London has some great street markets: Portobello Road for antiques, Columbia Road for flowers, Petticoat Lane for clothes and household items. It doesn't have a huge number of covered markets, though. The best-known is Borough Market, which is arguably Britain's "food central". By this I mean that if national trends are largely started or amplified in London, any changes to the way we eat will be reflected in and may be led from Borough Market. Londoners who are passionate about food shop there. There are shops and stalls selling fruit and vegetables, rare meats (some free-range and organic), amazing cheeses, bread and baked goods, jams and preserves, oil, honey, seafood from the coast, all sorts of things. Fresh tofu! Quinces! Italian ham! Live oysters! Raw chocolate!
There are plenty of vendors who invite you to "try before you buy" -- to take a taste for free. There is also lots of street food for lunch -- fantastic sausages, fried scallops, hot spiced apple juice. And there are tea shops with beautiful cakes and pastries, and delicious restaurants, and the pub that Bridget Jones lived above in the movie.
Every year in October, the market hosts a loud and cheerful performance by a troupe of actors . They dress in medieval costume and celebrate the harvest. First they walk along the riverbank from the nearby Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to the market, and then they perform a play to amuse adults and children. Nobody understands all the words, but the meaning is clear! You can see the photos here and here and (the best) here .
Wednesday 5 November 2008
Monday 27 October 2008
Films in Trafalgar Square
One of the changes I've enjoyed in London is seeing Trafalgar Square become much more used as a public space, for celebrations and not just for pigeon feeding. (I'm not fond of pigeons.) Everyone knows it is Nelson's Column in the middle, but not one in a hundred Londoners could name any of the other statues in the square. There are four plinths, one on each corner. Three are occupied with forgotten figures -- statesmen or soldiers. The fourth plinth is empty, and a few years ago it got a new life. Different art works each take a turn of a few months, more or less just in front of the National Gallery. Some of the works are very strange pieces, and most of them get passers-by talking: "Is it art?"
Last Thursday and Friday there were film clips shown in the square, as part of the London Film Festival. They stretched all across the twentieth century, feature films and documentaries, sad and happy and ironic, lovers and eel pie sellers and children. There were hundreds or thousands of us in the audience, sitting on the steps or on the ground, enjoying the atmosphere. (See the photos here.) It's just the right season: dark enough for after-work outdoor films, not yet too cold. I noticed the clever people next to me had brought a thermos of something hot to drink, and a flask of something warming: tea and whiskey!
Last Thursday and Friday there were film clips shown in the square, as part of the London Film Festival. They stretched all across the twentieth century, feature films and documentaries, sad and happy and ironic, lovers and eel pie sellers and children. There were hundreds or thousands of us in the audience, sitting on the steps or on the ground, enjoying the atmosphere. (See the photos here.) It's just the right season: dark enough for after-work outdoor films, not yet too cold. I noticed the clever people next to me had brought a thermos of something hot to drink, and a flask of something warming: tea and whiskey!
Wednesday 31 January 2007
All the Tates are free
For my first post, I'll start with the magnificent five Tate galleries: two are in London, two are hundreds of km away, and "the fifth Tate" is online, where all the works of art appear.
Tate Britain is the oldest one. Until the early 1990s it was the only one, so it was just The Tate. Then younger siblings appeared, so it changed its name (and somehow lost the "the"). It's in Pimlico, on the north side of the River Thames, not far from the Houses of Parliament. I think the location suits its atmosphere, as the most "establishment" of the Tates.
Tate Modern got a lot of attention when it opened almost ten years ago, and rightly so. Everyone knows the building: the old power station on the south bank of the Thames, opposite St Paul's Cathedral , to which it is connected by the Millenium Bridge. You could say that Tate Modern is located in the power station, but many visitors would say that the building is the gallery. The huge central space, the Turbine Hall, is filled with a different giant artwork every few months.
At the moment there are several enormous slides. I went on one last week. I had to queue for half an hour because they are so popular. The ride down lasted a few seconds; I lay down on a special little blanket they give you, and folded my arms as the attendant told me too. Wheee! It was fun, but is it art?
Tate Britain is the oldest one. Until the early 1990s it was the only one, so it was just The Tate. Then younger siblings appeared, so it changed its name (and somehow lost the "the"). It's in Pimlico, on the north side of the River Thames, not far from the Houses of Parliament. I think the location suits its atmosphere, as the most "establishment" of the Tates.
Tate Modern got a lot of attention when it opened almost ten years ago, and rightly so. Everyone knows the building: the old power station on the south bank of the Thames, opposite St Paul's Cathedral , to which it is connected by the Millenium Bridge. You could say that Tate Modern is located in the power station, but many visitors would say that the building is the gallery. The huge central space, the Turbine Hall, is filled with a different giant artwork every few months.
At the moment there are several enormous slides. I went on one last week. I had to queue for half an hour because they are so popular. The ride down lasted a few seconds; I lay down on a special little blanket they give you, and folded my arms as the attendant told me too. Wheee! It was fun, but is it art?
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