down the Mall, past the statues of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother,
up numerous stairs….
…to the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus, the meeting place for our tour.
We were assigned to the tour group with a guide named Angie. She had us yell, “Team Angie” as we set off behind the Fun London Tours’ flag she carried on a stick.
I had been to Buckingham Palace in 2011 with Bryan and Brett. We stood right outside the gates to see the changing of the guard. It was a pretty miserable experience. Even if you get there early and score a standing spot right next to the gate you will be crushed by the mob that comes in behind you. We opted against the miserable experience and found a tour that promised us that we would get to march alongside the guard as they headed to the palace. Angie took us past much of the route we had already walked but this time we had time to enjoy what we were seeing and learn all kinds of information we would not have learned on our own. We stationed ourselves where we could see the parade of guard going off duty after 48 hours — 2 hours on sentry duty and then 4 hours off for 48 hours.
Then the guard who were coming on duty marched past us, led by the band. When they got close Angie yelled, “Go Team Angie” and we headed out at a fast pace so that we could keep even with the guard marching down the Mall. I would say it was less like a march and more like a sprint. We found a place to see the spectacle of tourists crushing each other to get the best view near the gate. I was glad to be watching from a distance. Then another regiment of guards joined from a different direction.
Angie took our photo proudly holding on to her flag.
We headed back down the Mall to St. James’ Palace, built under the direction of King Henry VIII for Ann Boleyn. I had expected something more lavish. Princess Anne is the current resident. We watched the much less crowded and less extravagant changing of the guard here.
Our tour over and our gratitude to Angie expressed (I really did think she was marvelous) we headed back the way we came to take the tube to our next event — lunch at the restaurant at the Tate Modern. We chose to eat here not because we heard the food was excellent but because we heard the view was exceptional. It did not disappoint.
We had timed tickets for the Yoko Ono exhibit at the Tate Modern.
Her work ranged from very bizarre (speaking for myself here) to compelling. I wasn’t a big fan of the performance piece (documented in film) of her sitting on a stage and allowing the audience to come up and cut off pieces of her clothing. I tried to get Sara to take the opportunity climb into the black bag and have a conversation with her soul. She unequivocally refused. I didn’t understand Ono’s music of “inaudible sounds.” Her conceptual art consisting of typed instructions you might want to try intrigued me. Here are some examples: “Count all the words in the book instead of reading them.” “Draw a line with yourself. Go on drawing until you disappear.” “Use a name card without a name on it. Put an address on it and smell instead.” There were dozens and dozens of these.
It was the participatory installations that intrigued me and one even left me overwhelmed with emotion. We were invited to draw our shadow onto a canvas until the whole page was full.
We could hammer a nail into a board alongside everyone else’s nail who came before us. Ono had written that you could do this yourself, adding a nail a day and tying a hair from your head around the nail until the whole surface was covered with nails.
This installation was called “Add Colour (Refugee Boat)” inspired by Ono’s concern for the hundreds of thousands of refugees risking their lives to travel to Europe by sea. We were invited to take a blue marker and add our hopes and beliefs, turning this all white room into an ocean of blue.
We took the opportunity to contribute our hopes.
But the participatory installation that really got to me was this wall of messages to mothers. You could write a message to your mother and tape it to this wall. None of the London 4 have living mothers and we all took the opportunity to add a message and remember our mothers. Even the Tate security guard took the opportunity to write about his mother. After I added my contribution I slowly walked along reading several of the other messages. Many were tributes. Some spoke of a challenging relationship with mom. One said, “Because of tradition my mother was forced to marry at the age of 13.”
We were not done with the Tate Modern even after finishing the Ono exhibit. We also had a timed ticket to the Expressionist exhibit. This painting and its striking colors was my favorite onr in that exhibit. It is called “The Storm” and depicts the wives of fishermen who make a living on the sea.
We let the Tate Modern and walked along the Thames. We passed this poet for hire who will type you a poem on the spot for whatever you want to pay him. He was currently being “hired” so we didn’t get a poem written for us. I love London.
We headed to Burrough Market with a plan to sample the much acclaimed raclette grilled cheese sandwich at Kappacasein Dairy. We arrived at 5:04 p.m. and they closed at 5 p.m. So we sat down at a wine and cheese restaurant nearby. My feet were killing me and my good friends accommodated my need for a chair and some time to restore. We got some drinks and enjoyed a cheese plate and some hummus, while we shared stories from our lives.
We headed back to our hotel via the London Bridge, which offers good views of the Tower Bridge.
It was a great day with good friends in a beautiful city with amazing weather.
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