River Thames, Oxford
17 March 2017
Late nights and the Freewheel got in the way of blogging for the past couple of days. We've been wandering around London some more.
University College London:
We took a bus up to Oxford to walk along the Cherwell and the Thames, and then meet up with some friends.
Oxford University's Radcliffe Camera (left), the Bodleian Library (center) and All Souls College (right):
After lunch in a pub (where, finally, I had a jacket potato with beans and cheese, which, in the not so distant past, would have been easy to find, but now the potatoes have been replaced with quinoa and espresso machines), we tried to find the Thames canal and got a little turned around.
Here's the Hollywell Cemetery, which we did find by accident but didn't go into:
On our way back to the center of town, I spotted this Mickey Mouse tree in the distance over a wall:
We found our way to Christchurch Meadow, which borders the Cherwell.
Funky geese abound.
This goose, nestled in the middle of the path, didn't give a shit about any of the people going around him.
He didn't give a shit, but he sure left one as he rose. I didn't intend to capture the moment, but here we are:
Nothing is left to randomness at Oxford University. Even the fallen logs are carefully placed to look just so in the low afternoon sun. Or so it seemed, because this already looks like a painting.
On the other side of the meadow, "tree protection" appeared to have been confused with "tree elimination."
As we paused near here, we were approached by a friendly fellow who made sure we knew why the cows weren't yet grazing in Christchurch Meadow. One thing led to another and he was offering that global warming wasn't real and complaining about "foreigners." We ducked out, relieved that at least he didn't ask us about Trump.
The Cherwell meets the Thames near the center of town. We eventually found the canal path and walked along a stretch we hadn't been on when Jack was living here. We didn't have much time, though, before we had to turn around and get to the pub to meet one of Jack's Oxford friends.
Right after I took this picture, a Canada goose splash-landed near another goose, startling him. I swear it sounded like the goose in this picture was laughing.
In the bar, I decided I need the red Beefeater 24 bottle (middle shelf, center). Not what's in the bottle. Just the bottle. It's clear, red glass, and square.
After an hour, we went up the road to meet another friend of Jack's in a rooftop bar. It was 7:00 now, and none of the pictures I took survived the memory card purge. From the rooftop, we moved on to a small restaurant, and stayed there until 10:30 or so. We didn't get back to London until after midnight.
By the time Jack and I got out of the hotel room on Thursday morning, it was closing in on lunch time. I've been trying a different coffee shop every day; my choice was Black Sheep. The Attendant and TAP are both better, but these guys get a few points for their sign.
There are two large-ish coffee chains in England: Caffe Nero and Costa. Both do coffee relatively well. Two other chains, Patisserie Valerie and Pain Quotidien, are better for breakfast, but the coffee isn't as good as the indys.
We took the Tube down to the London Bridge station in Southwark, on the south bank of the Thames, to see the open-air Borough Market. Cheese, bread, cheese, produce, cheese, candy, pastry, cheese, fast-food stalls (including Ethiopian!), and cheese. We bought some gingerbread cookies, some candy, and cheese.
The market is next to the Southwark Cathedral, some of which was built in the 12th century. For a pound, you can take pictures. I took 12, so each of the following photos is worth about 83 pence.
This used to be part of the ceiling ornamentation. It's the devil swallowing Judas.
That incongruous tin foil mess is there for Lent. Up close, it somehow does look like a crucifixion scene.
It kinda does.
Outside, we passed the remains of Winchester Palace
and walked along the Thames
to the Tate Modern
where we saw lots of art
Niki de Saint Phalle, "Shooting Picture"
made by filling plastic sacs with paint under plaster and having her friends shoot the canvas.
and "art."
More "art:" human hair and car bumpers.
Sheela Gowda, "Behold"
There is an Indian superstition of tying human hair
to the bumper of one's car to avoid bad luck.
When we got to the room of George Condo's work, the first thing I thought was that he must have been influenced by Ralph Steadman.
And when I saw this, drawn in 2006,
the first thing I thought was, "I've seen this before."
Ralph Steadman, 1995, "Alsace Man With Corkscrew"
I have a print of it in my dining room.
On to Cildo Meireles' "Babel," a tower of radios and boom boxes tuned to different stations and droning on:
Is this art, or a stack of chairs?
On a balcony, one can look out at the Thames and play "count the cranes."
Back inside, Ibrahim El-Salahi will give you nightmares,
"Reborn Sounds of Childhood Dreams I"
and Germaine Richier will help:
"Chessboard, Large Version"
Bridget Riley will provide the pattern for your bed sheets:
"To a Summer's Day"
Jean-Pierre Yvaral will test your ability to withstand a seizure:
"Ambiguous Structure No. 92"
Or you can step outside and watch the sky change color as the sun goes down,
and then make your way to Chinatown for dinner,
before watching a production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf" from the cheap (ha!) seats and then walking home.
