THE ROYAL ACADEMY

Part of the purpose of our trip to the UK this time was to visit the small Richard Diebenkorn drawing we had loaned to the Royal Academy for their big Diebenkorn show.  We set off with the whole family at around ten in the morning and took the train from Harpenden into central London, changing to the Tube to Green Park station, and leaving a pleasant walk along Piccadilly to the Academy--where we found a brand new Frank Stella sculpture in the courtyard.  Ellie liked it more than I did.  I found the support system clumsy, leaving the two main, star-shaped elements sitting rather awkwardly above...

As lenders to the exhibit, we had hoped to meet at least one of the curators; but alas, it turns out this is a Bank Holiday Monday, with only a skeleton staff on duty to keep the doors open.  We found our piece in the first gallery, along with many much larger works from Diebenkorn's Berkeley series, and were pleased that our little drawing was nonetheless a strong presence.  A good show, smaller than we had expected after seeing the big shows at the Orange County and at the Palm Springs Museum, and yet substantial.  The only disappointment was that we felt the selection from the wonderful Ocean Park series was less than spectacular.

We left the Academy in search of lunch, and found an Italian restaurant a few doors down, where we enjoyed a good meal.  Matthew and Joe did well to order pastas, and Georgia had what looked like an excellent mozzarella salad; Ellie and I and Alice did less well, I thought, with our sandwiches. A friendly waiter took our picture…

… and provided good humor throughout.

After lunch, we strolled down a street that seemed largely dedicated to the tobacco business—a bit desultory these days—ending up at the back of St. James’s Palace and walking around the side to cross Pall Mall—with a glimpse of Buckingham Palace...

... and into St. James’s Park, where the walks were filled with Bank Holiday crowds.  We had fun watching the water birds...

... and were surprised to find rather tame herons…

… and an island of pelicans in central London...

 Leaving the park, we crossed over to the Churchill War Rooms, site of the underground bunker from which he conducted the strategy of World War II and now a museum—well, two museums, really, one devoted to Churchill’s life, the other to the history of the war.  The elaborately-designed exhibits were fascinating, but might have been confusing, I thought, to anyone unfamiliar with the history of the period.  For me, they brought back childhood memories of the time when we could see the glow of the London blitz from the village where we lived at the time, sixty miles to the north. 

From the war museum, we walked on the Whitehall and up past Downing Street—now closed off from the public with a huge protective gate—and past the Cenotaph and the Horse Guards...

... to Trafalgar Square, where Nelson still reigns atop his column…

Then on, up the Strand, in search of a place for a cup of tea and a bite to eat.  The whole area around Covent Garden was impossible, with the crowds of Bank Holiday tourists, and we finally had to settle, further on, for a Café Nero, where we found a pleasant table on the sidewalk…

We walked on, after a break, past the Inns of Court and the Old Bailey…

… arriving finally at the Thameslink train station at St. Paul’s, where we caught the train back to Harpenden.  Dinner was take-out fish and chips, leaving time for some neglected homework…

We'll be sad to have to say goodbye to the grandchildren tomorrow.