Tate & Tennis

Monday, November 15th
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After waking up to a chilly Monday morning, Lauren and I had to make sure to bundle up, as our Architecture class this week was bringing us out into the cold!  Our class outing began at Westminster tube stop, and from there we began our South Bank Walk.  Crossing over Westminster Bridge, we strolled by County Hall, the Aquarium, and of course the London Eye.  Our professor told us that the husband and wife team who designed the wheel still receive a royalty whenever someone buys a ticket - can you believe that?!  Needless to say, they are raking in the dough.  Our next stop was Royal Festival Hall.  This bank side building was built in 1951 as a part of the Festival of Britain, and continues to be one of the city's premiere centers for the arts.  We got to spend a little while in the building, allowing us to thaw out.  Lauren and I spent most of the time chatting with our professor, who we decided is the cutest person in the world.  She was telling us about her daughters, Florence and Sydney (named after the cities in which her husband, a prominent Fosters architect, won design contests) and each of their interests.  She sounds like such a cool mom ( although not compared to our beloved moms, of course)!

Yup, all Sunflower Seeds

From the Hall, we walked towards the National Theater, a pretty modern building that is both loved and hated by Londoners for its unusual and stark architecture.  After stealing a peak at the its café, where stars like Jude Law are regulars, we continued outside and along the Thames.  At one point, we were able to go down to river level as the low tide created a sort of beach on its edges.  It was a really cool perspective, although a bit smelly!  Reaching Blackfriars Bridge, we made our way to our final destination: the Tate Modern.  Built about ten years ago, this world renowned museum has housed some of the most innovative and well known contemporary and modern art.  It is pretty much an Art History major's dream; unfortunately, not quite Lauren's and mine cup of tea (pun intended).  We're just not modern art people.  The one exhibit we did see was part of the museum's Unilever Series, in which an artist is able to use the grand Turbine Hall as their workspace.  The "work" we saw was by a famous Chinese artist by the name of Ai Weiwei.  He chose to have millions (the guess is 10) of porcelain sunflower seeds hand crafted and placed neatly on the entire floor of the hall.  Why sunflower seeds you ask?  Apparently it's supposed to represent independence in country that is dominated by political powers.  We didn't really get the whole idea, but it was really amazing to see.  Each of the seeds has been hand crafted and hand painted; Lauren and I were so tempted to try and take one, but with security guards watching us like hawks we decided to skip it.
Parting from our class at 1:30, we both decided it was definitely time for lunch.  Since we were so close to the City, Lauren showed me her favorite food market she frequents for lunch, which apparently had "the best falafel ever."  I can now attest to that statement...amazing.

After a yummy lunch, we made our way back to Courtfield.  While Lauren decided to be studious and stay home to work on her essays, I joined Ashley and Maggie on the tube for an afternoon trip to Wimbledon.  I have been wanting to go here since we arrived in August, so I figured it was now or never!  Although it's far from Grand Slam season, you are still able to walk the Club grounds and visit the Wimbledon Museum.  A half an hour tube ride and we had arrived on the outskirts of London.  A 15 minute walk brought us to the gates of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club; needless to say I was very excited!  By the time we got there it was 3:30, so we opted to see Centre Court first before it got too dark.  There is a viewing booth from which you can see the whole of the stadium.  When we reached the platform, I could't believe I was actually there!  The Court is actually a lot smaller than I envisioned it to be (maybe I'm used to the huge Arthur Ashe stadium), but nevertheless it was quite a sight to behold.  After taking the necessary round of pictures, we headed back over to the main visitor's center for a look around the museum.  It turned out to be a really fun and interesting exhibit, with a lot of interactive points and amazing artifacts.  Some of my favorites were the John McEnroe interactive tour (where he talks about his favorite matches...it looks like he's really there), the outfits (of course), and the trophies!!  Ashley and I agreed that it was definitely one of the best things we've toured here so far.  Turning in our audio guides, we made a quick sweep of the gift shop before heading back to the tube as the Sun went down.  I was sooo happy that I had finally gotten to see Wimbledon, and it was as beautiful and amazing as I expected; now all I want to do is pick up a racquet!
After arriving back home, the rest of the night was spent enjoying dinner and essay writing.  Not the most glamorous of nights, but it was somewhat relaxing!  Week six of placements starts tomorrow - after this week of work we'll be down to single digits!  Needless to say we're ready for a break from this whole internship thing...we'll try enjoy it while it lasts though!
       xo Carolyn