Day 33 London

Carnaby Street

Room hot, pillow to flat, sleep poor!! So what’s new?

Got out pretty early, before the crowds and headed off down Regent Street to do the Hop-on Hop-off bus thing to get an idea of what we want to see and where.

Thus we floated past Trafalgar Square, Pall Mall, past the Ritz, Hyde Park Corner and on up to Marble Arch, then down the monopoly board of Park Lane, around the back of Buckingham Palace, easing past Westminster Abbey on one side and The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben on the Thames side.

Big Ben

Then across Westminster Bridge, the back of the London Eye and over Waterloo Bridge to the Strand where we got off for our first of three cultural experiences.

At Somerset House is the Courtauld Gallery, which has an important collection of old master and impressionist paintings, with some great Van Gogh’s and Paul Gaugin paintings and very few people.

After a couple of hours there, back on the bus to alight at Southwark Bridge to get us to the Tate Modern, the old power station, a vast gallery, of frankly pretty average stuff (in my opinion). Hordes of people.

The best bit was the lunch at the gallery overlooking the Thames and across to St Pauls!!

Then back along the embankment past the new Globe and back on the bus alighting at Trafalgar Square to join yet more hordes of people in the National Gallery where Van Gogh’s “Sunflower” seems to be the hit of the day.

Sunflowers

Also some pretty good Gaugin.

Arted out, we head for the YHA via Marks and Spencers food hall for a cheap dinner and a cheap Australian Shiraz by wine maker Belinda Kleinig, the daughter of a Friends’ member!!

I think it’s pretty good, Jo thinks it’s vinegar!

Tomorrow Covent Garden and the Brit Museum for starters anyway.