Wawowawowee

You guys, although I don't want to minimise the impact of the last couple of posts, there is more to me than just talking about these very heavy things. I didn't want to initially post them right after one another, because it just makes it all very intense, but I had the last one ready on my computer and because of the Slut Walk I found it appropriate to post it. Clearly this is hitting a nerve with you people, because I didn't promote the last post at all and it still got about 1200 page views. To me, that is just crazy. Thanks for the very, very positive and encouraging feedback. 

MOVING ON. This post is about London, if you don't know the city and don't have any intention of ever going there, I estimate your interest in this post to be exactly zero. 

So, currently I have this crazy resource I'm not used to having: time. For the first time in my life, I have time on my hands. This is very new to me, and I'm not sure I like it. Maybe it's because I don't like partying as much as I used to, but I think it might have more to do with the fact that I am not working at the moment. I cannot justify to myself to just 'waste' my time, so I try to keep proactive.

An activity I have always enjoyed, is 'getting lost' in the city. What that means is walking from A to B, without checking my phone for directions. To me it's very easy to know the different 'islands', if you like, in the city (the area around a certain tube station or POI) but the in-between areas are often kind of forgotten. Sometimes for a good reason, mainly if they are very residential but sometimes you can stumble upon some treasures. So for this summer, I've done from Maida Vale to Hampstead, Stoke Newington to the Barbican and lastly from Pimlico to Museum of London. If that doesn't hold any meaning to you, it's probably about 5k each (3 miles or an hours walk at a steady pace). 

Last week I had an appointment in Pimlico that was finished by noon. I found myself with not much to do, and not overly excited to go home as I am currently suffering from major cabin fever. I decided to go to the only POI nearby, Tate Britain (there is also an art gallery very close by called Chelsea Space, but I came from the wrong way and it was raining, so I didn't bother). By the way, this is very quickly turning into a review of culture spots in London. 

I have been to Tate Britain a few times, and I cannot say I'm its biggest fan. Maybe because I'm not British, or I tend to like a bit more contemporary pieces, either way, not its biggest fan. And in the summer with all the tourists; I was in and out of there in ten minutes. I don't know how to say this without sounding super pretentious, but I think art can literally have the impact on you to bring you to another level, where you forget all about your day-to-day concerns. You know when you go to an amazing gig or show and you walk out of there all bouncy and finding your car in the parking space suddenly becomes very surreal? That's what I mean. Personally, with art work or visual art pieces they have to be excellent to get me that 'high' if you like, and I need piece and quiet to enjoy them. So, not a tourist trodden spot like Tate Britain in the summer. 

Quickly, can I just? Thanks. Tourists! I swear they leave their brains at home. Even the ones that don't dress like complete weirdos, they still just move slowly and just look baffled by everything, no honestly, their eyes just look a little dead, and they have no sense of their surroundings. Not a fan. 

Anyway, I got out of there very quickly and although I was not even close to being inspired or captivated by anything, at least I was inspired to go and find some good quality cultural things. So I kept walking along the North Bank all the way into Waterloo. There I went to the Hayward Gallery, one of the flagship galleries in London.  Tickets to go in were like 10 pounds and I didn't even know what was on, so I didn't bother. But I wasn't overly impressed with the feel and the branding of the gallery, and the shop was very dull in my opinion. It felt like they were trying to reach some unidentified 'quirky' audience of some sort as opposed to just having a strong sense of identity. 

Moving on, BFI (British Film Institute) is right next door. And I was so impressed! What a beautiful space. I've obviously heard of the BFI as such, but I never knew they were open to the public in the way that they are. They have three rooms for screenings you can just wonder into, with very luxurious seats. Their library is small and very specific to the film industry, but of very good quality. Without this becoming too lengthy, just trust me - it's very intriguing. I could literally spend an entire day in there. It doesn't hurt that it is on the South Bank, so you can enjoy your lunch by the river.   

By this point, I was definitely on the right track of finding places that challenged and engaged me. I decided to walk further into Waterloo, and there is a lot more to it than you might think. My favourite was this little bookshop (which I found out later is apparently all over the city) called Book Warehouse. The thought that literally kept coming up in my mind was 'oh cool, it's a little bit like the Internet, before the Internet'. They had all these cool pictures of just complete randomness, and some books teaching you how to do anything from knitting to some very questionable advice on men/women communication. Very internet-y.

Then I crossed the road and went to a gallery called Not The Royal Academy. I was kind of lucky I suppose, because I looked all proper in my outfit for my appointment so they must have thought I was a lot more posh than I am. Basically it was all the paintings that didn't make it to the prestigious Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. They had so many paintings which you could buy on the spot and take home with you then and there, no red dots! Then they would just put new pieces up, and then every fortnight I believe, they rotate the entire space. It is literally tiny, but there is so much there. I believe I spent about 45 minutes in there. The pieces that really stood out to me were by Tina Morgan and Steven Outram. 

Next I decided to swing by at the Tate Modern, which was so thoroughly unpleasant as it was completely packed I left immediately. By this point it wasn't raining anymore, so there were people enjoying the beach (I know right, THE BEACH) by the Thames, and fully enjoying it. They were lying on towels, making sand sculptures, the whole thing! I really love walking along the river, and I love St Paul's and that entire area. St Paul's may be one of my favourite buildings in London and then Postman's Park is right around the corner, which I obviously had to visit. 

For anyone that hasn't been there, it is this tiniest little park by St Paul's. It has a wall to commemorate individuals that sacrificed their lives to save someone else's. If you can read through those without getting goosebumps, you have no soul. It is so touching it literally gives you shivers. Some are even children, it is just heartbreakingly beautiful.

Then I decided to go to Museum of London, which I have to say just raised the bar. They had three exhibitions all about (shockingly) London, but each covered different era. My favourite was the one for the last 150 years, but the other ones covered London in Roman and Prehistoric times. The one of our times was just so beautiful, and executed brilliantly. It included a timeline through the exhibition of iconic events, lots of artifacts from the different decades and incorporated projectors and interactive screens throughout. I had very limited time in there, because they were just closing, so I need to go again. One of my favourite rooms was from WWII, which was just a simple black room that projected all these images of the bombs and the ruins from the Luftwaffe and they even an actual bomb. It is so shocking how recently all these terrible things happened! 

Oh, and being on the subject on war memorials (there are so many!) the Battle of Britain one on the North Bank literally gave me chills. Like through and through chills. 

Anyway, I think that's enough - sorry if you people prefer my serious, more sociological posts, but I just wanted to share this lovely day I had with you.