In addition to learning the value of and feeling grateful for the presence of my group to depend on, I also learned that there is a priceless value in feeling useful to the people you are with. Before we left, I had scouted out a great deal on prepaid SIM cards that some of us used in our smartphones, having local UK phone numbers and data plans for using Google maps to get around. Within the first few days, I found a new supermarket that had much more reasonable prices than the local one recommended by our program. I was also able to figure out a “journey planner” on the website for Transport of London, helping us get from point A to B to C and home again. I felt an unexpected, deep sense of happiness that the others benefited from my discoveries, and that I felt useful to the group.
Our itinerary for the duration of the two weeks was wall-to-wall, back to back events of all the art, history, and theatre that London has to offer… And what a city to immerse oneself in the arts! London has it all. We saw a play at the Gielgud Theatre in Picadilly Circus, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. It was so good, I wept. Not only was the writing and acting excellent, but they had a unique way of bringing the stage to life and making the performance very physical. It was truly art at its finest. We rode the London Eye and got the best view of Westminster Cathedral and the Tower of London… And true to London weather, there was a sunshower that left everything sparkling majestically through the gray on River Thames.
We visited Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Serpentine Galleries, the Courtauld Galleries at Somerset House, the Marianne North Gallery, Kew Gardens, Kensington Gardens, the British Museum, the Newport Gallery (where Damien Hirst was exhibiting a portion of his private collection). We took a tour of street art and graffiti in Shoreditch, which was perhaps a little too “hip” to be taken seriously (and something about the very idea of a tour of street art didn’t sit right with me)—but nonetheless, it was decidedly very cool to see some Banksy, Space Invader, Swoon, and Endless right there in person. You would have probably really enjoyed that tour, as well as our visit to the Pure Evil Gallery.
Pacione is a native Hudson Valley fine artist and poet who has been writing poetry for nearly two decades, reading her impassioned work throughout New York since 1995, and oil painting since 2010. Her poetry and paintings center around the complexities of the human subconscious and how dreams manifest in life on the surface. She is currently pursuing a MFA in Painting at SUNY New Paltz.
Afterthoughts on the London Experience (Part III)
In addition to learning the value of and feeling grateful for the presence of my group to depend on, I also learned that there is a priceless value in feeling useful to the people you are with. Before we left, I had scouted out a great deal on prepaid SIM cards that some of us used in our smartphones, having local UK phone numbers and data plans for using Google maps to get around. Within the first few days, I found a new supermarket that had much more reasonable prices than the local one recommended by our program. I was also able to figure out a “journey planner” on the website for Transport of London, helping us get from point A to B to C and home again. I felt an unexpected, deep sense of happiness that the others benefited from my discoveries, and that I felt useful to the group.
Our itinerary for the duration of the two weeks was wall-to-wall, back to back events of all the art, history, and theatre that London has to offer… And what a city to immerse oneself in the arts! London has it all. We saw a play at the Gielgud Theatre in Picadilly Circus, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. It was so good, I wept. Not only was the writing and acting excellent, but they had a unique way of bringing the stage to life and making the performance very physical. It was truly art at its finest. We rode the London Eye and got the best view of Westminster Cathedral and the Tower of London… And true to London weather, there was a sunshower that left everything sparkling majestically through the gray on River Thames.
We visited Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Serpentine Galleries, the Courtauld Galleries at Somerset House, the Marianne North Gallery, Kew Gardens, Kensington Gardens, the British Museum, the Newport Gallery (where Damien Hirst was exhibiting a portion of his private collection). We took a tour of street art and graffiti in Shoreditch, which was perhaps a little too “hip” to be taken seriously (and something about the very idea of a tour of street art didn’t sit right with me)—but nonetheless, it was decidedly very cool to see some Banksy, Space Invader, Swoon, and Endless right there in person. You would have probably really enjoyed that tour, as well as our visit to the Pure Evil Gallery.
Andrea Pacione
Pacione is a native Hudson Valley fine artist and poet who has been writing poetry for nearly two decades, reading her impassioned work throughout New York since 1995, and oil painting since 2010. Her poetry and paintings center around the complexities of the human subconscious and how dreams manifest in life on the surface. She is currently pursuing a MFA in Painting at SUNY New Paltz.
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