We'll get to London in just a bit but first a word about 'being on the beam'. Sometimes you just feel you are in league with the universe in the best possible way. Noticing what others are noticing and noticing what should be noticed. I had this happen a couple of times this week.
The first time was upon seeing the lead article in this week's Sunday New York Times travel section on Culinary Rome, CLICK HERE. It would be so much fun to think that I had inspired the Times (...and completely delusional, very clear on that, just saying, you know, fun...). After all, it was just two weeks ago that I wrote about Studio Traveler's culinary trip to Rome in October '16. Even if it is a coincidence, it is still a nice one--and it means that cooking in Rome is being noticed and appreciated in a particular way and in this particular moment.
Then just yesterday I saw an ABC News piece, CLICK HERE, on the syncretic religions of Cuba. It includes a mention of Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Regla, the church we will visit where both Catholicism and the Afro-Cuban Santeria faith are practiced. I don't think I had ever even heard of Santeria until I began to plan our trip to Cuba. Now I am utterly fascinated. An entire other world within an already complex culture. Oh and by the way, today we release the itinerary for that trip so CLICK HERE for Havana.
AND NOW FOR LONDON...PLEASE READ ON...
The more famous London quote is from Boswell’s Life of Johnson: ‘When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life' but there is also Boswell's quote from his Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides: 'By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show.' Both quotes serve equally well. London feels for many of us like the vortex and source of much in this world that is interesting, entertaining and culturally vibrant.
Even so, London used to be more of a word town--theater, literature and certainly wit--but for the visual arts one thought of continental capitals and for fine food one thought of the entire continent, town or country, but not of London and her environs.
London may be enduring but it is also evolving.
The contemporary art scene is now one of the most vital in the world--and is it even possible to remember when ‘London restaurant scene’ was likely to mean mushy peas? It has been eons since this was true.
Which brings me to Cary Levine and our spring trip to London. Cary is developing this trip with Studio Traveler. I think you need only read his bio to know what very good hands we will all be in:
Cary Levine is a professor of art history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, specializing in contemporary art. He received his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and is a recipient of a J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and the Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prize for Scholarly Achievement at UNC. In addition to his scholarship and teaching, Dr. Levine has been an active art critic, writing for several magazines and he has publishing numerous essays for exhibition catalogues. He also worked for three years in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Cary’s current considered set for our trip includes the East End galleries, a street art tour, The National Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, The Tate Britain, The Tate Modern, The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Whitechapel Gallery, The Serpentine Gallery and The Hayward Gallery.
I love this list because it quite rightly is grounded in the historical as a basis for understanding the contemporary. There’s great depth to this list and there will be great depth to this experience.
Oh and I should probably mention what I’ll be doing tagging along in this august company—I’ll be in charge of the food. At the end of visually rich and engaging days, we’ll spend our evenings enjoying one of the world’s best restaurant scenes.
Click on 'early bird info' to sign up for early release of the London itinerary and registration.
I don't know about you but I can hardly wait!!