This took me to Alexandra Palace in Wood Green, far outside downtown London and situated on a hill slash mountain. From the top, you can see all the way down to the Thames-- and you can pick out iconic buildings such as the Gherkin.
A close-up shot of the balcony at Alexandra Palace, taken before my camera decided once again to malfunction.
Situated by Bond Street, it's tucked out of the way of the many shoppers to feel special and secluded.
I wasn't able to take these photos--photography was not allowed, so these are taken from others' surreptitious shots.
A salon.
Apparently this family of aristocrats were friends with Marie Antoinette, Napoleon, and Louis XV, to name a few. This was known as the Marie Antoinette Salon, because most of the furniture was once hers.
The Wallace Collection boasts a huge collection of armor and arms, from Europe, Asia, and India.
There are so many paintings and beautiful pieces of furniture and works of art. Things I have never seen anywhere included rock crystal goblets and vases (from Freiburg), three-dimensional wax portraits in frames, a wonderful portrait of Queen Victoria, and so much more.
Mixed into the historical collection are 25 paintings by Damien Hirst, of dead animal and skull fame. Apparently the richest living artist, Mr. Hirst entitled this collection No Love Lost: The Blue Paintings.
They were absolutely wonderful--so melancholy and gorgeous.
The colours were all blue and black and hues of white. They were quite striking.
Set against a backdrop of blue patterned silk, the exhibition was fabulous.
One of the most wonderful pieces was this skull in the midst of darkness. It looked like it was glowing-- I had to look behind the frame to make sure it was being illuminated by a backlight.
This was my other favorite painting. I love the roses.
A little park outside the Hertford House.
Red and pink berries and flowers--in November.
There was wonderful music and traditional dancing, complete with whirling skirts and tapping feet. The band played one song after another, as the crowds sang along (in Spanish, of course). They tried to leave the stage about three times after their allotted time had passed, but had to retake the stage with encore numbers to shouts of "Otra! Otra!".
This little girl wore a tiny traditional pink dress, and had her face painted as a skull. Wierdly cute, but also a little disturbing. But then again, most of the kids who were running around had skeletal smiles painted on their faces, or held a decorated grinning skull mask in front of their faces.
The male dancers were great, completely synchronized and enthusiastic–they even jubilantly shouted and yelled as they danced, to energize the crowd.
The dancing was so graceful, yet completely controlled, as the moves adhered to a strict pattern.
There was a festival procession, which came down the stairs in the main hall of the British Museum and proceeded all the way around the center building. The dancing skeletons, each with their faces elaborately made-up, came first.
Whirling and tumbling, to music played by the band, they come down the staircase.
There were dancers with huge headpieces, which were supposed to be fruit? flowers? Bright neon, the wierd headpieces stood out against their white dresses and full skirts.
There was a huge skeletal puppet, in bright orange and other colors, which towered above the rest of the procession.
A puppet burst out from a coffin that was carried, to dance along with the rest of the procession.
The skeleton dancers were my favorite, however. This is really the only clear shot I managed to take, thanks to my (dying?) camera.
A detail shot of the great skeleton in the procession.
Here is the procession winding away, around the great hall in the British Museum.
This elaborate setup was done in the most wonderfully bright colors, complete with sugar skulls and paper cut-outs.
Another part of the display for the Day of the Dead.
In the U.S., less is more, when it comes to Halloween costumes and especially actual costume clothing. But in the U.K., the standard costume is pure blood and gore-- splash on a little faux blood or stab yourself in the chest with a hypodermic needle, throw on some normal(ish) clothes, and you're good to go in London.
We went to Shunt, this odd space in a tube station that is apparently the coolest/edgiest/weirdest places and experiences in London. Obviously, as it's closing for good soon, we chose to try it out on Halloween.
A wierd, dark and cavernous space, some halls and inlets were populated by artwork and performance art.
I randomly took a photo in pitch-darkness as we were walking in Shunt, and this image turned up on my camera sceen. Creepy.
A performance artist.
Huge, dancing skeletons were projected onto the stony walls and ceilings.
As mentioned previously, blood and gore is the way to go, in terms of costumes.
An ominous bird shadow in Shunt.
The scene of one of the halls.
My favorite photo of the night-- to me, it looks like this man has two faces. Very Halloween-y.
A trapeze artist dressed as a mummy. The trapeze ropes looked as if they were merely extensions of his (her?) costume.
London is surprisingly into Halloween. Even some of the bus stations were decorated.
The Masonic Lodge in London, a quite imposing structure.
Lincolns Inn Fields, the largest public square in London.
There were people all around the square, eating lunch and enjoying the lovely weather. It's right by both the LSE and Sir John Sloan's house.
