet Station: Eggs Benedict, never had those before, quite delicious!
Look at the colourful tiles in the pilars at the station <3
When I try to find a bus to South London, I take a wrong exit at the back of the station, but I don't mind, because I find a glorious statue: Broadgate Venus by Fernando Botero.
Isn't she awesome? Love all the curves and the delicate fingers and toes.
And I know I've come across this artist before. (Confirmed: back in 2006 I saw one of his statues in The Hague:)
I eventually find the right busstop and get on the bus down South.
Across the Tower Bridge from the top of a double decker bus. (Straight ahead is the bridge, to the right The Tower (castle) and behind that The Shaft (business building)
Destiny: the ASDA SuperStore, where I hope to find all sorts of wheats. Unfortunately with people panic buying there are not a lot of breakfast cereals left on the shelves, so I'm very happy when I find two flavours that I haven't tried before: wheats filled with apricot and raisins!
I get back on the bus with my groceries and get another view of the London Bridge; see the gargoyle?
Back at Liverpoolstreet Station I find a bench for a lunch snack: lemon merengue donut, bb! before I get on the Tube to my hotel.
Did I never notice these cool history billboards before?
I'm trying a fancy "City Sleeper" room in the hotel this weekend, it looks lovely, but it's more design than practical: the huge square(!) toilet is directly across from the sink where you bang your head and the toilet paper is out of reach. There's also a lot of pointless space with a chair, but no table. Plus they first gave me room without a bath, which is the whole reason for me booking this hotel; there regular rooms all have baths, even the single rooms. But the more expensive City Sleeper (with a private entrance and new furniture) apparently don't all have tubs, so I won't be booking these again)
Anyway: here's my loot for today (mostly food, yes, but also a bubble bar for my bath tonight;)
After I freshen up and had a bit of a rest, I take the Tube to Piccadilly Circus for a bit of shopping and eating at Fortnum and Mason.
I sit down like a lady in The Parlour, for a quiche Lorraine and a very classy milkshake (Salted Caramel Ice Cream, Hot(!!) Chocolate, Butterscotch, Vanilla Marshmallow and Whipped Cream:)
After a bit of shopping in Fortnum and Mason's chocolate department I take the Tube to Waterloo station and from there walk to the Old Vic Theatre.
The play is a double feature by Samuel Becket with Alan Cumming and Daniel Radcliffe. The first short play is about half an hour and I like it a lot. The second, main play is an hour and a half without intermission and is quite intense. Most of the audience find it funny, but I'm not a fan of cruel humour, so I'm having a rough night. It's a fantastic performance, it's just hard to watch. I do enjoy my first row seat though; I get to see the actors up close:)
On my way back I come across another cool billboard on the history of the Tube.
Saturday, March 15, 2020
I have a big breakfast in the fancy breakfastroom of the hotel (perk of the City Sleeper room, although I often get access to that with a regular room as well, one of the advantages of traveling on my own:)
I leave my backpack in the hotel and walk through Russel Square park, usually pretty crowded on a Sunday morning, now it's abandoned.
I walk on to the British Museum, which is pretty close to my hotel, yet I've never been there (and it's free entrance even!)
One of the reasons I usually avoid musea, is that I get pretty intense about wanting to see ALL the things. Knowing that I will be able to visit this magnificent museum again in the future quite easily, took some of that personal pressure away. I still saw a LOT though. Here's are a few photos of my afternoon art walk:)
The Lion of Knidos, taken from a tomb in south-west Turkey (made between 320-200 BC)
Te Reere (Helmet made from spiky puffer fish skin)) & Te Barantauti (Sword made with sharks teeth) made by I-Kiribati (before 1890). Part of the Theme Living and Dying.
Couldn't find any information about this tile, but I loved the figures: look at the guy with the lionskin taunting the lion next to him and that dude with the flute is clearly annoying the hell out of the leader of the band:)
I was in awe of the glass plates from the eastern Mediterranian (225 BC!); on the left a mosaic glass, on the right colourless glass that was originally painted and gilded.
Lely's* Venus (Aphrodite) is surprised as she bathes. This sculpture was probably made in the 1st or 2nd century AD and is a Roman copy of an earlier Greek original (now lost). Designed to create an interplay between artwork and viewer so you can walk around it, yet never see a full reveal of the goddess.
(*named after the painter Sir Peter Lely when he acquired it from the collection of Charles 1, following the King's execution in 1649)
Marble statue of a boy, the so-called 'spinario' (thorn-puller) drilled to accomodate a pipe for a fountain (about 200-100 BC).
Detail of the Lewis* Chessmen, made out of walrus ivory, from Scandinavia, probably Norway (about 1150-1200 AD)
(*The chessmen were found on a beach on the Isle of Lewis, North of Scotland)
Every piece is so very cool.
Here's the video that made me want to see them: Curator's Corner with Irving Finkel talking about the chessmen
The Last Woman Standing - from Nineveh, nothern Iraq (1073-1056 BC) This statue and its story really upset me. At first I didn't want to take a picture, but I couldn't get rid of the anger while exploring the rest of the museum, so in the end I walked back and took my time to absorb it to deal with it.
