Greenwich

Yet another place I had often thought of visiting was Greenwich. So a few weeks ago, I decided to make the long journey there.... it takes a bit of time to get there from the far west side of London. To make the trip more interesting, I rode a Thames Clipper from Embankment through to Greenwich pier. I think I had an infinitely better time seeing London from the water than if I had been traveling at high rates of speed through underground tunnels the entire way. But, in the interest of time on the way home,  I ended up taking the Docklands Light Rail into Canary Wharf to the subway. I hadn't ever been there before, so I guess it was a win either way.

My coworker agreed to come sight-see with me and we had a lovely afternoon walking through Greenwich Park, the covered market and enjoying tea and cake. Unfortunately, I forgot my nice camera and only could use my phone camera, hence the super fuzzy photos. I had also forgotten my maps which meant I couldn't remember all the hotspots I wanted to hit. About the only place I knew I wanted to go was the Prime Meridian. It was quite crowded at the Old Royal Observatory (and you had to pay!) thus I didn't go in to get the "official" picture.. but I like the one we took better anyway.

Tower Bridge from the Thames

approaching Greenwich Pier

alley to the covered market

Royal Naval College buildings

National Maritime Museum

now I'm starting to point at things like Gavin...
(at the freebie Prime Meridian)

Old Royal Observatory

Canary Wharf... near the Tube station anyway

London Street Photography Festival

I'm not sure how I heard about the London Street Photography Festival (most likely TimeOut) or how I got Gavin to come along (SHOCK!! ...most likely my promise of a delicious Sardinian lunch) but I'm super glad the day came together. The weather was dreadful (need I even say that over and over??) however, the art was fantastic. I'm fascinated with street photography, especially those taken guerrilla-style of people just going about their everyday lives. It's amazing to see how street photographers create these perfect compositions, although I'm sure for every two shots that make the gallery, there are 1,000 that didn't. But, there were other photos we saw that seemed a bit more posed than just walking down the street, snapping shots, so I'm not totally naive to think every shot is taken surreptitiously.

Anyway, we started our afternoon of art appreciation at the German Gymnasium in King's Cross (most of the participating galleries were in the King's Cross/Camden neighborhood) to see a the first ever showing of this photographer's work. She took thousands of photos in London in the 1940's-50's whilst she was a nanny. She continued taking photography throughout the rest of her life, but no one had ever seen her collection until after her death in Chicago in the 1990's (I think.) Her shots were A-mazing and lovely. I think I enjoyed her show the best.

From there, we walked through St. Pancras station and quickly looked a series of photos commenting on the strained immigration relations between France and England taken at border agencies... again, so interesting. Then on to the British Library to view photography of 1940's London street markets.  That show I didn't enjoy as much because it was too confusing to find.  And when I did figure out where the installation was - the cafe - there was no way I was going to stand around where people were eating to get a closer view. Ridiculous.

After that debacle, we headed north to a studio which was showing a series of photos taken in East London near and on the sites of where all the Olympic stadiums are going up. The construction has greatly impacted the environment and people who live in the area, mainly in a negative way according to the photographers. Still, a very interesting perspective to see.

The last gallery was located in Camden and contained two different artist's work concerning public transportation. Both were guerilla-style shots taken of either people on the bus or people waiting at bus shelters. Catching people unawares whilst waiting, walking, snogging, talking on the phone and sleeping is fun... like playing "I Spy!" After all that art appreciation, we were hungry for Sardinian cuisine so we walked along Regent's Canal to a ridiculously rich, but oh so scrumptious pasta lunch.

German Gymnasium exterior...

and interior. Love.

studio exterior of the East London photography...

and interior

alley leading to the bus photography installation...

and interior

Camden Lock

look, no railings!

Gavin says these were the best olives he's ever had...
I wouldn't know ;)

Thames Path Walk

I've often wanted to take a stroll along the Thames.. admittedly, I always thought I'd embark on the journey somewhere outside London, but the path from Richmond to Kew will have to do for now.  Plus, I got to bring Chewie with me. It's such a short ride on the bus; so much for a little Chews to see from the upper deck. I guess there's not too much more to say than it was a lovely walk along the waterside- I always like to include a water feature into my sight-seeing plans, especially when I get to take many pictures of houseboats.

I'll just let my pictures do the talking: