It was always my secret strategy to use London as a stopover between US west coast and Frankfurt, so I cut 1 hr of flight time and get a weekend of shopping/sketching in return. However, this time my plan kind of backfired that I was asked to extend my stay in Germany...after I have already bought my ticket to London. And so basically I drove 2 hrs to Frankfurt, flew over to London, only to then turn back and return to Germany 2 days later...but it is what it is, 1.5 days in London is still better than 0 days in London, despite the massive hassle. I also decided to spend Saturday night in Frankfurt...because hotel prices in London for Saturday night is prohibitively expensive. Not worth it if I'm literally flying in at 10PM.
Day 1
After getting some essential shopping done on Sunday afternoon, I strolled over to Tower Bridge just around sunset and did a family portrait of Tower Bridge + Tower of London (and the Shard??)
I really should have packed up at this point, but I thought one more wouldn't hurt. I can still see! But no, within 20 minutes I can't really see colours on my palette anymore. The lights on the bridge were great for walking but not really good for seeing my sketchbook. (side note, after this while searching for food on Bricklane, I kind of both lost my hope in London food scene after a super disappointing meal at a highly rated Chinese noodle place, and then 30 minutes later regained my hope again after finding some truly wholesome delights at a nearby Burmese family run restaurant-I returned the 2nd night too!)
Day 2
The next morning I headed straight to the main goal of my trip this time (other than shopping): seeing Rothko's paintings in person for the first time! Having literally had a print of Rothko's Yellow, Blue, and Orange on the wall of my flat for 3 years (not by my own choice of course, my landlords chose it to complement the colours of the furniture), I have grown to appreciate his work. Unfortunately the only work Tate Modern holds was the maroon series, which features much darker colour choices. I was half hoping that Tate Modern, given its vantage point on the Thames and its height, would have a superb viewing deck, but I got lost in its maze of stairs and lifts so I just gave up and decided to do the view from ground level on a bench in front of the building.
It was lunch hour and I was joined on the same bench first by one guy on his lunch break, and then later by 2 more professionally dressed guys also on their take-out-lunch-by-the-Thames break (yes it was a long bench). I first thought they must be employees of Tate Modern, but judging by their project talks it seemed that they were more finance than art. (Although at no point did they name drop any company) It seemed like I could only get these types of eavesdrop-on-a-local experience in London.
After swinging by Clerkenwell to pick up some more brushes and another cheap sketchbook, I gave my new brush its inaugural run at St Pancras. It picked up way more water and was softer than I expected. Last time I did St Pancras I didn't get to draw its main facade, but still it is challenge for a wide, not tall sketchbook.
Then I did the family portrait of both stations!
For a final sketch before sunset, I got off the tube at Bank (it was suffocating in the trains near afternoon rush hour). I was eyeing a spot near the tube entrance with a perch for the water jar but it was occupied by some bible promotion people. Just I was grumbling to myself while resigning to the fact I would have to bend down to reach my water jar, these people packed up their stuff and disappeared in a flash (guess 5pm was also their cue to get off "work"??) And so I happily took their spot.
It was a pretty mind blowing experience to be standing at Bank Junction during rush hour. It was like watching the whole world's economy go by. All sorts of people in professional attire and cyclists crisscrossed and English in all accents were spoken. There were no crowds per se, but there was a constant steady stream of people coming out from all roads leading into the junction, and everyone was walking (or rushing) with purpose!
