A date with Leonardo da Vinci - painter in the court of Milan

It was the last weekend of the Leonardo da Vinci's exhibition at the National Gallery and I decided to take a shot at it. A truly renaissance figure Leonardo, had in his painting, art, expression, geometry, proportions, emotions, errors, in-completion, ruin to name a few. It was my quest to find out why his art are truly a symbol of debate that cuts across the art community. It was a lifetime opportunity for me to witness his paintings, 7of the odd 20 paintings he made in his life time. The paintings were of the time he was the court painter in Milan for Ludovico.

 I kept alarm at 4:30 and and started from Oxford at 5:15, with temperature being -8 at that time. I knew the queue was going to be long so did not want to take any chance. When I reached Trafalgar Square,  the queue was already 400 people long, and every day they have limited tickets of 500, Then I heard that today they will keep it open till midnight (as it is the last weekend ) and will allow more people inside. It was cold in London with the Trafalgar square fountain frozen, but the queue had more than enough enthusiasm to beat the cold. The queue, essentially a British one, with people exchanges pleasantries, coffee and cigarettes. We finally got the tickets at 1:30PM after a good 7 hours wait and were eager to enter the show. Finally I got the tickets for 6:30PM and prepared myself with some reading on his work in the meantime.

So at 5 I reached the National Gallery and was waiting for the turn. It was like they were telling the most complete exhibition ever of Leonardo's work. The exhibition spanned the time he was in Milan as the court painter. It was not about only his paintings, but about  his style and the evolution of his paintings. He was a mathematician and more of a philosopher. Using proportions of geometry, the facial expression were brought to life in his sketches. There was 7 room with each had a painting of focus and all the related work/sketches with that. Like the left hatchings and the curls , a sketch of a baby looking in all the direction, a sketch of a girl suddenly distracted by some thing. Each of his work portrayed a very natural setting, there were never any extra emotion/pain but all very natural. IN the painting 'Lady with ermine' or 'Belle Ferronniere', it was of a girl with sublime expression, beutiful but not overly smiling, a very contended picture.. Similarly on the painting of 'Madonna litta', a virgin breast feeding her child (mary and christ), the virgin looks at her son with bliss and the child sucking with eager to satisfy the hunger. In this painting there were many sketches that led to this painting and in all the sketches he was trying different emotions, In all, they were the most natural paintings that u can see. there were sketches ok only the clothes, only the baby arn, and so on. This exhibition was good as u never find all the existing sketches, related to the painting, at one place. So they had the sketches and painting for these paintings from Louvre, Berlin, Vienna, Milan, Prague, Windsor, London and on, the reason it was claimed this as the most complete one. And finally the exhibition last room, which was the Leonardo's 'Last supper'. It was the eight meter wide live scale copy of the 1520 work.  The seriously master-piece of its own and for the time to come. The painting is about Christ having his supper with his 12 apostles and he declares one of them will betray him leading to his death. Christ's statement created a flutter, Few enraged, few scared, few denying, Judas. who betrays him, clutches the bag of money... For all of theme he made various sketches to make it clear, vivid and full of life. e took inspiration from beauty, disgust, wickedness pain to create all the emotions. However the mural(as it stands in Milan today), was ruined in 20 years. So his disciple create a copy which had been displayed here. It was a fitting end to the long arduous day. already 3 hours gone, headed back to Oxford with heavy Snowfall and pictures of the sketches, vivid, full of life..

His painting were a class, very masculine, the girls had very masculine hand, full of geometric proportions, very natural and erratic at times. More than the painting his sketches reveal him more, but they make sense only with those paintings. A truly most complete exhibition, truly worth the effort of 7 hours wait.

Notting Hill Carnival

If it is the notting hill, it must be rum and lager

The Notting hill carnival, the largest of such road show in Europe is held every year on the last weekend of August (The bank holiday weekend). The carnival is a celebration by the Afro-Carribean community, but enjoyed by all, shows the vibrant nature of ethnic mix of London. It is held in the Notting Hill area, with Portobello road and the main juncture for the passing trucks. The roads are full with people in boisterous mood, dancing, drinking and enjoying.

