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Before the visiting the Tate Britain for BLC, my flat mate Kim and I decided to visit the Tower Bridge exhibition (www.towerbridge.org.uk). You take an elevator up to get beautiful views of London on the Thames. I brought my SLR camera but unfortunately the batteries were dead. Luckily I still had my point and shoot camera so that had to do. At the exhibition, you can slide the windows so you can get the best pictures possible. You can see St. Paul’s, but the best view is of the Tower of London because it’s the closest.
As you walk across the bridge and go back down another elevator, you get a chance to see the engine room, which was neat because it’s something you don’t see everyday. Looking back, I would recommend St. Paul’s and the Eye for views over Tower Bridge but I’m still glad I can say I’ve been inside the bridge.
After we left the exhibition, we made our wade to Tate Britain. We realized we needed to hurry so we looked for a Tube stop. Unfortunately there weren’t any nearby so we decided to just walk to the opposite side of the Thames. We didn’t realized how long the walk would take. We almost grabbed a taxi but we didn’t want to spend the money. So we just quickly walked there and were sweating when we arrived. I ran into some classmates and they said my group already went inside. I rushed in to find them before they got too far in the museum. I found them quickly and told my BLC mentor Professor Dickey why I was late. I was so luckily to have him as my mentor in the class because he was an easy grader and he didn’t care why I was late. He was a very nice man.
While trying to cool down, we were shown the museum that has British art from 1500 to the present. Its Web site (www.tate.org.uk/britain) is very interactive and you can see the paintings and artists in each room. Although it was a beautiful museum, I would prefer to go to the V&A and the British Museum instead. The paintings are beautiful but I think you get a better experience at the other two museums.
After I took the Tube home I decided to walk to the Queen’s Club. It’s a tennis club where a pre Wimbledon tournament takes place. It used to be called the Stella Artois tournament but I believe they have dropped sponsorship. I’m a big tennis fan but I also know about the club because Andy Roddick usually plays there.
I took my trusty Garmin for the 30 minute walk (I decided to save a few pounds since I didn’t have a monthly pass yet) but it took me to the back of the club so I wondered around for at least another 20 minutes until I finally found the entrance. I told the gate attendant that I wanted to visit the gift shop.
It’s funny because I called the gift shop earlier that day to make sure I could get in and the woman thought I was interested in a job at the shop. I wish! If I wasn’t working for Drapers that would have been fun. And I would have actually made an income.
But anyway, I was going to get something with Stella Artois on it but they only have that merchandise around the tournament time. But I did get a bright red polo with a royal Queen’s Club symbol on it. And the cashier helped me saved money by getting a kid’s size that fit me. I asked the cashier if I could get a peek at the courts and she said to go up the steps outside the shop. She mentioned not to go anywhere else since it was a private club. She also said not to spend too much time on the steps.
The club had perfect grass courts. I quickly took a few photos and looked back at the main building of the club. A bunch of cute men in suits were mingling. If only I could have said hello. A hot British man in a tennis club—right up my alley!
As I walked back I was so excited that I just visited in the Queen’s Club. I called my dad, another tennis fan, to tell him what I just did. He was happy for me. Another successful day down!
Tags: London, queen's club, tate britain, tower bridge
