Thursday morning we all trooped over to the National Gallery for the special exhibition on Caravaggio and how he influenced other artists. It was interesting to see how other artists utilized his ideas of lighting , but also in using dramatic groupings; and informal as well as narrative poses. Well worth a visit. We also strolled some of the other rooms, it’s always great fun to see art with others and bounce observations back and forth.
For lunch, we all were intrigued by an Indonesian place in Chinatown Susan had pointed out the previous night. P. and J. handled the ordering, being more knowledgeable than us. Really good tablefull of food, each dish having a range of flavors and spicing. We’ll have to seek out an Indonesian place in New York, I don’t think there’s one on Boston.
After we said our goodbyes, Larry and I headed into the national Portrait Gallery for some special shows, the William Eggleston photographs and one on Black life in 19th century Britain. We also revisited the early portrait galleries to round out the morning.
We had been trying to get some of the free tickets for the Skygarden, the new viewing floor at the top of “the electric razor” on Fenchurch Street. Two tickets popped up for 5 pm, perfect. We took the bus over, but got off after halfway because traffic was so slow the bus wasn’t moving.
What glorious views. It’s a large two-level glass atrium, with a thickly planted area in the middle, bars on each level, and plenty of seating. We took lots of photos, had some drinks, and staked out a section of platform to sit on at the edge where there was a great view to the west. And sunset was the perfect time to be there, watching the light fade from the sky and turn on in the buildings.
Destination Anywhere 