The Royal Academy.
Another nice day, with not too much going on. The morning started out with a lovely view of one of the foxes that live behind Hilary and Claudio’s flat, which are quite socialized, often coming for food, which residents in the flats (including Claudio) give them. Hilary and Claudio have watched whole families of foxes and their cubs play in the backyard, and this morning this one was just patiently hanging out, staring up at the building and presumably hoping for some breakfast.
We left late morning for a visit to the Royal Academy in central London for an exhibition of the works of Richard Dadd, a 19th century English painter, known for his very detailed and fine work and particularly in his fairy and fantasy paintings, often based on works like A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare. He was psychiatrically hospitalized in 1843 where he remained until his death in 1886, after killing his father while experiencing psychosis and declared criminally insane, but continued to paint throughout his hospitalization.
After leaving the Academy, we walked around London some more, this time with a purpose as I was thinking about buying some waterproof walking shoes as it seems like it’s going to wet up in northern Scotland and definitely the Faroe Islands, where I’ll be in the next week or so. We took a leisurely walk along Regent Street and into Soho, passing some pretty well known spots on the way, until reaching the intersection of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, a major international shopping hub in London.
I was struck once again by how the west end of London has become, and has been for many years, a fast paced, ultra modern, upscale city, with gigantic and modern buildings, zillions of stores of all types, flashy lights and sounds everywhere, and a contrast between old and new. Areas of London like this, and nearby Leicester Square, remind me of similar parts of Tokyo, where the city is just yelling at you.
We decided on taking a bus back home, rather than the train, so continued our walk, heading west and walking the quiet streets behind the very busy and fast paced life on Oxford Street, about 1½ miles long, filled with flagship high end stores and one of the busiest shopping centers in the world, with half a million visitors each day. Instead, we enjoyed the calm and historic streets and squares north of the madness, as we headed to our bus route.
After our leisurely stroll, in much less oppressive weather, we caught our bus near Selfridges, a famous London department store, and home we went. A not particularly exciing day, but still very enjoyable.
Tomorrow is my final day in London for a while, as I head up to Edinburgh by train on Tuesday, where I meet up with Elana for our trip to northern Scotland and the Highlands, followed by a few days in the Faroe Islands.