Author: Colleen
Hurrah, the second installment of my interview with Lotus Events Inc. on planning for a London relocation is online at their blog as of this week: lotusevents.blogspot.com. Lotus Events is owned and operated by a delightful couple who will be moving to London from Canada; they are chronicling their process at their blog, so I recommend it as another useful resource to consult as you conduct your own research! (And if you missed Part I, you can access it here. My third and final installment will be posted on Monday.)
As for what’s happening over here on this side of the pond, I just returned from a lovely afternoon touring the Tate Modern with my mother-in-law and her friend who are in town visiting. After two years, I still had never been to this art gallery, so I was excited for the opportunity. Housing only post-1900 artwork (as the name ‘Tate Modern‘ would imply), this FREE London museum offers a quirky aesthetic to wander about in. The building itself is a renovated power station, and its international collection includes works of such greats as Gauguin (on special exhibit from 30 September through January 2011), Picasso, Warhol, Rodin, and Dali. Even though contemporary art is not particularly of my taste, the surrealism and oddities to be seen here certainly ignite the imagination and challenge one’s curiosity. I found myself marveling over how certain artists came to conceive and execute such ideas, pondering as well my personal definition of what does or does not constitute “art”…and at other times I simply thought, “Oh, now they’re just messing with us.”
If you have more traditional tastes, might I recommend Tate Britain, the National Gallery, and Victoria & Albert Museum (this last one houses a smorgasbord of artifacts, textiles, and superb sculptures)—all of which are also FREE. Otherwise, beyond its artwork, Tate Modern boasts a magnificent panoramic view of the Thames (with St. Paul’s Cathedral and Millenium Bridge directly across the way) from its 7th floor restaurant, so it’s worth popping into for even just a snack or glass of wine. It is also situated just next door to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and is in within pleasant walking distance of Tower Bridge, which you can cross to the Tower itself to continue your London city-centre tour.
So this was yet another one of those days when I had to pinch myself that I live in a place where people visit on holiday. It never fails that I welcome these opportunities to see the big London sites, which have already become much more pleasant to experience in the wake of summer tourism—so if you’re relocating to London already this month or next, you have diminished crowds to look forward to as you treat yourself to these museums!
