Tag Archives: London

That's Art? – Pop Life @ Tate Modern

As you can imagine, London is a BIG city. That means there is just so much to do and so little time. While I’m here, I would like to do all sorts of “tourist-y” thing there is, so last weekend, Jack and I decided to start with something basic – Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral, HARRY POTTER BRIDGE and Tate Modern Museum.

On Saturday (16 Jan) we woke up even before the sun came up – fine, exaggerated, but early enough – to get out to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. So Robert, Jack and I simply hopped on the tube, which, by the way, is so fancy compared to the glorious T back in Boston, at around 10:45 a.m. We honestly thought the ceremony started at 11:30, but when we actually got there at around 11:10, we realized we were wrong. The new set of guards were already marching into the palace and starting the whole process.

So yes, we saw these people in funny furry hats and gray winter coats playing music, including a bit of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, marching around for about an hour and successfully switching their guard shifts. It took just about an hour, and I couldn’t believe how many people there were to see this. Despite the rain, many were gathered around. More importantly, the number of different languages I heard around me was even more impressive. London is indeed a very diverse city.

For more information – i.e. history, time, place etc. – check out their website: http://www.changing-the-guard.com/

After, we walked through St. James’ Park toward Westminster tube station. I have been saying over and over again London is a BIG city, but the truth is, once you get to one area of the city, within certain areas, it is definitely walkable. For example, from Westminster station, if you’re up for it, you can walk all the way to Tate Modern, located across the river from St. Paul’s Cathedral, and on your way over, you’ll see the Aquarium, Movieum, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and National Theatre Gallery.

BUT we actually decided to be lazy and utilize the great public transportation system. For a good reason though; it started pouring, and thankfully, the #11 Bus took us directly to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Upon our arrival, we did find out it would cost us 9 pounds (student rate) to see the inside of this magnificent church.

Our thought process was this: St. Paul’s Cathedral isn’t exactly going anywhere. In the meantime, we’ve already burnt through a good portion of our budget. Unfortunately, the dollar/pound exchange rate isn’t exactly in our favor. Therefore, if we have money left over at the end of the semester, we’ll come back for the interior tour. For now, skip!

We grabbed a quick lunch at a small place called Fresh Italy. (http://www.fresh-italy.com/aboutus.aspx). To our surprise, for only £5.50, we had a huge portion of pasta and a cup of tea. What a great deal!

Now, probably the most important question ever, do you recognize this bridge?

If you don’t, SHAME ON YOU! We are no longer friends.

Alright, just kidding. But seriously, this bridge’s formal name is Milenium Bridge. If you’re a Harry Potter lover like I am, you’ll know this as The Bridge That was in the Sixth Movie. Mmhmm, that’s more like it. After all, the deatheaters didn’t destroy it. Thank goodness. As you can see, on the north side of Thames is St. Paul’s Cathedral, so if you cross the bridge, you stand right in front of Tate Modern on the south side.

Tate is a modern art museum. The building used to be a warehouse. All museums in London are FREE. There you go, cool enough reasons for me to visit and learn about modern art. As a modern art museum, Tate houses contemporary paintings, sculptures, videos and any other form of art created by imaginative minds, such as Claude Monet, Anish Kapoor, Picasso and Mario Merz. Honestly, I am not an expert, so I can’t really tell you what their artworks are like. One thing I can say though is if you ever do go to the Tate and decide to see Paul McCarthy’s video, well, don’t. Semi-disturbing. Not sure what he was trying to say through a naked man dancing around with a mask on, but I didn’t really get it.

Besides those collections, the Tate does have special exhibits – and you do have to pay admission for those. When I went, Pop Life was the main attraction. Pop Life was a display of various works by Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.

And I will let these articles do the review of the exhibit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/29/pop-life-tate-pop-art AND http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article6852784.ece

This is a fairly lengthy recap of my last Saturday. I know I still have so much to catch up on – pubs in South Kensington, Notting Hill Arts Club, Soho and Brick Lane.

More to come very very soon!

-Yoojin

Windsor Castle & Eton College

It’s already been two weeks! WOW. More accurately about 11 days, but who cares… Same difference, right? This week was filled with lectures and orientation events, including Imperial College pub night and start of the semester party at Langley. I have so much to say about both places – and of course about Tate Modern Museum, St. Paul’s Cathedral and generally being Harry Potter, but I am going to try to keep this entry focused on the daytrip I went on today.