[Click on the photo to zoom and read the story. Trigger warning]
Famine Figure from foursome Disease, War, Famine and Death from The Atomic Apocalypse, a papier-maché installation by the Linares family (Mexico, 1983) - an assemblage of 132 figures and objects which includes references to actual events and areas of political conflict.
Ehm, bit of a contrast with my fancy lunch in the Great Court Restaurant: wild mallard and ham terrine plus a homemade chocolate fudge cake with figs and raspberry.
Mosaic pavements from Halicarnassus in Turkey: Animals participating in a the chase & Mask of Phobos (Fear) within a radiating petal design (4th century AD)
Jade heads and plaque from Maya (400-800 AD)
Turquoise mosaic mask, Mixtex-Aztec (1400-1521 AD)
Pottery smiling heads, Classic Veracruz (300-1200 AD) They may represent individuals who were given an inebriating potion, perhaps cacao mixed with ololiuhqui seeds to induce euphoria before being sacrificed.
Jade pectoral, Olmec (1200-400 BC, re-used in Maya 100-900 AD) The iris of the eyes and pierced nose probably bore shell work and ornaments.
View from the flight home. The plane left around 19:00 and I was home around 23:00. (11 p.m.)
Aaand that's it, this was only a small selection of all the glorious things I saw in the museum before I had to go back to the hotel for my backpack, get on the Tube to the airport and spend hours waiting in line to go through bagagechecks and fly home.
Flying was not really by choice, as I prefer to travel by train and ferry, but even though I had planned this trip well in advance, traintickets were too expensive (over 200 euros) and I didn't have enough time for either the bus or the ferry back home). Besides the environment, I also have very selfish reasons to not fly; I can buy a lot more stuff if I don't have to limit myself to carry-on luggage and I missed shopping for some of my beloved shower goodies at Boots.
I have another theatre visit planned at the end of July, I'm hoping we'll be allowed to travel again by then. I already got my trainticket home, so I'm working on my next UK shopping list;)
J.
But before that I spent a day strolling around and doing some (grocery!) shopping and of course I'm once again sharing photos of the traveling process *grins*
Here's a picspam of my two days in London!
Friday, March 13, 2020
I cycle to the station, then take the train to Rotterdam.
New: the subway/tram from Rotterdam to Hoek van Holland, the old trainstation, where you walk straight from the platform to the check-in for the ferry to England:)
Yay, on board they put steakpie back on the menu, and it's even upgraded to a fancy version! I so love being on the overnight ferry.
Bye, Netherlands. Hello freaky carpet on the ferry:)
Saturday, March 14, 2020
I always get confused by the time change; on board everything is in the Dutch timezone, but as soon as you leave the ship, it's an hour earlier.
Hello, Harwich!
Instead of the usual train there was a replacement bus to London, where I arrive a little after 9 a.m.
I have breakfast in a fancy pub in Liverpoolstreet Station: Eggs Benedict, never had those before, quite delicious!
Look at the colourful tiles in the pilars at the station <3
When I try to find a bus to South London, I take a wrong exit at the back of the station, but I don't mind, because I find a glorious statue: Broadgate Venus by Fernando Botero.
Isn't she awesome? Love all the curves and the delicate fingers and toes.
And I know I've come across this artist before. (Confirmed: back in 2006 I saw one of his statues in The Hague:)
I eventually find the right busstop and get on the bus down South.
Across the Tower Bridge from the top of a double decker bus. (Straight ahead is the bridge, to the right The Tower (castle) and behind that The Shaft (business building)
Destiny: the ASDA SuperStore, where I hope to find all sorts of wheats. Unfortunately with people panic buying there are not a lot of breakfast cereals left on the shelves, so I'm very happy when I find two flavours that I haven't tried before: wheats filled with apricot and raisins!
I get back on the bus with my groceries and get another view of the London Bridge; see the gargoyle?
Back at Liverpoolstreet Station I find a bench for a lunch snack: lemon merengue donut, bb! before I get on the Tube to my hotel.
Did I never notice these cool history billboards before?
I'm trying a fancy "City Sleeper" room in the hotel this weekend, it looks lovely, but it's more design than practical: the huge square(!) toilet is directly across from the sink where you bang your head and the toilet paper is out of reach. There's also a lot of pointless space with a chair, but no table. Plus they first gave me room without a bath, which is the whole reason for me booking this hotel; there regular rooms all have baths, even the single rooms. But the more expensive City Sleeper (with a private entrance and new furniture) apparently don't all have tubs, so I won't be booking these again)
Anyway: here's my loot for today (mostly food, yes, but also a bubble bar for my bath tonight;)
After I freshen up and had a bit of a rest, I take the Tube to Piccadilly Circus for a bit of shopping and eating at Fortnum and Mason.
I sit down like a lady in The Parlour, for a quiche Lorraine and a very classy milkshake (Salted Caramel Ice Cream, Hot(!!) Chocolate, Butterscotch, Vanilla Marshmallow and Whipped Cream:)
After a bit of shopping in Fortnum and Mason's chocolate department I take the Tube to Waterloo station and from there walk to the Old Vic Theatre.
