sign in sign up
<<
Home , London Eye, Royal Opera House, Somerset House, Windsor Castle

Feature Eye on Travel

by Maryalicia Post Tired of – tired of life

r Samuel Johnson famously The Design Museum, London’s “temple of observed in 1777,“If a man is tired cool” is another Bankside attraction. D of London, he’s tired of life.” Founded in 1989, it sponsors the prestigious If a visitor is tired of London – these days British Designer of the Year Award.A current anyway – chances are he’s just tired of exhibition,“Designing Modern Britain,” sightseeing. More than most cities, London displays a fascinating range of contemporary takes a little forward planning; you can’t see it artifacts – from a reconstruction of an early all in one go. tube station to a 1980 nightclub.“Formula

That’s because London is not a single city, One – the Great Design Race” combines an Photos: M. Post but a conglomerate of villages.There are exposition of formula one technology with more than two dozen of them, absorbed some famous cars. Open every day from tour to visit the costuming, wig, jewellery and opened the Wellcome wing.This enormous over the centuries into the urban fabric of 10:00; last admission is at 17:15. props workshops and the room in which extension contains a 450-seat IMAX cinema‚ the capital, yet with their identities as www.designmuseum.org ballet slippers are stored. For tickets and a “sensation simulator” and specially created separate neighborhoods intact. Even London times of tours, ring the box office at +44 exhibitions covering genetics‚ digital residents are seldom really familiar with The reconstructed Shakespeare’s Globe (0)20 7304 4000 or book online at technology‚ biomedicine and artificial more than two or three areas. Theatre, opened in 1997, is as faithful to the www.roh.org.uk. Click “What’s On” then intelligence.Take a lift to the 4th and 5th It’s a question of size: until the 18th original as modern scholarship and traditional “Backstage Tours” for details. floors of the old building to visit two old- century all of London covered only one craftsmanship can make it. Even the building’s style exhibitions:“The Science and Art of square mile.That area, now London’s financial water reed thatching derives from samples stands on the site of a Medicine,” and “Glimpses of Medical History.” centre, is still called “The City”, but the city found during the excavation of the original riverside built in the 1540s.The 18th You’ll see a diorama of an 11th century eye called London covers 700 square miles. Globe.The theatre season runs from early century building, now open to the public, is a couching operation, some early cataract Where should you start? May to early October. Book online at veritable treasure house. In 1990, the world- operation instruments and a reconstructed Most people begin with a look at all the www.shakespeares-globe.org.Throughout the famous collection of the Courtauld Institute 1930’s eye-testing lab among many other picture-postcard icons: , Buckingham year, 90-minute guided tours of the theatre of Art Gallery was given a home here. Four curiosities. Open every day from 10:00 to Palace, Abbey, Houses of and of the Globe’s historical exhibition start years earlier, when Sir Albert Gilbert 18:00. www.sciencemuseum.org.uk Parliament,Tower Bridge, the Tower of every 15 to 30 minutes during opening presented his magnificent collection of gold London (see box). But after that, you simply hours: May to September from 9:00 to 12:00 and silver objects, mosaics and gold boxes to The Queen’s Gallery underwent a £20m have to make choices. On a recent visit, I and 12:30 to 16:30; October to April from the British nation, these were housed in expansion in 2002, making it the most decided to balance earlier glimpses of 10:00 to 17:00. Booking not necessary. another wing. Five new galleries, decorated in significant addition to in “traditional” London with a look at “up-to- the Russian imperial style, display precious 150 years. It exhibits a changing selection of date” London. Here’s where this choice led The colourfully painted buildings may date items on loan from the . furniture, paintings and objets d’art from the me: from the Edwardian and Victorian era,and Check the status at www.somersethouse. . In a side chamber there’s a the vibes are Afro-Caribbean, but Notting org.uk/attractions/hermitage/index.html. In an cabinet of Faberge treasures and another NEW LONDON: Hill is “new”.The 1999 film, Notting Hill, underground gallery of Somerset House, you exhibiting a small number of royal jewels – Among London’s new attractions there is starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, can admire a sumptuous 18th century river including the diadem the Queen is wearing in literally nothing to top confirmed the regeneration which started 50 barge. the portrait reproduced on coins and . At 135 metres high, it’s the years ago. Still more bohemian than stamps. Open daily from 10:00 to 17:30. world’s tallest observation wheel. A slow and bourgeois, the current mix jumbles top London’s Science Museum, founded in www.royal.gov.uk steady 30-minute “flight” gives you a leisurely, designer boutiques, vintage clothing shops, 1857, was already famed as the best science unobstructed view of London and the chic restaurants and an outdoor produce museum in the world when, in June 2000, it was home to Charles Thames River. On the rare clear day you may market. On weekends, antique stalls line and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, see as far as Windsor .To avoid the Portobello Street; on the August Bank until their separation and remained Diana’s ticket queue, book online at Holiday weekend, the Notting Hill Carnival Tackling the top sights home until her death in 1997. In 2002, a selection of her evening gowns was added to www.londoneye.com. A Thames riverboat links attracts millions of visitors. For a zip around the major London the Royal Dress Collection exhibited here. London Eye with the . sights, the best bet is a “hop-on, hop- The display includes 18th century ceremonial LONDON RENEWED off” bus. www.bigbustours.com or costumes, ’s wedding dress and The Tate Modern is housed in a disused There’s been a theatre in www.theoriginaltour.com. power station on the banks of the Thames. since 1728; it became the Royal gowns belonging to Queen Elizabeth. Some of the Palace’s Stare Rooms are open to the The building was transformed in the 1990s House in 1892. In its latest incarnation on For a tailor-made tour at your own public but not the rooms in which Diana lived. into a spectacular setting for important this historic site, the Royal pace, book a Blue Badge Guide. Daily March to Oct from 10:00 to 18:00 and modern and contemporary works, the vast reopened in 1999 in a stylishly refurbished www.tourist-guides.net. My guide was November to February from 10:00 to 17:00. turbine hall serving as the gallery entrance. building that welcomes the public not just for Sean Kelleher, available through www.hrp.org.uk. For those interested in more There’s a good shop, a café and a top-floor performances but during the day as well. [email protected] or about Diana, visit Department Store restaurant with views over the river. Open all Come for coffee or lunch on the 4th floor +44 (0) 20 8673 1624. Charges are in , where the engagement ring year, Sunday to Thursday from 10:00 to 18:00, amphitheatre terrace overlooking the piazza, £130 for a half day, £180 for a full day, that Dodi Al-Fayed allegedly planned to give and on Friday and Saturday from 10:00 to a meal in the restaurant or a drink in the whether for an individual or a group. 2200. www.tate.org.uk extravagant Floral Bar. Or take a backstage Diana is part of a memorial to the couple.