Sunday we decided to do a sure thing and the National Gallery sounded perfect. We rode the transit to Trafalgar Square and were awed when we rounded the corner and viewed the square for the first time.
It was teeming with people and performers and was surrounded by stunning statues and buildings. The area is immense and the first word that comes to mind is "grandeur". Just beautiful!
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| Steps to the National Gallery |
Inside we started our tour of paintings and really enjoyed slowing down and shuffling along. London is a mad dash for the most part as you are swept along in crowds moving at the speed of light. The transit system has no patience for shuffling. You are to walk as fast as you can. Period. Doesn't matter that the trains come every 3-6 minutes, they all want to get on the one that's just leaving. And you're instructed to stand to the right on the escalators because there are runners. They come whizzing past on their way to who knows where. So anyway! It was nice to have quiet slow time just looking at paintings. We love paintings and usually end up getting yelled at to not stand so close or point so close, etc. But there was a rope to stay behind and that helped us stay in the lines. And there were these magnificent old leather couches to sit on when you got tired. Not a hard bench but an actual soft couch. Love the English.
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| Ok, there were a few hard benches too. |
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| Vincent van Gogh's "A Wheatfield, with Cypresses" |
There's something amazing about being able to see masterworks of art up close and personal, and no one let's you do it better than the grand museums of Europe. There are no ropes, no partitions, no bullet proof glass (except for maybe the Mona Lisa in the Louvre), just paintings hanging on the wall like in your home that you can sidle right up to and then somehow fight that urge to reach out and touch the fabric with your fingers you're so close. It gives you such a deep appreciation for the paintings and sometimes you fall in love with an artist or a style that you never had noticed before.
These are some of our favorite paintings from our visit to the National Gallery.
Although there are several famous Van Gogh's housed in the museum, including "Sunflowers", our favorite of his works here was by far was "A Wheatfield, with Cypresses", painted in 1889. We completely fell in love with Van Gogh's work after going through the Van Gogh's Museum in Amsterdam where we first saw his paintings up close. There's something about the style that almost brings on vertigo in the swirls and brushstrokes.
Another artist we love is Georges Seurat, known for his amazing work with the pointillism technique. A method of blending a multitude of small dots of paint to form exquisite scenes. No one does it better than Seurat.
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| "Bathers at Asnieres" Georges Seurat, 1884 |
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| Le Bec du Hoc, Grandcamp, by Georges Seurat, 1885 |
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| See the cool leather couches. People love them. |
The National Gallery, like all of the major museums in London is free, which in itself is just amazing. What a great gift to the world! Of course there are crowds, after all it is a huge cultural site smack dab in the middle of one of the most visited cities on earth, but with that said, you never really feel rushed or feel the need to jockey for position to view the works. If one coveted painting is blocked by viewers you just move along to another one, and then in a minute or two you double back to the painting after the people have moved on. It seems like you always get to spend as much time as you want with a painting, which is pretty great!
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| "A Dead Soldier", 1630, Italian, Artist Unknown |
Yeah, we know...kinda weird to love a painting of a dead soldier, but the colors were just amazing, and the soldier looked so very...dead. I guess you had to see it to understand, but it was really well done.
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| "Witches at their Incantations", Salvator Rosa, 1646 |
OK, OK, we know, we've got kinda a morbid theme going here, but once again the detail and nocturnal light in this painting were amazing. Creepy to be sure. It was very rare to paint such scenes during the 17th century, a period not know for it's toleration of the occult.
Now to show you that we are not completely (completely) demented, here's some more purdy paintings we enjoyed. See, we're normal...
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"A Man and a Youth ploughing with Oxen", Nicolaes Berchem, Dutch, 1655
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| Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s The Skiff (La Yole), French, 1875 |
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| "Harvest Le Pouldu", Paul Gauguin, French, 1890 |
After a few hours in the museum we walked down the hill towards Big Ben and got caught in a rain shower and took shelter in a pub where we had a snack and a couple of beers. We continued down the street and got caught in another rain shower and could only find a small overhang already occupied by a woman and her son?. They graciously made room and we stood there in the rain chatting about the state of the world. We ended up talking with them for about 20 minutes even though it had stopped raining. Those kind of chance encounters really round out your travel experience and we always treasure them.
We finally made our way down to Big Ben and he did not disappoint! So huge and intricate and just impressive all around.
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We were there at three and got to hear it gong.
Westminster Abbey
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The door and gates in London are awe inspiring. We love the details!
Parliament
At the gates of the Prime Minister's Residence. There was a large group of protestors across the street.
After a long day we walked another mile to our chosen Sunday Roast Beef Dinner with Yorkshire Pudding. Sophia's Steakhouse. Sat down and had a marvelous dinner. It was our first Yorkshire Pudding and it was pretty tasty. The English make excellent gravy!
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