A is for architecture (that is) amazing (and) awesome!

We visited 2 museums on Wednesday - Tate Modern and The British Museum.

Not one to enjoy deciphering abstract art, or marvel at Egyptian artefact, I found myself more intrigued by the architectural brilliance of both buildings, in particular, The British Museum.

But a little more on that later. Here's a short intro to the museums for some of yoos.

Tate Modern:Housed in an old, unused power station, Tate Modern is one of 4 other museums to display selections of the Tate collection (Brit art dating 1500 onwards) and other more contemporary works. But since October'06, it's been transformed into a pseudo 'playground' for the young and old.

Well, at least that's how I see it.

Behold, the latest (modern??) installation by Carsten Höller - SLIDES.

Now, how is this art? I haven't a clue.

I can't see the 'art-factor' behind these metal spirals but (of course) the artist can. His 2-prong interpretation: 1) a visual spectacle of watching people sliding and, 2) the 'inner spectacle' experienced by the sliders themselves, the state of simultaneous delight and anxiety that you enter as you descend.

What I think he means (in fewer words): Let's watch people take slides. Watch them scream. Sweet...

Easy peasy.

Okay, bad bad. Should not downplay his artistic (oi! stop it!) talent and interpretation. Was happy to simply experience the exhilarating ride down- even if it was from Slide 2, which, was for kids.

Yes, I'm pathetic that way. Bleh.

But...unlike Reuben who sneakily recorded (no photography or filming allowed!) his journey down the winding slopes, I decided to do things ethically - slide down and (hopefully) land on tush gracefully. (Actually, I was poultry and afraid of showing my cowardice on record. Shhh...)

I did one of 2 tasks successfully. Go figure.

Danielle was eager to try it too (brave lil' lass!) and while she passed the height restrictions, she wasn't able to grasp the concept of having to lie down while taking the slide. In the end, we had to abandon the attempt. Pity.

On another note, the Tate bistro on level 7 serves a mean cup of cuppacinno. It's the best I've tasted since landing on UK soil. I think it's got something to do with the fact that it's illy coffee. Will def be on a look out for cafes that offer illy coffee the next time I crave a cuppa.

++++++

The British Museum:
Established in 1753, The British Museum is one of the world's largest and greatest museums of history and culture. There were so many chambers to visit, one would probably need a whole day to look at the entire collection. I wasn't interested in all the works so spent more time taking pictures of the architecture. And that's one of the great things about this museum, photography IS allowed.

Breathtakingly beautiful is the Great Courtyard. A rather unlikely amalgamation between Greek structures and a contemporary glass roof, but it works. And I love it, love it, love it! Spent over an hour just marvelling the architectural genius of Lord Norman Foster, who designed London's most famous roof. Here's a peek:

JH would have an absolute field day here.

Another room I really liked was The Reading Room. Two thoughts popped into my head upon entering this beautiful dome-shaped library:

1) Professor Higgins from My Fair Lady
2) My Dad

Why Prof Higgins? Must be the books that triggered it. That scene of him reaching out for one of his books on phonetics kept playing in my mind as I gaped at the extensive collection of books on the open shelves.

No surprises why I would think of my Dad though. He would have LOVED being amongst such vast volumes of literature. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen since he can't fly due to medical conditions. So I guess he'll have to be content, and experience life vicariously through my accounts via emails, postcards and photos.

In one of my more 'thoughtful' moments (and I have lots of them here) - I'm grateful to God for giving us this opportunity to experience such wonderful sights. But I'd gladly swap places with my parents any day, so they too, can experience all the amazing things I encounter here - each and every day.