Mike Vickers' Blog

Every time we visit London to see the son there is something new despite the cash strapped UK economy.

The Shard – the tallest building in Western Europe – the view is literally 3 dimensional  – and still more new sky scrapper glass houses  being built.

The Tate Modern– two new exhibitions – Lichtenstein and A Bigger Splash.  The Lichtenstein was fully booked so we went to the Bigger Splash – the theme how art has developed since Hockney and Pollock – dreadfully in the years 1960 – 70 in my opinion; may be just emerging to something that I may want to look at.
And the galleries were bursting with people – I read somewhere that Gallery gazing is the post-modern religion and if this was an example it looks to be true.

We also went to the Tate in Millbank – a much quieter affair – struggling for popularity with its new offspring the Tate Modern but to me much the preferable – nice exhibition of landscapes taking us up to the present – John Nash was included but not my favourite, his brother Paul – a pity.

We spent some time in Foyle’s Bookshop – last time, admittedly some years ago, it was very run down but not so any more – a wonderful transformation and I had forgotten how large it is once inside the front door.

And somewhere in between a visit to the Old Vic with a revival of Terence Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy – not expecting much, seen it before years ago, but it turned out to be a wonderful evening with all the cast performing excellently .  The play has a serious theme of individual rights against the state – the Petition of Right – summed up by the defending barrister that Right rather than Justice was done ; but the play also has an underplay of comedy.  You tend to forget until you hear the words that Rattigan’s dialogue is excellent.  As one critic wrote – almost three hours and it just flew by.

But I come away wondering Is London still part of the UK.