The Rest of London

By request, I thought I would mention some of the other very cultural things I did in London.   Among the many museums we visited (including the National Gallery twice…) the highlights were the Velazquez exhibit at the National Gallery and the Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum.  I was fortunate to have my visit coincide with the opening of the Velazquez exhibit, which was an excellent chronological portrayal of the artist’s development, bringing together many paintings that had not yet been displayed together.   I was surprised that an artist painting in the 1600’s would have the painterly style of Velazquez–rather than focusing on depicting absolute reality, he would let a few well-placed brush strokes indicate changes in light or texture.

 While at the National Gallery I also enjoyed checking out the room with the Rubens paintings, especially ‘Samson and Delilah’ for which the National Gallery paid the second-highest price for a painting to that date.   While studying at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts in Paros, Greece, I attended a lecture that went through the dubious provenance of that painting.  At first glance I thought that perhaps the naysayers were wrong–the painting is beautiful, and has many similarities in painting style to the ones around it.  However, on closer inspection, and upon stepping back and looking at the four largest paintings together, Samson and Delilah did seem out of place.  For one, the colors are much brighter than the typical Rubens.  Also, the painting last the fine cracking of the other old Rubens paintings.  And some of the painting style did not seem to match quite right.  There are additional incongruities that you can read about at http://afterrubens.org

The British Museum houses expansive collections in an incredible building.  We had time to see only a few exhibits, and the one that the British Museum is perhaps best known for is the Parthenon Marbles– friezes and pediment statues taken from the Parthenon in Athens generations ago.  Though debate is ongoing as to whether these marbles should be returned to Greece, I must say that the British Museum does an excellent job displaying the art and does its awesome origin justice, placing the marbles somewhat as they would appear in the Parthenon, so that visitors can get a sense of the size of the building and the structures in relation to one another.  Furthermore, the pieces are at a good height for viewing–no need to crane one’s neck– and the museum is free so the marbles are highly accessible. You can read more and see pictures here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgin_Marbles

London has unlimited cultural activities, from museums to markets, and my wonderful hosts made sure I was able to see many.

 

The Poppy Appeal

All around London people are wearing little paper poppies on their lapels.  At first I thought it was a British version of the Red Hat Society, but soon learned that it is part of the Poppy Appeal, a drive to raise money for UK war veterans.  Coinciding with Veterans’ Day in the US is Armistice Day in the UK.  While just as in the US, the day has morphed from remembering those who lost their lives in WWI to those who lost their lives in all wars in which the country has fought, here the feeling of loss and remembrance permeates society much more deeply.

Throughout the city architectural incongruities indicate scars of WWII.  Pre-war buildings cover much of parts of the city, to be interrupted by the occasional modern building– a sure sign that the building that had been there previously had been bombed.  Other parts of the city center are totally all new buildings, often indicating much more widespread damage.

World War II feels much closer here and the losses from war much more visible.  The contrast between the way remembrance days are observed in the US and the UK reminds me that living a war is much different than observing it from thousands of miles away. 

 

A Tale of One City

At first I was going to title this post “A Tale of Two Cities” so as to describe the contrast between two bars I visited my first night in London.  However, I quickly realized that the title was implying a strict division of the city into two parts– a division that isn’t visible to the casual visitor, at least.  Rather, the city hums with options that spill beyond neighborhood borders and overlap in a tantalizing mix.

The first night here we went to a classic English pub with Christina, Sachin, and some of their law school friends.  The pub has a long central bar from which it serves several beers (ales? lagers?) including an organic wheat beer.  The fixtures are wood and brass and businessmen and students sit at tables throughout, including one by an in-use fireplace. 

Later that evening we went toward the Bengali/Bangladeshi end of Brick Road and had drinks at a club that featured new reggae artists.  The customers hailed from all over– Ed befriended a few Italians visiting London and one of the law students from Oklahoma joined people from Jamaica, India, and Bangladesh on the dance floor.  Outside the club men at a long food stand were selling late-night Indian food.  Just beyond, we joined the line for salted beef bagel sandwiches at a shop just across from a Turkish ocakbasi–grill– like the sort that Ed and I would often walk past when living in Istanbul.

London’s dynamism is due to the laudable incorporation of a wide range of people and traditions into a longstanding and unique culture.   Greek, Korean, Turkish, Bengali, Spanish, Jamaican, and Italian restaurants claim their spots between classic British pubs.   True, this cultural cornucopia hasn’t come without its share of bad reactions, as exemplified by London’s homegrown terror suspects.  However, on the whole the city’s people seem to quite literally feed off each other.  As a visitor, and one who lived in New York City, I find the blend energizing, and something that I will certainly miss on the next stops.