Day 15 - L.O.N.D.O.N.

I must apologize for my inactive blog-ness lately. I have been meaning for a few nights to write up a new post but have either gotten distracted or too tired to power my brain enough to formulate sentences and paragraphs and such. Good news about that though is I have had a fairly active last few days which translates into interesting stories and some strikingly beautiful photos.

To pick up where my last post left off, I arrived in London on Saturday morning at about 1:00 AM. Rhea and her husband Mathew picked me up at the bus stop and surprised me with a quick tour of London's biggest sights at night. I had a quick glimpse of Big Ben, the House of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, and Camden Town, among a few others I can't quite remember. It was a fantastic introduction to London.

The flat I am staying in is located in a neighborhood dubbed Shepherd's Bush. This is a wonderfully diverse part of London, culturally speaking. It is home to many first and second generation immigrants from the Middle East, the Carribean, various Asian countries, and Australia (booya!). The mix of all of these backgrounds brings a great amount of character to this area. I absolutely love it. Not to mention there are falafel shops aplenty, a fact I could definitely get used to were I to live here. Speaking of which, being able to stay with Rhea and Mathew in their flat has given me great insight into what it is like to live in London, as opposed to being in a hostel that would not be located in the heart of a real London neighborhood. I truly do love what I have seen of this city. Yesterday I even looked into what it would take for me to renew my Australian passport which in turn would allow me to get a job in London for up to a year. Australian citizens are allowed to obtain work visas much more easily because of Commonwealth laws. Despite Australia's independence from Britain long ago there are still some ties to the Queen, one of which is the aforementioned long work visa for those from down under. Alas, obtaining my passport while in the UK would prove to be prohibitively difficult. I can always come back to London after returning home, which is what my plan currently is.

The museums in this city are unparalleled, as far as I've seen. The British Museum has so much history contained within it's walls that I am going to have to visit it a second time to see what I missed when I went yesterday. I was up close and personal with the Rosetta Stone, the famous key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. That was really amazing. To see an artifact so important to Egyptian history, arguably the most important find for understanding Egyptian culture, blew my mind. Without this slab of stone 4,000 years of Egyptian culture would still be a mystery to us today. I don't know about you but that sounds like a pretty big deal to me. Some of the other artifacts I admired were almost 4,000 years old. Four thousand years! That's nuts. Although, I couldn't help but think while examining all of these pieces about my time spent in Egypt when I was just a wee lad. I was impressed by the museum's collection but didn't find it as impressive as seeing similar artifacts actually in Egypt, within the pyramids. I cannot wait to go back to the British Museum, something I will likely revisit tomorrow, as long as I wake up early enough, something that is easier said than done for me.

Yesterday was the British Museum, today was the Tate Gallery of Modern Art. HOLY SHIT. I love this place. Such an inspiring collection of art. I saw original works by Picasso, Matisse, and Kandinsky, to name a few. Those were just the big names. There were heaps of pieces by less famous artists that were absolutely fantastic. I was totally in awe of some of the genius of these artists. The Surrealists were particularly amazing. There was also a room dedicated solely to Russian propaganda posters, a particular interest of mine. That was a great surprise to see and I spent a good deal of time in that section. I saw a room of Viennese Actionists that was very disturbing. A major theme of these Austrian Actionists was self-mutilation, a very odd form of art. But who am I to judge?

Seeing all of the pieces contained within this massive gallery really pushed me to pick up painting. I've only done a very limited amount of painting in my short artistic history, but seeing such beautiful works brought something within me to life that can only be appeased by expression through artistic creations. I have always told myself that when I have a home, whenever that may be, that I want it to be covered in art. Paintings, sculpture, posters, whatever. The only problem is that purchasing original pieces of art is often very expensive. So I got to thinking today that what I could do is just produce these pieces myself. That way I don't have to spend all the money on buying this stuff plus my home can be a sort of informal gallery of my own works. The only thing to do now would be to actually get into all this art crap on a regular basis in order to have enough pieces to spread around my home. I'll put that on my to-do list once I get a permanent, or at least semi-permanent, home.

Earlier this evening I went out to a pub with my generous hosts, Rhea and Mathew, as well as their flatmate Wayland. I hope I spelled his name right, my apologies if it is incorrect. I continue to have a grand time every time I go out with these wonderful people. Rhea has her own blog that you should check out. She writes about her experience as a 'Merican expat here in London. The small differences in culture are quite interesting. It's familiar enough to function in but different enough that I get really confused sometimes. It keeps things fresh though.

After seeing the British Museum last night I went for a night walk along the Tower Bridge. This must be the most beautiful bridge I have ever laid eyes on. I know I'm from the Bay Area but sorry Golden Gate, you ain't got nothin' on this shit. The Tower Bridge is truly amazing. At night it is very striking. Just take a peek at the pictures and you shall see what I mean. I also took a walk along the Thames River which provided a very tranquil setting accompanied with some jaw dropping night backdrops. London really is a good looking city. I am constantly amazed by the sights that I see. And people that live here see this stuff everyday, that is awesome!

Tomorrow I have plans to go back to the British Museum to see the rest of the exhibits that I missed. Perhaps, time permitting, I will also go to Camden to check out that neighborhood. I think it may be an area of London that I will really enjoy. If I don't have time tomorrow I have plenty of time to see Camden another day. Man, I love this city.

Check out my England, mostly London, photos so far: