Saturday, May 24, 2008
London by day
I did a 3 day course at Piccadilly and had a lovely walk in from Waterloo each morning through Trafalger Square and past the National Gallery.
I decided to have a look round The National Gallery on the way home one day and was totally stunned by the paintings in there...I was totally bowled over by the whole experience. I can't believe now that I'd never been.... and that no one had told me to go. I'd seen many of the paintings in books over the years - and even our board game called 'Masterpiece' (what my grandpa used to call Mantleshelf), but in many ways these images do a disservice to the originals - they have nothing of the real colour and sheer brightness of the originals.
One of my favourites was the painting linked below by Gallen- Kallela of Finland. I liked the way when you moved away it suddenly changed from brushwork to a perfect reflection...
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/loadApplet?workNumber=NG6574&collectionPublisherSection=work
You can't take any photos in the gallery, but my London set is at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adeeh2/sets/72157603272583376/
I decided to have a look round The National Gallery on the way home one day and was totally stunned by the paintings in there...I was totally bowled over by the whole experience. I can't believe now that I'd never been.... and that no one had told me to go. I'd seen many of the paintings in books over the years - and even our board game called 'Masterpiece' (what my grandpa used to call Mantleshelf), but in many ways these images do a disservice to the originals - they have nothing of the real colour and sheer brightness of the originals.
One of my favourites was the painting linked below by Gallen- Kallela of Finland. I liked the way when you moved away it suddenly changed from brushwork to a perfect reflection...
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/loadApplet?workNumber=NG6574&collectionPublisherSection=work
You can't take any photos in the gallery, but my London set is at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adeeh2/sets/72157603272583376/
Isle of Wight Randonee
My first official cycle event was the circuit of the Isle of Wight....and check that cheapo new clothing I've got.
We had a really great outing and the forecast rain held off until the last 45 minutes, and the weather was warm enough to relax in our shorts. Great hospitality from sandwich and team makers on route too. This was a lot further than my previous longest cycle ride of 30 miles, but with the breaks I managed OK.
Some stats for the record....Distance 67 miles, did the circuit clockwise from Yarmouth, 1100m of ascent, time 4.45 in the saddle, and about 7 hours in all, Average speed 14.0 mph.
