Last Friday we had a pretty easy day at the Institute; all we had planned for the day was visiting Sotheby’s ‘Modern & Post-War British Art’ auction preview in the morning. I enjoyed this sale much more than the Russian Art preview we visited the week before but unfortunately the auction itself, which we watched later this week, was not very successful despite the various big names within the sale. I did end up buying a sale catalogue as a souvenir though!
After our tour, I decided to walk around the area to better acquaint myself and ended up stumbling upon Green Park which I had no idea was anywhere nearby. I grabbed food from a takeaway place and had a nice little picnic in the park, eating while I read my sales catalogue.
Green Park living up to its name
I then ambled on over to Buckingham Palace which is just at the other end of the park. I didn’t get very close to the palace since there were like a bajillion tourists hanging about but I did manage to get some pictures through the fence.
“You can call me Queen Bee #london #100happydays 30/100 at Buckingham Palace“
My next stop was the Royal Academy which, although is one of the few museums you have to pay an entry fee, is one of the best art museums in the city, in my opinion.
I bought a ticket for their exhibit, ‘Renaissance ImpressionsL Chiaroscuro Woodcuts from the Collection of Georg Baselitz and the Albertina, Vienna’ mainly due to the fact that although I have studied woodcuts in past Art History courses, I still didn’t really understand the whole technique and process. It was interesting getting to see a work by Albrecht Durer (Rhinoceros, 1515) and I got to see for myself how artists couldan either use lines or color and shadow to define their pictorial spaces.
I then walked around Fortnum & Mason and La Duree before heading back to Green Park to enjoy the sunshine while eating macaroons for just another half an hour before heading over to Besso. There were so many other people outside lounging on the grass and it’s obvious that Londoners don’t take the sun for granted after so many dreary winter months.
That night, I met up with friends for drinks at an Irish pub called O’Neill’s which was weirdly located in Chinatown. We split Strawberry Daiquiris and gossiped for a few hours before we all parted ways before the tube closed.
The next morning we met up again to head over to Borough Market (yes dad, I do go to Borough Market too often…) which is right near the London Bridge tube station. We walked around looking at all of the different vendors and enjoying as many free samples as we could. I started with a Prosecco Spritzer, which ended up being nauseatingly sweet so a friend finished it for me. For lunch, I got Moong Dal Dosa, which was basically a spiced lentil crepe with masala potatoes from ‘Horn OK Please,’ a vegetarian Indian street food vendor. It was so, so delicious but I only ate half of it so that I could save room for dessert afterward. I ended up getting apple pie ice cream that was made from goat’s milk, which was very good but definitely icier than normal ice cream.
After splitting up I was pretty lazy for the rest of the day and the only other interesting thing I did was skype with mom and dad, who were leaving for California the next day. I also got to say hello to all of the animals, which was exciting!
Grumpy Cat
I finished off the night with a walk through Kensington Gardens which is always so beautiful around sunset. There also tend to be less people in the park at that time so it’s a nice place to wind down and just think to yourself.
“Albert Memorial #london #100happydays 31/100 at Kensington Gardens“
On Sunday, a few friends and I did something that I’ve wanted to do since last fall—go to Windsor Castle. I readily admit that although places like Windsor Castle tend to be super touristy, they are always some of my favorite places to visit because they are just so historically significant. We took two trains to get out to Windsor and then waited in line for thirty minutes to get our tickets. Included in our tickets was an audio guide, which is another one of my guilty pleasures. We walked around the castle grounds for the next few hours, exploring the gardens, Queen Mary’s Doll House and the State Apartments, before leaving and grabbing lunch at a local pub. I got the classic fish & chips, which will probably be the last of this summer just because it’s such a heavy meal. Overall, I loved Windsor and the weather was absolutely gorgeous which was a definite plus. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see Queen Elizabeth but apparently Windsor Castle is her weekend retreat. Imagine having an entire castle dedicated to servicing you for just two days a week!!
