Feeling “Very Olympic” Today! . . . Picture This . . . And This!

Feeling “Very Olympic” Today . . .

Queen Victoria Olympic Park, built for the 2012 Summer Olympics, proved a 22,000+ step day (yay for Fit Bits that keep track of such things)!  Tyler and I toured with a guide and group.  The guide worked as a Blue Badge Guide (official, professional tourist guides of the UK) for 8 years so she had lots of stories to tell – behind the scenes stuff that was fascinating!  

Like how the park-site-encamped gypsy dilemma was solved.  Evidently, some gypsies were living on the land just before the park was built; for construction to begin, they had to go -- but how to accomplish that without a fight?  Evidently, the gypsies ended up having a squabble among themselves just days before the park powers-that-be had decided to pay them to move, and the gypsies burned each other’s caravans to the ground and left of their own accord.  Problem solved.

The Park is 568 acres full of venues, gardens, sweeping lawns, water features and playgrounds.  Their footie (soccer) stadium has been used often and will be the new home of a local team beginning next year.  Stunning in design, the aquatics center is open for public use, as is the impressive velodrome for indoor cycling.  We enjoyed popping into each of those venues and watching the action for a bit.

Other highlights were seeing the Olympic rings (just makes you wanna be sporty!), ambling along one of the park’s two rivers and experiencing the first-hand views of the athletes’ village,  Arcelor Mittal Orbit sculpture (see the picture above – it’s the piece that looks like red licorice strings), and other public artworks. 

An excitement and positive energy still swirl about the area from those games, so we’re definitely feeling very Olympic today (and sore-footed)! 

“Picture This” . . .

Exploring the fabulous offerings at the National Gallery – such a treat!  Home to over 2,300 works of art and Tyler and I took in almost all of these masterpieces -- some with an appreciative (although brief) look and others with a linger-longer approach.  

Among the offerings are portraits, altar pieces, landscapes, and religious narratives.  This museum was established in 1824 and continues to fascinate and inspire.  Some of our favorite pieces there include works by van Gogh, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, van Eyck, Monet and Seurat.  My most favorite painting there is probably the Burlington House “cartoon” (i.e. a full-size drawing made on sturdy paper as a study for a painting) by Da Vinci.

The whole day was a banquet for the eyes!

And This!

On an artsy roll, Tyler and I meandered through the National Portrait Gallery the next day.  Expecting primarily historical paintings of unknown – to us – figures, we were pleasantly surprised to find a wonderful mix of mediums and subjects! 

There were pictures and sculptures of royalty, historical figures and modern-day artists, inventors, and political icons.  We even ran into paintings of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. 

It was some face-to-face fun for sure!