The play is a double feature by Samuel Becket with Alan Cumming and Daniel Radcliffe. The first short play is about half an hour and I like it a lot. The second, main play is an hour and a half without intermission and is quite intense. Most of the audience find it funny, but I'm not a fan of cruel humour, so I'm having a rough night. It's a fantastic performance, it's just hard to watch. I do enjoy my first row seat though; I get to see the actors up close:)
On my way back I come across another cool billboard on the history of the Tube.
Saturday, March 15, 2020
I have a big breakfast in the fancy breakfastroom of the hotel (perk of the City Sleeper room, although I often get access to that with a regular room as well, one of the advantages of traveling on my own:)
I leave my backpack in the hotel and walk through Russel Square park, usually pretty crowded on a Sunday morning, now it's abandoned.
I walk on to the British Museum, which is pretty close to my hotel, yet I've never been there (and it's free entrance even!)
One of the reasons I usually avoid musea, is that I get pretty intense about wanting to see ALL the things. Knowing that I will be able to visit this magnificent museum again in the future quite easily, took some of that personal pressure away. I still saw a LOT though. Here's are a few photos of my afternoon art walk:)
The Lion of Knidos, taken from a tomb in south-west Turkey (made between 320-200 BC)
Te Reere (Helmet made from spiky puffer fish skin)) & Te Barantauti (Sword made with sharks teeth) made by I-Kiribati (before 1890). Part of the Theme Living and Dying.
Couldn't find any information about this tile, but I loved the figures: look at the guy with the lionskin taunting the lion next to him and that dude with the flute is clearly annoying the hell out of the leader of the band:)
I was in awe of the glass plates from the eastern Mediterranian (225 BC!); on the left a mosaic glass, on the right colourless glass that was originally painted and gilded.
Lely's* Venus (Aphrodite) is surprised as she bathes. This sculpture was probably made in the 1st or 2nd century AD and is a Roman copy of an earlier Greek original (now lost). Designed to create an interplay between artwork and viewer so you can walk around it, yet never see a full reveal of the goddess.
(*named after the painter Sir Peter Lely when he acquired it from the collection of Charles 1, following the King's execution in 1649)
Marble statue of a boy, the so-called 'spinario' (thorn-puller) drilled to accomodate a pipe for a fountain (about 200-100 BC).
Detail of the Lewis* Chessmen, made out of walrus ivory, from Scandinavia, probably Norway (about 1150-1200 AD)
(*The chessmen were found on a beach on the Isle of Lewis, North of Scotland)
Every piece is so very cool.
Here's the video that made me want to see them: Curator's Corner with Irving Finkel talking about the chessmen
The Last Woman Standing - from Nineveh, nothern Iraq (1073-1056 BC) This statue and its story really upset me. At first I didn't want to take a picture, but I couldn't get rid of the anger while exploring the rest of the museum, so in the end I walked back and took my time to absorb it to deal with it.
[Click on the photo to zoom and read the story. Trigger warning]
Famine Figure from foursome Disease, War, Famine and Death from The Atomic Apocalypse, a papier-maché installation by the Linares family (Mexico, 1983) - an assemblage of 132 figures and objects which includes references to actual events and areas of political conflict.
Ehm, bit of a contrast with my fancy lunch in the Great Court Restaurant: wild mallard and ham terrine plus a homemade chocolate fudge cake with figs and raspberry.
Mosaic pavements from Halicarnassus in Turkey: Animals participating in a the chase & Mask of Phobos (Fear) within a radiating petal design (4th century AD)
Jade heads and plaque from Maya (400-800 AD)
Turquoise mosaic mask, Mixtex-Aztec (1400-1521 AD)
Pottery smiling heads, Classic Veracruz (300-1200 AD) They may represent individuals who were given an inebriating potion, perhaps cacao mixed with ololiuhqui seeds to induce euphoria before being sacrificed.
Jade pectoral, Olmec (1200-400 BC, re-used in Maya 100-900 AD) The iris of the eyes and pierced nose probably bore shell work and ornaments.
View from the flight home. The plane left around 19:00 and I was home around 23:00. (11 p.m.)
Aaand that's it, this was only a small selection of all the glorious things I saw in the museum before I had to go back to the hotel for my backpack, get on the Tube to the airport and spend hours waiting in line to go through bagagechecks and fly home.
Flying was not really by choice, as I prefer to travel by train and ferry, but even though I had planned this trip well in advance, traintickets were too expensive (over 200 euros) and I didn't have enough time for either the bus or the ferry back home). Besides the environment, I also have very selfish reasons to not fly; I can buy a lot more stuff if I don't have to limit myself to carry-on luggage and I missed shopping for some of my beloved shower goodies at Boots.
I have another theatre visit planned at the end of July, I'm hoping we'll be allowed to travel again by then. I already got my trainticket home, so I'm working on my next UK shopping list;)
J.