Today, Ally and Cat being at work, we had our traditional breakfast in Prêt à Manger in lovely Paternoster Square, then walked to the British Museum, which we have rejoined in the anticipation of a few visits to London over the next year.
We went to the Hokusai exhibition and were gratified that, as members, we were allowed just to swan in even though it was fully booked. I enjoyed the exhibition very much; it consisted of 103 very intricate and beautiful brush drawings, so detailed and amazing. The drawings were intended for an encyclopaedia to be called “The Great Picture Book of Everything” which was never published (if it had been, these drawings would have been destroyed as part of the print-making process) and covered many subjects such as animals, birds, Japanese legends, stories of Buddha and more. He was such a great artist. His famous work “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” was also on display, of which the British museum has three versions - I didn’t realise (until today!) that it was a woodblock print and that the versions differ according to how worn the woodblocks were by the time each print was made. There were originally about 5000 but many have been lost or damaged over the years.
We also revisited the Sutton Hoo room (after seeing the film “The Dig” recently) and admired the silverware, the gold buckle and jewellery, and the carefully reconstructed helmet.
By this time we were ready for a refreshing cup of tea in the Members’ Room.
Then I had the genius idea of going to a 4 p.m. showing of the new film “Dune” which James has been looking forward to seeing. We booked the Odeon in Leicester Square (much used for film premieres) and were very impressed by its big roomy cinema, with comfy reclining seats. I love going to a film in the late afternoon sometimes, because afterwards you can have a leisurely dinner, rather than rushing dinner before the film. I found that “Dune” was rather long and difficult to follow probably because I haven’t read the books (needless to say James and his sons have read them all!) James thought it was excellent.
And after a bit more walking, our day ended with a very nice and relaxed dinner in The Happenstance near our hotel.
We went to the Hokusai exhibition and were gratified that, as members, we were allowed just to swan in even though it was fully booked. I enjoyed the exhibition very much; it consisted of 103 very intricate and beautiful brush drawings, so detailed and amazing. The drawings were intended for an encyclopaedia to be called “The Great Picture Book of Everything” which was never published (if it had been, these drawings would have been destroyed as part of the print-making process) and covered many subjects such as animals, birds, Japanese legends, stories of Buddha and more. He was such a great artist. His famous work “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” was also on display, of which the British museum has three versions - I didn’t realise (until today!) that it was a woodblock print and that the versions differ according to how worn the woodblocks were by the time each print was made. There were originally about 5000 but many have been lost or damaged over the years.
We also revisited the Sutton Hoo room (after seeing the film “The Dig” recently) and admired the silverware, the gold buckle and jewellery, and the carefully reconstructed helmet.
By this time we were ready for a refreshing cup of tea in the Members’ Room.
Then I had the genius idea of going to a 4 p.m. showing of the new film “Dune” which James has been looking forward to seeing. We booked the Odeon in Leicester Square (much used for film premieres) and were very impressed by its big roomy cinema, with comfy reclining seats. I love going to a film in the late afternoon sometimes, because afterwards you can have a leisurely dinner, rather than rushing dinner before the film. I found that “Dune” was rather long and difficult to follow probably because I haven’t read the books (needless to say James and his sons have read them all!) James thought it was excellent.
And after a bit more walking, our day ended with a very nice and relaxed dinner in The Happenstance near our hotel.
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