Thursday 29 July 2010

Lots of history at theTower of London

Like history? Like London? Where better to explore the history of London than at the Tower of London. The whole place just oozes history from the moment you step out of Tower Hill underground station and come face to face with a statue of the Roman Emperor Trajan, then walk down the steps surrounded by sections of the original Roman wall. When you get to the bottom of the steps you are confronted by the Tower of London itself. A great big fortress right in the middle of London. The original Norman keep, the White Tower, is surrounded by layers of castle that have been added over many centuries.

When I went to the Tower of London on a school trip many years ago (yes I am a piece of living history now) we joked about breaking back in to steal the Crown Jewels which are kept here. Nowadays the value of jewels is negligible compared to the cost of a ticket to get in! In fairness the entry cost is not too bad if you buy a family ticket, or better still if you are a family who like history enough to go to other Historic Royal Palaces, like Hampton Court, within the year then the Family Membership becomes a sensible option. This gives you family entry to several Historic Royal Palaces for a year though you do need 6 kids to get full value out of it! Best to book or buy online in advance, so here is a link to Historic Royal Palaces website.

I won't spoil it by telling you all about the ghosts, the princes and famous characters who have lived and died in the Tower of London over the centuries. Discover it for yourself. All I'll say is that it's fabulous, and if it's a nice day you might enjoy your picnic by the River Thames which runs alongside, while feasting your eyes on two of London's other famous and historic views; HMS Belfast is a World War II battleship which is "parked" just across the river, and Tower Bridge, which tourists from around the world think is London Bridge because it's in London. Both of these are also open for the pleasure of those at leisure in London.

Saturday 24 July 2010

Renaissance Drawings at the British Museum



The British Museum's exhibition of Renaissance Drawings has been on for ages and finishes this weekend so I finally got my act together and went to see it this week. At £12 a ticket it could be considered expensive for what are, after all, some small faded drawings. But what fabulous drawings they are. And all the better when you realise that the artists who drew them were doing something new and exciting. They were drawing in ways that had never been done before. Even paper itself was a new technology at the time, which I guess might explain the small size of the drawings as the paper was probably an expensive luxury. Of course some of the drawings were faded or damaged, but even so looked pretty good for their age. The opportunity to inspect these pictures so closely was wonderful, and it is impossible to describe the beauty of some of these works by Raphael, Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Titian. They are simply breathtaking!

The British Museum has more great things lined up this year including an exhibition based around the Egyptian Book of the Dead. It doesn't start until November so there is time to save up another £12 and it looks like it will be well worth a visit. I suppose they have to charge that kind of money to keep the rest of the museum open. It's only a matter of time before the Tories

Friday 16 July 2010

Why London?




Why? Well as Samual Johnson put it, "... When a man is tired of London he is tired of life
; for there is in London all that life can afford."

Besides, it's on my doorstep.