London-Day 5: London Eye & Other

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Got back to London from Hampton Court late afternoon and cruised over to the Tate Britain since it is home to the collection of one of my favorite artists J.M.W. Turner. I was fortunate to see Turner’s collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC when it was on tour and I happened to be in DC at the same time and became an instant fan. He has several of pieces of art on display since he gifted them his collection. Beautiful work. Such a mix of styles as well. He was a beautiful landscape artist but also could paint in vibrant, bright, almost impressionist type styles as well. No pictures allowed inside but lots of British art on display. I also enjoyed the works of John Martin and John Constable on display there.

London Eye
The last item on my list to try to do this vacation if time was the London Eye. Managed to get into the Eye as the sun was starting to set. Really a great activity. The London Eye was originally only supposed to be temporary but become quite the hit. Great idea. You go up in these see through pods and circle around in groups of 10-15 per pod. Takes about 20 minutes to loop around and you get near perfect views of London.

Night shots
After that, it was getting late but I wanted to get some night shots so went down by the London Tower and Tower Bridge and got some pictures along the River and had dinner. Had a great chardonnay!

It was a really, really nice vacation. There was so much I didn’t see yet I also saw so very much. I will definitely be back someday. I found the British people extremely polite and friendly. The tube system was incredibly easy to maneuver. History and art galore. Great food and drink. It was a truly, great vacation.

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