London: Galleries 1 and 2

January 14, 2012, Saturday

Miles flown: 3452 miles New York JFK to London LHR
Flight time: ~7h
Landed: ~9 am at London LHR
Left: Eurostar 12:24 pm for Paris
Returned: 9:39 pm at St Pancras

My journey began on Jan 14, 2012....

Time was tight, so I prebooked my Heathrow Express ticket for Paddington station and took a cab for the Davies Street gallery. Despite missing one train just as it was leaving, I arrived a few minutes before the gallery's opening time at 10 am. I even had a nice stroll past Claridge's and thought about my sticker shock from drinks there years ago.

Claridge's Hotel, London, courtesy of Wikipedia and flickr

Some unforeseen trouble meant the gallery would be open late, but fortunately the delay was short. The cheerful staff gave me directions for the second London gallery at Britannia Street, directing me to use the Victoria line at the Green Park tube station, which was a quicker way that hadn't occurred to me. Davies Street had the smallest spot paintings of the show. Britannia Street showed a round painting that was like a flower, with a large spot in the middle and half spots around it. I did not see this design anywhere else.

With more than an hour to spare, I had time for an egg sandwich and a hot chocolate at Caffè Nero and I left my bag at the luggage check at St Pancras station.

Then off to Paris!

Previous Gagosian gallery visit: James Turrell at Britannia Street, Nov 26, 2010 (?)
Airfare: ~$1000 (includes $275 change fee)
Hotel: $122.60 per night x 2 nights