It last two days, with Sunday being the children's day and the Monday as the Adult's Day. The carnival starts at 9 in the morning and lasts till 7 in the evening. The best part is the joyous mood of hhe crowd, dancing singing, drinking at their best. People in scores, shake their hips at the reggae tune, dancing for hours. One more thing along with the lager is the street food. Numerous stalls are there selling Jerk Rice, chips, burger and more.

It is an experience that you will carry forward, but again if you dont like the hip-hop music (that too in loud volume), dont like crowd, please dont venture out on those days. Also better not carry anything valuable, as you might be mugged in the crowd.

Scotland Trip 2010

This is a small journal for the trips that i did in the country. The account that I give is an outsiders perspective to the country which is blessed by natural and man-made beauties.
In my trip to different places across the country I covered the country through rail and roads and the breath-taking views of the green fields, coupled with castles, cathedrals were just awesome. I have tried to put as much as facts for any new visitor to the city with palaces worth a visit and skipping the rest (though they all reflect my personal opinions). It was a road trip we did last Easter (2010) starting from Oxford, going up to Edingburgh, Abredeen, then down thruogh Loch Ness, Lanark, Fort William, Liverpool, Birmingham and back to Oxford.

Edinburgh, Scotland

The capital of Scotland is a must a see for any person with is mystique, grandeur and the history rallying behind itself. We reached the Edinburgh bus station (St. Andrews Bus station). We walked out through the Hope street onto St. Andrew square, a park with a monument at its center. You look back and can see the Firth of Forth, which runs by one side of the city. The city has an old city part (a UNESCO world heritage site) which gives the city a character. Through the St. Andrews square you walk towards the famous princess street and find Monument of Scott, on your right. The tall structure will remind you very much of 'Harry potter' or the 'Twin towers' movies. Through the princess mall, we crossed the North Bridge which is over the Edinburgh Waverly station. We took a pause over the bridge to soak in the feeling of the heritage and history. Far on one side you can see the famous Edinburgh castle, while on the other have the Monument of Scott stand tall. We looked back to find a Parthenon like structure on a top of hill (Clayton Hill, which we decided to go later) and on the other side was the Saalisbury craig (cliff in Scottish language). The city is flanked by these structures which gives a definitive identity and makes it quite special, perhaps the reason it is one of the most beautiful city.

We decided to walk toward the Royal mile which was just after the North Bridge, which has a history of its own. The royal Mile, high street Canongate all make you feel that you have landed in the laps history. The walk towards Edinburgh castle itself is a walk back in time, with numerous small close (narrow roads) throughout and each telling a story of its own. We were walking towards the castle as we saw the St. Giles Cathedral and paid a short visit to it. Walking straight down in the royal mile, the road narrowed, to a grand opening facing the castle. After paying for the tickets (14 pounds and strangle no student discount) we entered the castle. The castle had numerous chambers, war rooms, museum and not to say the best view of the city with the Firth of Forth. A history, beauty, time mixed together to create the best cocktail of the day.

After spending around a couple of hours or more, we headed back along the Royal mile toward the canongate side. The buildings, small churches, cemeteries, shops, pubs make both side of the road. At the end stands Scottish parliament, facing Holyrood palace (we didn't enter there) and the Salisbury crag. We decided to climb the cliff to get a breathtaking view of the city. Built on a volcanic rock it gives a pure joy of sight. the efforts of climbing through that path (known as the radical path) was well worth. After climbing down it was pretty much dinner time, and we headed towards one of the numerous pubs to have a tradition scottish haggis and tatties with shot of scotch whisky. Pretty tired after the dinner we resorted back to our hostels for a nice sleep as the next day we had plans to climb the Clayton hill and visit museums and galleries.

