Big Ben

Jan 20

Today I went down to the House of Parliament and that area. It is a great area to hang around it. I took lots of good pictures of Big Ben. I went over to the other side of the river and went to a Dali museum. I thought it would be 15 works or something, but it turned out to be over 500 works. Not all were his though about 70 original Picassos. First you go down this long black hallway with photos and philosophies of Dali in chronological order. It helps you understand who he was if you don't really know. It really enhances the experience of the art because you are in a good state of mind when you enter. In the rooms were sketches, paintings, watercolors, statues, furniture, jewelry and other stuff. There were really good descriptions and history behind the pieces, and it helps to fully understand the point that he was trying to get across, and you also notice things that you probably wouldn't if it wasn't pointed out to you. Then you go downstairs to all of Picassos stuff. It was a lot of pottery, sketches, and pastels. I spent probably two hours in there. I really enjoyed this museum. I told Gill, Al, Lawry, and Mark about it, but they had never heard of it before. After I left it was getting dark, so I decided to stay to get some pictures at night of The House of Parliament. They turned out better than the day time photos. There is a lot of good stuff to do in this area.

Jan 21

I went back to the House of Parliament area today. I wanted to go to the National Gallery just a few blocks away. I spent probably five hours in there and saw half of the permanent collection. So far the National Gallery was my favorite thing that I have been to in London. When I first walked in I saw two Da Vinci's. I also saw several by Raphael, Michelangelo, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Degas, Caravaggio, Turner, Hogarth, etc. And all of these were the famous ones you see in history books. Like Van Gogh's Sunflowers, and Da Vinci's The Virgin of the Rocks. There were probably 12 or 15 by Monet, and two of them were of the House of Parliament and Big Ben. I think it is a good place to have these because he actually painted them within a few blocks of the place. It's a great feeling to know that someone who can portray such a beautiful perception chose to travel to the same exact place that I have stood and that he was looking at the same scene realizing what a great place he was at in that moment. He painted at least nineteen portraits of the House of Parliament in his lifetime.