Archive for the ‘London’ Category

My First Grand Tour

Saturday, July 7th, 2007

The Skiff

We finally had some sun today. So we loaded up our iPods with the audio guide for the Covent Garden Grand Tour and ventured out to our first art appreciation grand tour.

It was an enjoyable and unusual experience as some of the famous paintings were hanging right next to busy shops in Covent Garden. It was almost as interesting to watch people’s reaction when they discovered the art as appreciating the pieces themselves. I think it’s a brilliant idea to bring classical art to the general public. It’s more fun to walk around town on a sunny day than being indoors even than in a nicely curated museum.

Credit should given to the campaign organisor who came up with different routes for people to follow; those who work in town can also take 30 to 45 minute lunch-break tours. What a genius idea!

Jarvis Cocker’s John Barry night

Thursday, June 21st, 2007

Jarvis Cocker's Meltdown

It was my first live classical concert and the London Philharmonic Orchestra made it all very memorable. As part of Jarvis Cocker’s Meltdown, The Music of John Barry included some of the best known pieces composed by John Barry in the last five decades such as the James Bond theme, the scores for Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves.

It was definitely an enjoyable experience to hear some of the most impressive film tunes at the newly reopened Royal Festival Hall, especially because of the £91M refurbishment. I do recommend hanging out in the area in and around the building (with trendy restaurants, funky shops and lots of performance space) on a hot summer evening.

Will I go to see another live classical concert? Yes, but it will probably be another classical performance with a modern element.

London’s Street Gallery

Saturday, June 16th, 2007

Art display on London's streets

The Grand Tour by The National Gallery has brought 45 paintings, which are full-size reproductions from the gallery’s permanent collection, to the streets of London. The collection includes masterpieces by artists like Van Gogh, Rosseau and Stubbs.

If you are interested in discovering all 45 of them, you can print out an interactive map, along with information about each of the paintings.

I love the fact that there is also a Grand Tour Flickr group!

Fire On Oxford Street

Thursday, April 26th, 2007

Fire on Oxford Street 1

I was still testing my Ricoh GR Digital and was surprised at the result of this documentary-type photo. There is no reason why it wouldn’t do a good job; just that I normally used it for more moody photos.

Anyway, back to the fire. I was shopping on the second floor of Borders and suddenly see a big group of people all pointing their phone cameras at the same direction. It wasn’t until five or ten minutes later I saw the black smoke. Not long after that, we were asked to leave the premises due to the fire at M&S. It turned out to be quite a serious fire at New Look (next to M&S). I could still smell the smoke three hours later when walking along Regent’s Street.