The Bathers and Sunflowers

When we arrived Wednesday afternoon in London, we crashed in our crappy room for a couple of hours and when we woke up, I turned to JD and said, "ready to explore?"

Jumped onto the Tube at Earls Court and exited at Westminster. The sun was about to set and one of the first things we saw when we came out of the Tube and onto the street was Big Ben and Houses of Parliament. JD got very quiet for a moment and I realized that he was probably finally taking it all in. "Welcome to London" I said with a smile and he smiled back a bit dreamily.

Our first London sightseeing stop was Westminster Abbey. The cathedral was a bit eerie and sobering, and I felt a little awed staring at the dozens of effigies, statues and crypts. JD whipped out his sketchpad and drew Shakespeare's statue while I did a little more walking, eventually having to leave for a moment to take a restroom break across the street.

(Here's a pic taken during our tour a few days later- better lighting and all.)


Later that night I took JD for a walk around Trafalgar Square. Ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Cafe In The Crypt, located in, yes, the crypt of St. Martin in the Fields Church. They give you way too much food for what you pay, though with the dollar-pound exchange rate, that's really a good thing nowadays.

BTW, the English can't do a proper apple pie for shit. I might be angering a few people out there, or even blaspheming (since the English were the originators of apple pie), but give me an American slice any day.

Afterwards we went to the National Gallery.


Now I love this museum, and the last time I was here, I spent 3 hours inside and looked at EVERYTHING. This time around JD and I focused on some key areas/periods, particularly the "Manet To Picasso" exhibition in the basement Sainsbury Wing. I had to make sure he bore witness to seeing such famous Impressionistic pieces like Sunflowers by Van Gogh and Bathers At Asnieres by Seurat in the flesh. It's pretty indescribable, even the second time around. As for JD, well...being an art major and having studied these masterpieces... it was bit mind-blowing for him.

This season's special exhibition was Velazquez, and I recalled seeing some of his works (including the famous Las Meninas) on display at the Museo Del Pradoin Madrid, so I was excited to see these works. Unfortunately, this was a paid exhibition and so we ixnayed this begrudgingly. Ah well, we're going to Spain next year anyway.

Most of London's museums are free. I really love that. Like, really.