Installment 1
I’m sitting in the airport writing to let you all know of my successful arrival to the British Isles. I can see the beautiful land of Ireland from where I sit, and I only wish that I could have a few more hours to take a walk outside, find a cab, and have a beer in an Irish pub. But it's 10 a.m., I've been awake for almost 24 hours, and I would miss my flight. Aren't you all glad I have common sense?
I started my journey with some sadness and anxiety, but I started smiling to myself as I was walking through the narrow and somewhat claustrophobic corridors of the quaint Dublin airport. One walkway in particular reminded me of traveling through France, where repetition of advertising posters are placed at hip level rather than at eye level. Except the Dublin airport had the added bonus of having every walkway feel like some space age hamster tunnel, complete with advertising, of course.
My flights were fairly easygoing. I had a bit of a baggage conflict due to the weight of my bags, which unsurprisingly exceeded their limit. It was nothing an extra duffel bag and an extra forgiving baggage clerk couldn’t fix. Upon arriving in the Chicago airport, I realized that I had arrived at Gate C and had to find my way to Gate M (I assumed correctly that these would not be close to one another). I was warned about the size of the Chicago airport, but was not expecting to run through seemingly endless hallways (complete with ambiguous signage), escalators, elevators, and a train that took me to two other terminals before ariving at the international terminal. Obviously I was successful.
Installment 2
Brooke and I are now sitting in her room in London. Her current home is a converted pub in Camden Town where she lives with 14 other people who refuse to wash their own dishes, one kitchen, one shower, and 14 cats. I’m sure it’s no surprise to hear that she and Jake are in the process of looking for another place to live. In fact, they plan on being moved out by Monday, which means that their life right is about as hectic as mine. We spend a lot of time on the internet looking for places to live in our respective cities, and randomly reciting the positive qualities of some that we are fortunate to stumble upon.
It’s a moving experience to be walking down the streets of London and have every block, alley, corner, and overheard conversation confirm everything I’ve ever expected from London. Of course, my personal attatchment to certain British authors adds to my enthusiasm (I’m going to John Keat’s house this weekend). I plan on staying up at least another 5 or 6 hours to add to the full day that I’ve been awake with not more that ½ hour of sleep.
Installment 3
This will be the last seeing as I started writing for my blog a few days ago, but didn't actually start my blog until today. Today is worth mentioning though, because we saw Big Ben, walked by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (not the original, that burned down some time ago), and spent quite a bit of time in the Tate Modern Museum (don't be too jealous, Neil). We saw some originals by Monet, Picasso, Dali, Litchenstein, Rosenquist, etc., which was a treat. I know little about art, but I have to mention how mesmerizing Monet's pieces are up close when you realize that there is more layering of color than blending to create the effect you see on canvas.
There was one installation piece in particular that was fantastic. This artist had collected several hundred pieces of metal silverware, trays, plates, and bowls, and bulldozed them to flatten them. Then she hung the pieces with silver wire from the ceiling next to one another with the flat sides of the items on the top and bottom. She shaped these groups of metal into flat circles that were about 2 feet in diameter. There was a grid of 30 of these circles (5x6) perfectly spaced and hanging about a foot off the ground. It was really something to see, and pretty difficult to explain. I'm sure you have a pretty cool image in your head even if it looks nothing like the actual piece. We weren't allowed cameras or I would have spared you a stretch of your imagination. Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment