When I got to Paddington station I found that left luggage was a ridiculous 6 pounds per piece per 24 hours. I was originally going to deposit my backpack in Victoria coach station, since I'd be leaving from there in the evening, but the baggage at the airport took too long to come out so I didn't have time, and had to be fleeced.
Some of the dispensers in the Tube for London maps accept Euro coins. There's also a free number on them to call if the map dispenser is down, but the catch is that it's not free for mobiles - it's hard enough to get people to make free calls, so who would bother calling on a landline later? And there's now a number to call to report graffiti on/in public transport. Wah.
I reached the British Museum at about 10:15, but my luck was finally bouncing back and I was not denied entry despite my ticket for the Michelangelo drawings exhibition (Michelangelo Drawings - closer to the master) being for 10am. Despite having gotten only about an hour more of sleep on the plane, I was not lethargic and slow, unlike on my first day in Athens.
The exhibition said that showing Michelangelo's preparatory drawings was the only way to display the full extent of his work in one exhibition. It was nice that they had photographs of the completed works beside some of the drawings, but the photographs could've been larger and greater in number.
Michelangelo was both a devout Christian and very gay, and both drove him in his work. Hurr hurr. No wonder he liked the male form so much.
The hot dogs outside the British Museum are now £2.50. Amazing. Going by past trends I expected them to be £4 by now (they were £2.50 in 2002 and £3 in 2003, or thereabouts).
I then went to the Handel House for the castrati exhibition (Handel and the Castrati) and the permanent collection. In the video introduction, they revealed that they played a newly discovered pastoral of his in a nightclub and it was very popular. Uhh. They also interviewed a taxi driver/violinist. Wah. They talked to this artist who drew juvenile watercolours allegedly based on the Hallelujah Chorus, and he said that if you were ever depressed, you should listen to Handel and you wouldn't be depressed anymore. No doubt many would despise him (Handel) for that.
When I was watching the video I began to be overcome by torpor and sleepiness, and the weather didn't help (most of the windows were closed, and people outside were not wearing sweaters - I wouldn't want to be over in July or August) but walking around the house restored some of my alertness.
During the first performance of Music for the Royal Fireworks, the pavilion with them (the fireworks) caught fire, a woman's dress was set alight by the fireworks, a painter fell to his death, as did a boy up a tree, and a man drowned in a pool. Meanwhile the firework maker/planner challenged the Royal Comptroller of the Ordinance and Fireworks to a duel. Pity.
Besides the familiar Samuel Johnson quote about London there was another amusing one: "Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has no pleasures".
The original production of Handel's Rinaldo had a flock of live sparrows. Uhh.
I wonder whether some of these stories are apocryphal. Apparently Susannah Maria Arne's (aka Susanna Maria Cibber, known as a scandalous woman) performance of "He was despised", caused Dr Patrick Delany, the chancellor of St. Patrick's Cathedral to stand up and shout: "Woman, for this, be all thy sins forgiven". Maybe people used to be a lot more dramatic last time.
There was a room with a reproduction of a Ruckers double-manual harpsichord, and the museum invited musicians to rehearse Baroque music there. This was cheesy but nice, especially as I was lucky enough to have a man come in and play while I was in the house.
Polyphony used to be rejected in Russian music before the 18th century because it was seen as too Catholic. Heh. [Someone: polyphony existed in a different form in russia as early as the 13th century
long story]
There was an 1868 facsimile of Messiah and visitors were invited to flip throuhg it. How generous.
Casanova about the female fat distribution of castrati: "To resist the temptation, or not to feel it, we would have had to be as cold and earthbound as a German".
In England the castrato voice was thought morally corrupting. Heh.
I was a bit disappointed at the Castrati part of the exhibition. Most of the exhibition consisted of information panels and paintings or pictures of the castrati, with a focus on their hysterics and tempers viz Handel. There were a few castration tools, but that was it for the artefacts. And there were discmans with recordings of countertenors and male altos. I suppose I was expecting things like Farinelli's handkerchief, and more information on musical analysis of their voice.
There was a room where you could try on costumes. That was very campy, but there was also a discman with the Handel house CD (mostly extracts from music he composed while residing in the house) and some books the bookshop sold, which was nice.
Handel House courtyard
Government of Gibraltar, Tourist Board, Finance Centre, Port Authority
I find it amusing that their government is an office in London, and not even on their own soil!
Some of the train cars on the Tube have buttons to press to open and close the doors, but the doors open automatically anyway at the station, so I don't see the point of them. Also, I think all doors open automatically because almost all the Tube stops are underground so the cold air won't rush in.
They now have painted circles on the station floors for buskers to sit. Looks like they're finally enforcing the rules.
There're a lot more Chinese (I say 'Chinese' instead of PRC since a non-negligible portion of them spoke in dialect) in London than in 2003 and before.
Traveling on London public transport without a valid ticket can lead to prosecution, criminal conviction and a fine of up to £1000. While they're at it they might as well impose the death penalty.
