I’m happy to report that after the human crush trying to get to breakfast today, the hotel has opened up the stairs. They have also given 10,000 points to Bob for our account. Now, if they could fix the second coffee machine…
When we walked to the hotel on Wednesday, we noticed a sign for the Peter Layton Glass Gallery. Since I knew that Peter and Susan like glass blowing and have some beautiful pieces I wondered to Bob if maybe this was their London “supplier.” Bob was pretty skeptical, but just by chance I was right.
Based on Peter and Susan’s recommendation, we stopped by the gallery today, which has the London Glass Blowing Studio in the back. (Fun note: If you’ve ever watched the series “Blown Away,” Elliot Walmer, a glass blower from this gallery, won the second year of that series.)
We were there about 10:30 this morning when they were prepping for a glass blowing session a bit later. We were able to watch them blow some very small pieces with very long tails to incorporate into a matte glass landscape piece. Bruce Marks,one of the glass artists, was very nice to talk to us about the process and some of his work. He does glass making for Peter Layton, who is almost 90, during the week and for himself on the weekend.
Our stop continued our interest in this artistic method, as there are so many different styles.
From the Peter Layton Gallery, we walked to The Shard to get some great views of London. The Shard is a 72 story mixed-use development super tall pyramid-shaped skyscraper right across from the London Bridge transit station. It opened in February 2013. For a minimum of 19 pounds (US $25.43), you can access the public viewing decks on floors 68 and 69.
Since the clouds had cleared, we thought we needed to do it. The following are some pics from our visit. One of our favorite views was from the floor to ceiling glass in the bathrooms.
After The Shard, we decided to walk to the free Tate Museum via the Boroughs Market.
across from The Shard
This is “ Stillness Born of History II,” by Emily Young, 2014.
We walked through the free floors of the Tate Museum, but didn’t find much that spoke to us. We usually really like the buildings that house art museums, but we weren’t that fond of the building either. Just our tastes, I’m sure lots of people love the Tate and its exhibits.
There were two impressive exhibits in the main hall by Maret Anne Sara. The first one, Goavve, uses reindeer hides bound by electrical cables to contrast indigent and modern relationships with the land.
The second sculpture, Geabel, is a maze-like structure inspired by the shape of a reindeer’s nose. Fun fact, a reindeer’s nose is so energy efficient that it can heat air by 80 degrees C in a single second, enabling it to survive in very cold conditions.
We received our homeowner’s manual today for our next housesit, and we will have a 45 minute train ride tomorrow afternoon for our walk through with them before they head off for their trip.
Peckish Travels 