Sights and Sounds of the Big Smoke--Day 23

First of all, happy first day of fall (autumn)! This is my favorite season by far! I love the beautiful colors of both the trees and the sky (it always seems bluer this time of year), the cool (but not cold) weather, and the comfort of warm beverages and clothing if the air does get a little nippy. I would say that my first day of fall was pretty good. We did not get to see Buckingham Palace today because by the time we reached the gates (only 10:30 AM, mind you), tickets were sold out not only for the day but for the entire weekend! A few of us were pretty bummed (I'll confess that I was not among them...it would have been cool, but I am extremely flexible and understanding, not to mention the price of admission is 16 pounds). My roommate really, really wants to go, so she bought a ticket for Wednesday morning. I would have bought a ticket, too, but I have class in the afternoon on Wednesday and don't want to risk being late. Well, that and I have a big presentation in history class on Wednesday for which I would like to spend the morning doing last-minute preparation and such. I did get some good pictures from around the area, including a side-shot of the palace and a photo of the statue of Queen Victoria that stands just outside the palace gates.

Though we were refused admittance to the palace, we poked around one of the gift shops for a few minutes, but most of the items were too expensive for our tastes. From Buckingham Palace, you can see the London Eye, which gave us the idea of walking there and doing that instead of the palace. You'll probably laugh at me because the price of a ticket is almost 19 pounds (yikes!), but it's one of those things you almost have to do even though it's super touristy. The experience starts with a four-minute 4D video. That part was okay. I didn't like getting spritzed with water (which happened a few times). Then, we walked a short way to the line, which actually moves pretty fast. After about 5-10 minutes of waiting, we boarded a pod and began our slow ascent on the Eye. I must say that the views from the Eye are indeed spectacular. I got some really nice shots, including one of Buckingham Palace and one of St. Paul's Cathedral (it's like being on the other end of the shot because I took all those high-up photos at St. Paul's for history class).

The London Eye...like I needed to tell you!

I finally got a good snapshot of Big Ben.

A barge on the Thames framed by the shadow of the London Eye.

Millenium Bridge and northwest London as seen from the London Eye.

St. Paul's as seen from the London Eye.

And...Big Ben again! I feel like the Houses of Parliament are getting some pretty rich treatment from me.

Buckingham Palace, the Aerial Shot (it's more or less in the center of the shot; I think the buildings in the foreground are part of St. James's Palace, and the green space is St. James's Park).

 After the London Eye, we all agreed to go back to our flats so we could have lunch and rest for a few hours before heading out again. Then, at 4 PM, we set off for Trafalgar Square, the site of the candlelight concert. You may note that we were a few hours early, but we really wanted to see two very cool (and free!) museums that occupy Trafalgar Square along with St. Martin: the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. We ended up getting to the National Portrait Gallery at about 5 PM, and there was so much to see that we didn't really have enough time for the National Gallery (which I still really want to see because it has a lot of great works by British painters). Anyway, the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is a fascinating place. It is perhaps best known for its original portraits of Tudor monarchs and Tudor-era dignitaries, the oldest known paintings in the gallery. These portraits are richly colored and highly expressive. I particularly loved the painting of Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's last wife before he died. She was really a beautiful woman, and the artist represented her beauty very well. He also painted her clothing and jewelry with such detail that I felt like I could almost reach out and feel the fabric of her dress or the gold and jewels on her hands and neck. One level down, there are paintings from the 19th and early 20th centuries. I saw some lovely depictions of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, especially a marble sculpture of Victoria in which her arm is resting on Albert's shoulder and her hand in his as he leans slightly forward to speak to her. It wonderfully captured the love those two had for each other. It was quite touching to behold. The same floor also had a playful painting of a young Paul McCartney. The bottom floor of the gallery had more modern portraits, including photographs of many British celebrities with whom we are all familiar (Russell Brand, Rowan Atkinson, Ricky Gervais, Paul McCartney again as an older man, etc). Some of the portraits were in media that I had never thought of as "portrait-worthy" including an interesting LCD self-portrait, a freeze-frame image of David Beckham, and an acrylic-on-linen piece that looked so much like photography that it scared me. However, I am somewhat ashamed to admit that my very favorite piece was a painting of Prince William and Prince Harry in their uniforms. They looked very handsome, and the picture was cute because William was in conversation with his brother, who was half bent-over and smiling during the interaction. Overall, it was a sweet picture of brotherly affection (although I'm not really sure if they actually get along well in real life). I wasn't sure if picture-taking was allowed, so I didn't get any snapshots of the portraits. I'd just encourage you to check out the website if you're curious.

We left the NPG and headed across Trafalgar Square to St. Martin-in-the-Fields for the candlelight concert. The church is quite magnificent, as you can see from the photo I snapped before the performance. As for the concert itself, I can only give high praise. It was lovely. A lot of the music was familiar to me, being mostly composed by Mozart. I'm sure you would have recognized many of the melodies, too (we heard some of his violin concertos and Nachtmusik). During intermission, we wandered downstairs to check out the renowned Cafe in the Crypt, which is just what it sounds like. My roommate expressed surprise that someone thought it would be okay to establish a restaurant on top of others' resting places, but I think it's a common theme: St. Paul's also has a cafe. Anyway, intermission was not very fun for one of my friends. She took a bad step off her pew and rolled her ankle, causing her to fall to the floor and momentarily black out. She was quickly given ice and her own seat at the back of the church so she could elevate her leg, and after the performance, she was taken to the emergency room by our program leader and another one of my friends. She had x-rays, and her ankle is not broken, but the last I heard, the doctors were checking for hairline fractures and sprains, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. It is my understanding that she will be fine, probably only requiring a brace, but I am hoping she recovers quickly. She is a real trooper, too. She has a very high pain tolerance, and she had her usual charming sense of humor through the whole ordeal.

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square (I tried to get a people-less shot because I prefer them, but this was the best I could do...it's a pretty happening area of London).

Welcome to St. Martin-in-the-Fields church!

 After quite the exciting day, I am ready for bed. Tomorrow is our trip to Hampton Court Palace, so I'm looking forward to getting some shots of the gardens and the facade of the castle. (It's the least I can do given today's early disappointment.) I'm sure I'll learn a lot so I can share it all with you when we return. Hopefully you don't mind your history lessons!