A Day of Museums

The plan for today was to get some culture.  Yeah, I know, culture on me is like perfume on a pig.  Anyway, I started out the day going to Trafalgar Square, where the National Gallery is located.  There's also a few fountains and statues celebrating generals and admirals there too.  While waiting for the museum to open I watched a guy who had a couple of raptors of some kind.  They would fly up and land on the building or a handrail, then he would call them back with some food.  These birds had some serious talons, and it was pretty cool to watch.

After I went in and toured the National Gallery, I walked down to the Thames, crossed and then down to Tate Modern.  I guess I'm pretty shallow, because I think I needed some drugs to appreciate some of the stuff in there...I just didn't get some of it.  I finished up the trifecta with a visit to Tate British.  It's art from about the 1500s up to the early 1900s, and all by British artists, and made more sense to me.  The best part is that all the museums were free! A donation was suggested but there was no admission fees for any of them.

Something I really like about this city is all the little pockets of green space they've set aside.  Some are major parcels of land while others are just a few hundred yards long by 50 or 60 yards wide, but almost all of them have some large mature trees and are very beautiful places.  Well kept, too.

On the way back I was passing the billet where the horse guards stay and they were doing some kind of drill or inspection.  I'm not sure what the ceremony was, but it was nowhere near as crowded as the changing of the guard ceremony was yesterday at Buckingham Palace.  Even arriving after it was underway, I was able to get close enough to get a few pretty decent shots just by reaching up and pointing the camera and getting lucky with framing and focus.  There couldn't have been more than a 300 people there and I was only 3 or 4 deep from the front of the crowd.


The food was interesting today too.  I went to Borough Market, an open air place with lots of food vendors selling all kinds of stuff.  The scents coming from some of the booths were incredible, and I settled on pie and mash, a British staple.  The vendor was a young guy who recommended the English beef and Irish Stout pie, a traditional favorite.  It was very good, a two crusted meat pie, served with mashed potatoes and covered in a brown gravy, and it really filled me up.  The price was reasonable, 5.50 pounds (about $9) too. I also hit a cheese vendor that Frances suggested, but they didn't have the variety she suggested.  I settled for about 50 grams of Peccorino to take with me and snack on.   For my dinner this evening, I hit a little hole in the wall joint near my hotel and had piri piri chicken.  I think it's the Middle Eastern version of buffalo wings.  The piri piri sauce was extremely hot and they served garlic mayo as a dipping sauce.  Add fries and a drink and a price of about 5 pounds, and I was a happy guy!

Before returning to my neighborhood, I stopped by Picadilly Circus.  There is a statue there and is a place where people congregate.  There was a one-man band playing and this kid was pretty good.  He had a microphone, electric acoustic guitar, harmonica, and a foot tambourine, and was playing Beatles and Bob Dylan tunes, among others.  He had a great voice, was a very talented musician, and a big hit with the assembled crowd.  I would load a picture, but Google is not cooperating all of a sudden. Oh well.