During Nadia’s break from school we really tried to relax and spend time catching up on our American shows. Well, that lasted about two weeks! We knew we had to get back to our weekly Cultural outing in London and spent last week doing just that.

Monday afternoon we met Nadia’s school friends at the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit. This exhibit showcases the award-winning images, bringing the talent and vision of each photograph to life. It was an outstanding showcase of amazing photographs. I really enjoyed every piece, and found it really hard to choose a favorite. The dedication it took to capture these once in a lifetime moments is truly breathtaking. As someone who really enjoys photography, it is a MUST! We wrapped up the evening with cheeky pints and cheap noodles with our friends. It was a great start to our cultural week!

Natural History Museum

No Photos Allowed inside!

Cheeky Pints & Cheap Noodles

Thursday evening we met our housemates J&M at their Work in Progress Show at the Royal College of Art. We had a great time walking around the galleries and seeing J&M’s work. J also took us on  a tour of their workshops. It was so cool to see J&M’s work and then see where and how it is all made. We can’t wait to see their end of year show in June and congratulate them for their past two years of work.

On Friday we headed over the famous Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern. Officially known as the London Millennium Footbridge, it is a steel suspension bridge for pedestrians crossing the River Thames in London, linking Bankside with the City of London. Most people will recognize this bridge from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

We were lucky enough to visit the Tate Modern because a family member of one of our Boston friends works there! We had a great time walking around the museum, hearing all about the construction on their new building and getting tickets to two special exhibits: Paul Klee and Mira Schendel. We enjoyed seeing a different type of art since we’ve been visiting a lot of historical museums since we arrived. We ended our lovely afternoon by heading to the 6th floor for drinks. What an amazing view of London! This was definitely one of those moments I looked over at Nadia and said thank you for this great adventure.

We finished our cultural week out on Saturday by touring The National Gallery. The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. With 2,300 paintings under their roof it was a lot to see in one afternoon. We took our time walking around and ended up seeing all of the famous paintings housed there including, Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, Velázquez’s Rokeby Venus, Turner’s Fighting Temeraire and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. I didn’t take any pictures inside, but grabbed a few as we walked into Trafalgar Square.

Now that school is back in session for Nadia, we will be returning to our weekly cultural outings. This Saturday we will be taking advantage of our Royal Palaces membership and visit Whitehall’s Banqueting House. I can’t wait to share all of the details with you!

Hope you have a good week!