London 2014 Day 8

Hello and welcome back to my London vacation recap. Thanks for your patience on this continuation. The house has been turned upside down the past few days with wood flooring installation and now we're preparing for carpet replacement in just a few short days. Crazy!

Only two more days to share of our trip. Day 8 was our last full day in London. We were a bit lazy getting up after our evening out on the town the night before, so we decided to enjoy a simple breakfast in the room. We munched on biscotti, cheese and of course our in-room coffee then headed out for a day of ART.


But first, a light snack. (It's always about food isn't it?) This was just enough to fuel me for several hours in an art gallery.



We headed to Trafalgar Square to visit the National Gallery. Although there are many galleries and museums, we chose the National Gallery for the famous works of da Vinci, Raphael, Rubens, Renoir, Monet, to name just a few. We learned very quickly that no photography was allowed and that meant cell phones as well. So nothing to share here, unfortunately. If you have the time, allot an entire afternoon to this one. We only spent a few hours here but wished we had time for more.



We stopped for lunch at a place we'd been passing by every day during our trip. Basaba Eathai. It was always packed with people and we were curious if it was all it seemed to be. It certainly was! This is my delicious lunch: grilled salmon, coconut rice, and spinach salad. Perfection!



We also became quite fond of the gelato in London. Specifically, Snowflake Luxury Gelato. Omygoodness, this stuff was sinful. I was happy they offered small portions. The selection changed daily but I always seemed to find something with chocolate and coffee. Yum!


We went back to our hotel room to relax and freshen up a bit, then quickly got on the tube to Tate Modern. The entire other end of the art spectrum, Tate Modern hosts 7 levels of very modern art. Now I have to admit, my family and I are definitely not refined enough to appreciate modern art. We just don't get it, quite frankly, and found that we were doing more giggling than appreciating.



With that said, however, there were works that did happen to intrigue me, this being one of them. Almost like an appliquéd quilt, this piece was interesting. And rather than trying to explain what it conveys, I'll just share the description...



I found it interesting.


It felt like a sort of scrapbook to me.






These lithographs were giving me artistic inspiration. 



And while this may look like a huge jellyfish-type of creature from afar...



Upon closure inspection you see the lacing and hand stitching. When I read the description, it was something to do with flesh and sex and boys by a river. So there you go. (giggle)



After our Tate Modern experience we headed back to toward the tube station. We passed this cute little place and I had to snap a photo. It seemed like a happy little place.



By the time we got off the tube, it was almost time for the World Cup to begin. England was about to play Uruguay so we searched for a pub that might be showing the game. We looked in the window of Byron's and noticed a large projection of a soccer game on the wall, so we decided this was our dinner spot. A good ole burger and beer joint.



We quickly realized the soccer game projected on the wall was simply an old soccer game projected on the wall. Not a television projection. So we enjoyed our drinks and eventually our delicious burgers.



This is our cute waiter laughing as I told him how we realized the game we were waiting for on the wall was not coming.


We finished our burgers and headed back to the hotel to watch the actual game, in which England (sadly) lost. We enjoyed watching, nonetheless, then packed most of our things for our departure tomorrow afternoon. I was feeling torn. I could have happily stayed in London longer, but I was feeling ready to get back home too. 


Day 9 and 10 to come in my next and final London recap post. Stay tuned!



Comments

  1. Can't believe it's almost over already "(
    Annette, I sure have been enjoying your trip with you and your fam! So glad you shared!
    How funny the real soccer game never came on- why wouldn't they play it? Seems odd-
    oh well- waiting on our last day!
    Hugs

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  2. So the modern art museum pieces you shared almost reminds me of mixed media! I have enjoyed "our" travels around London and am sad that it is coming to an end.

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  3. I've really been enjoying this trip of yours. I guess I'm not very refined either because I just didn't get the art in that place. Oh and yes...that waiter sure was cute! LOL

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  4. Love that you guys did a wide variety of things . Have been enjoying the experience. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. If you come back to the UK Annette go to Tate Britain rather than Tate Modern...that is where all the real art is ;0)Howevere the Tate Modern building is fun and near lots of good places to visit Glad you enjoyed your stay here and your food again looked delicious x

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  6. Another fun day and the food is making me hungry lol. xx

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