Diary - June 3, 2007

Went to National Museum in London England.

Say a lot of paintings but the highlight was :

Leonardo De Vinci ( 1452 - 1519) - Madonna on the Rocks (Interesting the background was painted by an assistant).
- The Virgin and The Child with Saint Anne & Saint John The Baptist - this is a "cartoon" for preparation for the real painting. This is basically a sketch before Leonardo would paint the real painting

Parmganino (1503 - 1542) - Madonna with Child

Michelangelo (1475 - 1504) - The Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Angels
- The Entoubement - It is unfinished. Christ is being carried to the Sepulchre in the distance to the right.

Raphael (1483 - 1520)- Madonna with Child with Infant John the Baptist.
- The Ansidei Madonna - The Virgin is flanked by Nicholas of Bar and John the Baptist

Boltraffio (1493 -9) - The Virgin and Child

Niccolo dell Abate - The Death of Erydice (1552 - 71)

Luini (1512 - 1532) - Christ among the Doctors

Correggio - Christ presented to the people (1523 - 30)
- The School of Love (1494 - 1534)

Sebastian del Piombo (1485 - 1547) - The Raising of Lazarus - Christ raises their brother Lazarus from the dead
Went to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards

The changing of the guards happens every day at 11:30am. Queen Elizabeth was in the palace today but she was not going to come out as she was busy with other plans.

Went to the London Eye


London Eye is the largest ferris wheel in the world. It is owned and operated by British Airways and they offer "flights" on the eye. Each "flight" around the wheel takes about an hour as the Eye is so big.

We got on in minutes as we had prebooked tickets on the Internet. If you do not pre-book the queue (or line up) could take anywhere from 1 hour - 4 hours. On Saturday it is typical to line up for 4 hours to get on.

Today, we just walked on to the London Eye, no problem.


Take the Tube everywhere

Johanna and I take the Tube everywhere. This is a VERY effecient subway system. It is quite intricate but with a map of the system you can get around London quite cheaply and effectively.

I love the Tube (and the Oyster card).

The motto of the Tube, I found, is go with the flow, don't stop, or you will be trampled. :)