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Published: August 2nd 2012
When I got the opportunity to do an apartment exchange with a British couple living in London during the first few days of the Olympic games, my family and friends all exclaimed: "What a time to go! You'll be over there with all the crowds." Well, it was a great time to go, and I very rarely encountered crowds. Granted, I visited London "on the fringe" of the Olympics and only saw the Olympic Park from afar, but I felt the Olympics atmosphere and talked to people about their Olympics experience, and this, coupled with taking advantage of all that London has to offer, made for a unique trip.
Day 1: Arriving at St. Pancras Railroard Station on the Eurostar from Paris on Friday, July 27
th--about ten hours before the Olympics opening ceremony—everything seemed very organized for the arrival of visitors. British rail staff in fluorescent-colored vests guided us down the platform and escalators, and pink and maroon-jacketed volunteer assistants handed us maps and pamphlets and answered our questions Pink signposts were everywhere indicating Olympics venues and giving travel information. My French friend Annick and I
bought Oyster pass cards for transportation on the tube and busses, rolled our suitcases down the escalators and took the tube to Swiss Cottage, the station closest to the apartment where we were staying. That afternoon we walked over to Primrose Hill and did some shopping; then that evening we went to the West End theater district to see the play "Abigail's Party", a revival of Mike Leigh's 1977 satire on the aspirations and tastes of the new middle class that was emerging in Britain at the time. The subject of the play seemed a bit dated to Annick and me, and we had a hard time understanding some of the characters when they spoke. We enjoyed the second part of the play, but, unfortunately, by the time we got back to the flat, the opening ceremony on TV had already finished. Luckily, I did get some glimpses of it over the next few days.
Day 2: We decided we had to at least have a look at the Olympic stadium and took the tube to West Ham, where we went up to "the Greenway", an elevated walk-way leading to the south entrance of the Olympic Park. We enjoyed
seeing the stadium and Anish Kapoor's "ArcelorMittal Orbit"
, a 115-metre-high sculpture andobservation tower (notice the attached photos). We wanted to walk through the park and exit at the Stratfod City entrance, but were told all 10£ day passes were sold out—which was surprising because there was hardly anyone there. (Maybe that was indicative of what a lot of British people later complained about: too many empty VIP places not being used!!!). So we walked round the park to the Stratford station, took the tube over to the East End neighborhood and walked down Brick Lane, the famous street where there are many Bengali curry restaurants. From there we went over to the City to see the "Gherkin", the 41-story glass tower designed by Norman Foster, and the Lloyd's building, which like the Pompidou Center in Paris has staircases, elevators, electrical power conduits and water pipes on the outside. Then we headed down to the Thames, the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Crossing over the Bridge, we walked over to look at London's new Town Hall and then the Shard, designed by Renzo Piano, before taking the tube at Liverpool Station back to the flat. That evening we returned to
street "where I lived"
near Swiss Cottage pub and tube stationthe West End to see "Posh", a very well-acted, caustic comedy about ten arrogant "posh boys" of an Oxford dining group called the Riot Club
Day 3: It was a Sunday, and I decided to "do" the Tates--the Tate Britain on one bank of the Thames and the Tank Modern on the other bank. They couldn't be more different. Not only does the Tate Britain house more "classical" British paintings from 1500 onwards (plus a fantastic collection of Turners), but it is also more sedate in atmosphere. In fact, it was practically empty the day I visited it! On the other hand, down river, the Tate Modern was packed--tourists of many different nationalities, adults and students, families with children, you name it. Based in a former power station, the Tate Modern is supposedly the most-visited modern art gallery in the world. The art there, as can be imagined from the name, is much more "modern" and contemporary than at the Tate Britain. It's huge, and you can spend hours there, which I did. Annick and I met up for an early dinner at the restaurant of the museum and then went next door to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, a reconstruction
of the Elizabethan Globe Theatre, to see a production of "Richard III", which was great fun.
Day 4: This was my "day in the park"--in Hyde Park, to be exact. I took a bus to Marble Arch, where I entered British Telecom's "BT Live" Park--a free venue full of screens showing the Olympic games, concert stages, a volley ball court, food stands and other attractions. It was pretty empty on Monday morning, but I imagine will fill up more as the days go on. In any case, I enjoyed watching the Sun pom-pom girls and people playing volleyball. In fact, one volunteer really tried to encourage me to come and play. I wasn't feeling up to it, but we had a nice chat. He said to me: "Are the Olympics great? There's such a nice atmosphere. Everyone's into sport and having a good time. I wish it would last forever!" Having bought a vegetarian pita-bread sandwich at one of the food stands, I left BT London Live and went and ate on the grass near the Serpentine. It was lovely weather that afternoon--warm and breezy. After my picnic, I strolled along the Serpentine until I reached the site of
the forthcoming triathalon, which I had to circumvent to get to the bridge over the Serpentine and over to the Serpentine Galley, where I visited Yoko Ono's exhibit and saw the archeological-like structure that was designed by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei for the Olympics--the Serpentine Pavilion 2012. Then I visited the Olympics store in Hyde Park and walked over to St. James Park and Buckingham Palace. I don't know how many miles I walked, but my feet certainly hurt. So I went back to the flat, rested a bit, and had an easy dinner before Annick and I went out to the theatre again--this time to see "One Man, Two Guvnors", an English adaptation set in 1960s Brighton of a Commedia dell'arte comedy by Goldoni. Apparently, the play has just opened on Broadway with the actor who made the role of Roscoe famous. It was good, but not half as funny as I expected. Too much slapstick, in my opinion.
Day 5: For my last day in London, I first went to the National Gallery, which has a truly wonderful collection of European paintings, my favorites being the Dutch and Flemish. When I came out, who
was just arriving but Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London! He posed for photographs among a large group of volunteers, who gave a big "hip hip hooray" for the Olympics and the Mayor. After that, Annick treated me to a very nice downstairs winebar restaurant in Westminster called "Davy's of London." I went on to Christie's, where there was a (free) exhibit of early poster artwork about the London underground that is soon to go on sale. My final outing of my London visit was to see a revival of "Singing in the Rain", which I thoroughly enjoyed and can highly recommend. I loved the dancing and knew a lot of the songs, but I'd forgotten the theme of the story, which is very similar to that of "The Artist". Here's part of a review from the Guardian: "It's probably safe to say that Jonathan Church's stage revival, based on the 1952 Gene Kelly movie set during the early days of the talkies, will be making quite a splash in the West End for some time to come. It is the only show in London where those sitting in the front rows would be advised to take a rain coat,
Chinese young people
interviewing a "local" young person in front of a Fish and Chips Shop and it delivers two and a half hours of all-singing, all-dancing entertainment, with the aid of a talented, highly drilled cast and 14,000 litres of highly drilled water.It is technically assured, hugely accomplished and is faithful to the movie yet sufficiently different as not to invite unflattering comparisons..."
And so ended my trip to London, being, as I said, "on the fringe of the Olympics." I saw and did a lot, including 5 plays/shows in as many nights. It was a great chance for going on a "theatre cure", but my stay there turned out to be so much more. If there's anybody out there who's hesitant about going to London these days, don't be! It's not as crowded as all that, the tubes are working fine, and the atmosphere is fantastic. It's really a great time to go!
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Virginia
non-member comment
Enjoyed your blog
Hi Hilary, So liked reading your account of your London trip. My daughter was there too and also managed to see Richard III. I enjoyed M. Rylance in Jerusalem last November. Such a multi-talented actor. Let's see some theater together there or take a trip to some other city once we're both back in Paris.