The next day morning we had a full Scottish breakfast with a cup of coffee and were ready to visit the remaining places. We walked through the North Bridge taking right towards Clayton hill. Edingburgh in the middle ages around Renaissance time, it had acclaimed the title of 'Athens of north'. So they decided to build a Parthenon at the tallest point in the city. A Parthenon look-alike, is a nice place to see the city line. On one side of the city, you can see the majestic Edinburgh castle and on the other hand the Salisbury cliff. The Holyrood house is below the cliff with a nice green landscape looking below it.


With the sun descending on its path, we witnessed the dawning sun fron over the cliff, and decided to head back to our hostel. After dinner with a traditional scotch whiskey, we retired to our beds, to prepare for the next day.

Places to see in Edin burg

1. Edinburgh Castle
2. A walk through the Royal Mile
3. A look into the whiskey shop in Royal Mile
4. Scott Monument (looking like Harry potter story castle)
5. St. Giles Cathedral
6. Palace of Holyrood
7. Our Dynamic Earth (Museum)
8. National Gallery Of Scotland
9. Nelson's Column (Carlton hill)
10. Royal Museum
11. Princes Street Gardens
12. Holyrood Park (A nice hike up the cliff is nice)

I will update the remain part of the journey soon..



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London Diaries

London... a city of contrast, with poshest of the posh area housing the financial big-shots to the poorest and the homeless jostling together, for food, shelter, amusement and for life.

Nothing is better to start the lazy tourist day with a full English breakfast (mind it, the breakfast is heavy enough to be called a brunch). The breakfast will have saucages, bacons, eggs, tomato, a mushroom, occasionally hash brown and the must baked beans with a cup of espresso. The best place to have it is in a pub, but any nice coffee shop, like Garfunkels or any other will do. With a fully satisfying English breakfast you are ready to explore the majestic London.

The best way to reach the city's heart is the tube. An amazing network of tube lines (still not comparable to Tokyo or Paris) will land you right in the heart of the city. We start the day from Marble Arch, an iconic gateway facing the Hyde park with nice green gardens surrounding it. A small walk through the flowers is amazing specially on a sunny day and worth taking a small walk. London has its own charm, it is crowded, polluted, not as beautiful like other european cities, but still the streets, the charm is equal to none.

A small walk from the Marble Arch will land you in Oxford street. Oxford street, known for its fashion throughout the world. Oxford street will undisputedly take its place in the top five fashion streets on the world. Like high street in New york, or the fashion streets in Paris, Venice or Milan, the shops, the mannequins are all worth watching. A walk will definitely be enjoyable for ladies but for any guy, it might be quite overwhelming due to high crowd. The Oxford street through to Regent street will go to another famous landmark of London, the Piccadilly circus.

Any city, can be visited in by hopping over a siteseeing bus, or by hiring a cab, but hte best way to feel and understand the city is by whalking through the crowd. Same for london, there will be crowd, people performing on the streets, nice shops donning the pavement. Piccadilly circus, with large billboards overseeing you, Ripleys belive it or not museum, a tall statue of cupid will be there to welcome you. One road goes to the famous Leicester square, famous for nice restaurants and China town , one going towards Buckingham palace and one going towards the famous Trafalgar square. On any day, a nice meal at Chinatown wont leave you dissatisfied.

Once you move from Trafalgar square, a walk towards the Big-ben will not only be nice for the eyes, also it will be the walk through the streets of power of the world. You will walk through the Downning street, the parliament square toward the Westminter Abey and Big-Ben. From Big-ben, the bridge will take you to the river thames (the Westminter bridge). A nice sight of the London eye will greet you which is something that will be always carried with your memories.

Hope you enjoyed the walk through London. Will post some pics soon.

Places visit in london

1. Marble Arch (Hyde park)
2. Oxford stret walk on to Regent street
3. Piccadilly Circus
4. Trafalgar Square
5. Somerset house
   
6. National Gallery
7. British Museum
8. Buckingham Palace
9. Victorial & Albert Museum
10. Natural History Museum
11. Science Museum
12. BigBen/Westmister Abbey
13. London Eye
14. Tate Gallery
15. Shakespeare Globe
16. St. Pauls Cathedral
17. Tower Bridge & Tower hill
    

Putting all in the map below


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