That, my friends, is WINDSOR CASTLE – the place where past kings and queens of England have used. Most importantly, it is the oldest occupied castle and Queen’s official residence. The castle is absolutely gorgeous, especially the front entrance used by the Queen. It is just like what you see in fairytale where there is a long walkway leading up to the gate where you’re greeted by those guard with funny hats. And only after that, you enter a majestic courtyard, and up on the second floor is the Queen’s hall.

The tour of Windsor was very simple. All there was to do was circling around the circle, seeing the chapel where the Order of the Garters met and admiring the gorgeous garden. But, the most impressive and possibly the most popular feature was Queen Mary’s Dollhouse. Honestly, those dolls have it so much better that us normal folks would ever be able to afford. So. Jealous. It was fascinating to see an elaborate dollhouse that was taller than I. PS, the dollhouse is equipped with perfectly working electricity and plumbing. Why is that necessary? Not sure, but it’s SO COOL! Unfortunately photographing inside the exhibit was not allowed, but here is the taste:

That is the living room… Really, NBD.

Another site we visited was Eton College. Don’t let the name “college” deceive you. It is simply an all boys boarding school where Price William & Harry spent their high school years. Once again, really NBD. Eton is right next to Windsor Castle (only about 15 minutes of a walk), situated very nicely along Thames River. While the campus is really pretty, and according to our awesome tour guide Penny, the education the boys receive is superb, you do have to be able to pay close to 10,000 pounds per term – and there are 3 terms a year – to attend this school. Wow.

Windsor & Eton was a nice short getaway from the little bubble called South Kensington, but I’m not sure if I can ever afford to actually live in the area. It is indeed a nice little village that I enjoyed visiting.

Next up – hopefully very very soon – is my thoughts on some London explorations I’ve done so far, such as pubs around the area, Buckingham Palace, Tate Modern, etc.

PS. Today was the first sunny day in London. What a miracle!

-Yoojin

Super Quick Update – HELLO, LONDON!

6 January 2010 at 7 a.m., I landed in London to actually stay here for the next four months! Since the RA training has been ALL I’ve been doing, I will just give some bulletpoints of things that have happened so far and update more in detail later – Sorry! But I promise, I will upload lots and lots of pictures and stories after this weekend.

1. Surprisingly nice British people! Seriously, I’ve found so far that the majority of British people I’ve met are super friendly. Props for them.

2. Endless hours of RA training: absolutely miserable. When I’m mega jetlagged and exhausted, sitting in a room hearing about rules, fire alarms, culture shock, transportation etc. isn’t exactly fun… But I’m learning a lot and can’t wait for everyone to arrive on Sunday!

3. Gorgeous South Kensington buildings: pictures to come soon!

4. Comedy Store: very much like Boston’s Improv Asylum. Although some jokes are very very inappropriate, still funny and the venue is a great atmosphere for friends.

5. Gloucester Arms: the greatest fish and chips thus far. YUM.

I will write so much more later! Safe travels to everyone coming this weekend and to everyone who’s going back to Boston soon!

-Yoojin

Definitely on My Shopping List – Hunter Boots

One of about million things on my mind as I prepare to leave for London is definitely the weather. Anyone with common sense knows it rains a whole lot over there, and because I didn’t have enough room in my suitcase, I threw out my Urban Outfitters rainboots before leaving Boston. Mistake? Well… When you already have 10 or so boxes stored with your friends and bringing 4 bags on the plane, if you can’t exactly fit those heavy rubbery boots in your bag, you give up – especially when the left one has a hole.

I tried to see if any weather website had the capacity to predict what the weather is going to be this January through March. Obviously, I didn’t succeed too much there, BUT I did find these thanks to http://www.visitlondon.com/weather/ website.

This is the annual temperature pattern for London. Hovering just above 32 Fahrenheit, I think if I survived the horrible blizzard and wind in Boston in the past two years, I might do a little better in London. And more importantly, rainfall…

Yup, definitely will need a new pair of rainboots there. So as I was gently placing my old pair in the trash, I decided I will invest in a nice pair as soon as I cross the pond, and this is what I have in mind: Hunter Boots.

I heard some great things about them from friends. A bit pricey, but I think worth it. Hopefully in 3 weeks or so, you can see me actually sporting this pair of green Hunters, roaming around the winding streets of London. Any other suggestions for amazing rainboots are obviously always welcome!

-Yoojin