A little taste of culture

After being totally focused on Olympic sport for a week, I decided I needed a little culture as well. So on Wednesday I went with a friend to the summer exhibition of the Royal Academy. This is an open exhibition in which the public as well as members of the Academy can submit works of art. And my first impression was--I can paint better than many of the works here! There were fabulous pictures, of course, but many that looked as though somebody's great Aunt Mabel had just taken a painting course. I'm going to enter next year!

On Thursday I went with friends around Shakespeare's Globe theater--very interesting, and then lunched at the Tate Modern. Art a little too modern for me, I'm afraid. I'm still drooling over those lovely Impressionist paintings in Paris.

And today I reached the height of culture, going on the Harry Potter movie tour. It is fabulous--all the sets still preserved--Hogwarts great hall, Harry's dorm room, Hagrid's hut etc etc and especially Diagon Alley. I didn't want to leave and wished the stores were open. Also saw the Knight bus and flying car. And saw how the special effects were done. It was fun to be among people who were all Potter fans and knew every little detail. I almost bought a robe, then decided that I'd look stupid.

Our time in London is drawing to a close and we've been so impressed with the way the transportation has worked, the friendliness of the Games volunteers and everything about the Olympics that has run smoothly.

If you want my complete summary of the Olympics, do check out my group blog www.jungleredwriters.com where I posted pictures on Thursday.