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London
No point pretending we can give you adequate information about the riches of London, so here instead are websites for the principal galleries and museums, the major classical theatres, and some of the great concert venues and festivals taking place during the summer. The museums are, amazingly, largely free to enter, though special exhibitions sometimes charge.
Museums and Galleries
Fabulous collections (including the Elgin Marbles, the sculptures from the Parthenon - catch them while they're still in London) and a fabulous building.
One of the great collections of paintings in the world.
The Tate Galleries Tate Britain | Tate Modern
There are now two Tate Galleries in London (as well as several branches elsewhere): Tate Britain, the national collection of British art, and Tate Modern, the national collection of modern art. Both are marvelous, but Tate Modern is just about Britain's most fashionable and chic museum. Tate Britain has the great collection of his work donated by J.M.W. Turner ... but so much else. Tate Modern is immediately south of "the Wobbly Bridge", sadly no longer wobbling, a new pedestrian bridge that shoots like an arrow across the Thames almost to the doors of St Paul's Cathedral.
The name tells you what's in there. Though the emphasis is historical, the Gallery contains many works that are artistic masterpieces in their own right. A fine restaurant, too!
The Victoria and Albert Museum
The national collection of decorative art and design, with more treasures than you could possibly see from around the world and from many, many periods.
A private institution for artists and their education, but also home to many of the grandest art exhibitions.
You won't meet many people who have visited the Soane museum, but you'll be delighted if you do. Idiosyncratic and the collection of a brilliant and immensely talented architect.
Partly designed by Sir John Soane, this gallery belongs to Dulwich College - otherwise, Edward Alleyn's School of God's Gift, founded by one of the great actors of Shakespeare's theatre. Dulwich Art Gallery has a relatively small collection, but it is full of masterpieces.
On the south bank of the river and in the town of Greenwich, the National Maritime Museum concentrates on the history of Britain as a seafaring nation. It stands on and near the site of Greenwich Palace, beloved of Queen Elizabeth I and many other royals. All that's left of the early modern palace is Inigo Jones's small masterpiece from the early 17th century, The Queen's House, built for Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of James VI and I. On the hill above is the old Royal Observatory, home of the Greenwich Meridian and full of historic scientific instruments, including the famous Harrison timepieces that solved the puzzle of how to tell longitude. The Museum itself contains both artifacts and art, and it mounts excellent exhibitions. Greenwich is also home to the Cuty Sark, the last and fastest of the tea clippers, and other maritime memorabilia.
A splendid museum of the history of London, starting with geological time and coming up to the present day. The Museum is an extremely active archaeological institution and, with the endless redevelopment of London, is constantly rewriting the history of the city. The Museum works hard to be intellectually accessible and interprets its subject with verve - well worth a visit.
Founded after the Great War (the First World War, as we now sadly have to call it), the Museum is what it says: a museum of warfare. It has remarkable collections and remarkable displays and exhibitions, fascinating and sobering in equal measure.
Theatres, Concert Venues, and Festivals
The National Theatre is the showcase national repertory, with three theatres - the Olivier, the Lyttleton, and the Cottesloe - with a constant and highly varied succession of performances.
We will go to one performance at Shakespeare's Globe, but other productions will be on as well. The theatre complex, beside Tate Modern, includes an excellent exhibition on the development of the early modern theatre in London and the nature of Elizabethan Southwark.
What's on and how to get tickets.
London's principal classical music venue.
London's other big and rather more populist venue for orchestral concerts and other big events (boxing ... tennis tournaments ... !). Also home to the BBC Proms (see below).
London's premier chamber music venue.
The Proms are an idiosyncratic British phenomenon. For the past century (and a few more years) this extended series of classical music concerts has been held in the summer, these days mainly in the Royal Albert Hall. There are concerts every night for over two months, mainly given by the orchestras of the BBC, but with contributions from other British and international orchestras. What differentiates the Proms from other series - besides the length - is that every concert is broadcast live on BBC radio and, more importantly, that all the best seats are removed so that people can "prom" - that is, promenade, stand to listen for a tiny fee (about $5). The Prommers bring a festival atmosphere to the Hall, sometimes a bit raucous, but there is no concert experience like it. Go to a Prom to see the British at their most unpredictable and ... well ... foreign!
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