Delightful Surprises

May 1, 2010

What an incredible day! We had a nice leisurely morning. Janice, sweet thing that she is, made us bacon, scrambled eggs, baked beans and toast. We were totally stuffed. In fact, Michelle couldn’t eat her toast, so I ate it for her while Janice was looking the other way. We didn’t really make much of a plan for the day other than the area we chose to go to. The incredible thing about London is that you don’t really have to have a plan. All you need is to choose a place and then go experience all there is in that area. There’s always something interesting nearby. We took the train to Waterloo and almost immediately came upon the Royal Festival Hall where the London Philharmonic Orchestra performs. We went inside to have a look and discovered that there was a concert that very night with the London Philharmonic Choir. Tickets were only 9 pounds! So, we got tickets and continued on our way. We walked over the now famous, thanks to the most recent Harry Potter movie, Hungerford Bridge. We walked through the streets to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery in front. We went into the National Gallery, which was free because nearly all museums are! The National Gallery was incredible. As with the British Museum, we took the map and decided all of the specific areas we wanted to see and started on our way. Some of our favorites were the Self-Portrait of Rembrandt when he was 63 years old, the Rape of the Sabine Women by Rubens, Sunflowers by Van Gogh, Wheatfield with Cypresses by Van Gogh, Russian Dancers by Degas, Bowl of fruit and Tankard by Gauguin, Bathers at Asieres by Seurat and a couple of the waterlilly paintings by Monet. Such a beautiful experience! To actually observe the brushstrokes and then to step back and see the whole of it was a revelation. After the National Gallery, we found a place to eat. I’m convinced it was Lebanese food, but since I have no proof of the fact, Michelle is convinced I’m wrong. Either way, we ate some scrumptious wraps for lunch. Following lunch, we walked over to see Big Ben and Parliament but were delightfully surprised to see also St. Martin-in-the-Field’s, The Ministry of Defense, the Old War Office, and the Horse Guard’s Parade. Keeping on, we came upon Westminster Abbey. When we reached the gate, we were told it was closed except for Evensong at 5:00 pm. We looked at our watches, and to our great surprise, it was 5:00 on the nose. So, we went inside to witness the service. The music was so beautiful. It was an all boy and men choir. They sang the music of Humphrey Clucas, John Gloss and the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis of Herbert Howells. It was so glorious! Following the service, we ran through the rain back to the Royal Festival Hall to dry off before the concert. Drying off was made the more enjoyable by some cakes and hot chocolate. The concert was incredible. I never imagined when I woke up that by the end of the day, I’d be listening to arguably the best orchestra in the world. They played Wagner’s Overture to Faust, Brahms Alto Rhapsody and Liszt’s Faust Symphony. The conductor is relatively new to the orchestra having conducted for about 2 years. His name is Vladimir Jurowski. He is very young and energetic to watch. The music was so incredible. I could hardly keep my eyes of the first cellist who showed such passion and fury with the music. The choir, which was all male because of the requirements of the works performed, was decent. All the men of the group had a similar sound, but they made that sound rather independently of each other, in my opinion. So interesting to me was the incredible manner of the audience who sat so quietly and barely stirred at all despite there being several thousand of them. So different from the States! It was a long and incredible day. I never would have imagined such a day. It was nearly sensory overload. Now, Michelle and I are enjoying another spot of tea, making our travel log before going to bed. Boy do I love her!