Monday, April 14, 2014

Thursday 3rd April: National Gallery and Carnaby Street

Today is dedicated to the National Gallery, one of the greatest art galleries in the world.  We had our normal breakfast and then took the trusty 23 bus from Praed Street, which passes in front of Paddington station, only a block from the hotel.  It seems that the 23 goes everywhere!  We got off right at Trafalgar Square and I started taking pictures right away.  The place was crammed with people, there were jugglers and musicians, tourists by the hundreds, some locals walking to and fro, lots of people taking pictures with cell phones and cameras.
Musicians in front of National Gallery

There is a statue of the heroic Admiral Nelson, hero and victim of the battle of Trafalgar who saved England from yet another catastrophe during the Napoleonic wars; he is perched atop of a slender, very tall column way above the crowd.
Nelson's statue and column


I climbed onto the base (no stairs) and took my photos of the crowd and a panoramic video.  The National Gallery anchors the square, a small dome on top of columns, very classic architecture.








The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square

Video panorama of Trafalgar Square

We entered the gallery; as with most major galleries in London it's free (thankfully, as the prices for everything else will kill your budget). Although there were many signs asking for contributions. No photos were allowed anywhere in the museum, so we wandered our way through the 4 floors and thousands of paintings. There was a section on the Impressionists with many paintings by Monet, Degas, Van Gough, and the counterparts and entire wings devoted to religious art from the middle ages.  We found the Dutch Masters and discovered our first Rembrandt (an early self portrait), just as a tour guide came in to talk about it and the painting hanging next to it which Rembrandt had used as inspiration to display his powers.  The guide was interesting and took the crowd around the corner to view and discuss other paintings by Rembrandt; this time a well known later self portrait, looking old and haggard even though he was only early 60's, alongside an iconic painting of his mistress and-the cover image for a historical novel I read a year or two ago called "Rembrandt's Whore".  He told a little of the story of the painter and his house keeper turned mistress, who became mother to one of his sons after the death of his wife. Like so many artists, poor Rembrandt, one of the greatest painters of the ages, died in poverty, unappreciated by most of the art community of his time.
Rembrandt's housekeeper

We saw too many other paintings to remember, by Velasquez, Rubens, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, and a few by Vermeer ("the Pearl Earring" wasn't here), Goya, Constable, and a couple of large Turner's, one of England's greatest, and an early harbinger of Impressionism.

It can be very tiring walking around an art gallery!  Fortunately, this one is well stocked with benches and chairs, some very luxurious, with padded leather and such.  We spent over 4 hours here, and still ffelt somewhat rushed.. We finished by having a nice lunch at the gallery cafe;  I had a nice egg salad sandwich on fresh baguette, Evie had a fish pie which she loved. I took a shot of Nelson's statue through the window when some dark clouds were passing by.

We finally left the gallery, sometime after 3 PM, and walked around the square with its pair of big fountains and many statues including one of George Washington!  There were all sorts of street entertainers in the square including a suspended in air Yoda and  a rock group using battery powered amps.
Yoda hanging out



















We walked across the street to the church of St. Martins in the Field, another icon of London, famous for orchestras that have recorded there over the years.  We happened upon the rehearsal for a concert after that very evening, a string quartet lead by a famous woman on violin, with a harpsichord, playing Vivaldi and some other early works. We sat and listened long enough to get some energy back then started up the street only to find ourselves in front of the National Portrait Gallery!

The Spire of St. Martins

We had to walk in, even if for a short time, and rush through part of it.  Entire wings devoted to portraits and sculptures of all of the kings, queens and sundry royals as well as a mixture of modern celebrities.   with a whole room devoted to Vivian Leigh from before "Gone with the Wind" until her last pictures.
Statue of Shakespeare in Leicester Sq.

Without a real destination in mind, and set off toward Soho. to find Carnaby Street. After walking through the densely packed Leicester Square (pronounced  LESTER) with it's statue of Shakespeare leaning on a very tilted pedestal, we sat on a bench in a small park called Golden Square. We watched some young men play ping pong; the tables were there but they had to bring their own paddles and balls and apparently came by bike.


After sufficient rest, we continued on and finally found the legendary shopping mecca a couple of blocks further on, still a destination 50 years made famous for its fashions and the hit makers of the 60's; the Beatles, Rolling Stones and even the Small Faces who have a plaque on one of the walls.  It's packed with highly priced clothing stores and some restaurants packed into only a couple of city blocks long. I didn't see anything that I couldn't live without!!
Irving Street, pedestrians only

Carnaby Street towards one end


















Map showing location of Carnaby St., right off Regent Street and between Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus.
Trafalgar Square is just past Piccadilly Circus on the lower right corner

After a circuitous walk around, we found a tube entrance and caught the Bakerloo line right back to Paddington station, just a couple of blocks from the hotel. We made a stop at a Costa Coffee house for refreshments and returned to the hotel for a rest, a nice little lie down!  Then, it was dinner time. I thought we should explore the major boulevard to our west, Edgware Road (that no "e" makes it look funny).  We jumped on a bus for the several blocks and soon discovered that this area is completely Arabic; all shops and restaurants are Middle Eastern with lots of Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian places, men with hookah pipes drinking their coffees outside.  I was still looking for the English experience so we decided that this was a failed exploration and we quickly jumped back on a trusty number 23 back to the hotel stopping at a little cafe just a half block away and I had more fish and chips, Evie I think had some soup, and we shuffled back to the hotel and took it easy for the rest of the evening. We're very happy with this room.  The price of the room varies from day to day, even though we are here for a week.  The first place gave us one night free with 6 purchased, but not here, so it's about $1300 for the week.

Hotel room at Norfolk Towers

Spacious bathroom; no shower curtain

I still haven't found any locations for casual live music, either a local pub or club with a band.  Can't find a publication that might list them; not much on the Web and when we ask anyone, people tell us there is no live music??!! I cannot believe it despite Evie telling me this before we left and that mostly all the music is in dance clubs; I think she may have a point!  

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