A Charming Statue
I found this in the back streets of Ulm.
It’s such a simple idea for a fountain and sculpture, I’m surprised I’ve not seen something similar before.
Exploring Budapest
As I usually do, I used a combination of walking and the various trams and metro lines. There is a card called a Budapest Card, but at the first station I tried near the airport, they just sold me an ordinary 24 hour ticket.
These are some of the pictures I took.
Particularly useful was the number 2 tram, which ran up and down the Danube. If you’ve got a 24-hour ticket, just get on the tram and sit down. You don’t have to touch in, although my ticket was checked on the Metro.
The only problems I had were the extreme cold and the lack of information and maps on the street. But Budapest is one of those cities, where you can generally see one of major features like the Danube, Buda Castle or St. Stephen’s Basilica.
On the other hand, when I did get lost, a friendly Hungarian usually put me right. I was plagued a bit by hop-on/hop-off tourist bus salesmen, but I just ignored them, as I prefer to play my game of chance with the public transport. You see more interesting things, like the little girl sitting on the dog statue. How many places would allow that?
Incidentally, Line 1 of the Budapest Metro is the second oldest in the world and is included in the World Heritage Site for Budapest.
The Evacuation Of The Gibraltarians
I knew little of the history of Gibraltar in the Sec0nd World War, although I did know little bits about its role in naval activities and as a place, where evading servicemen aimed for, to get back home.
But I knew nothing about, what happened to the people of the colony during the war.
As I walked towards the centre of town after landing, I noticed this statue on a roundabout.
It is called the Evacuation Of The Gibraltarians and there is more about the true story here in Wikipedia.
I feel, the story goes a long way to explain, why Gibraltarians want to determine their own future.
Boris Gets A Statue
Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley unveiled a statue called Boris yesterday. But it is a large polar bear in front of Peter Jones in no way connected to the Mayor of London.
There’s more about the statue here.
I liked it and would vote for Boris to stay.
I doubt a lady who got on the bus towards Wandsworth would though, as she was wearing a fur coat.
Sculpture At The Building Design Centre, Islington
This piece of large art has turned up outside the Building Design Centre in Islington.
Sculpture At The Building Design Centre, Islington
It’s certainly not as understandable as the bouncy bus.
But what is it? I’m not impressed.
What A Load Of Old Rubbish!
This sculpture is by Canning Town station.
What A Load Of Old Rubbish!
But it does have a rather unusual charm.
It Has To Be By Anthony Gormley
This sculpture just has to be by Anthony Gormley.
And it was, as the plaque shows.
A Fountain In Primrose Hill
I saw this fountain in Primrose Hill yesterday.
Sadly, I don’t think it was working. My dietician told me I must drink more water.
What Do We Do With The Henry Moore?
Tower Hamlets council have a problem about what to do with a Henry Moore sculpture that they own. It’s all here on the BBC.
In some ways, the problem has been brought on, by the success of public statues. Look at most big stations these days and they have large sculptures. St. Pancras has two. So there are a lot of them about and because many are made from valuable bronze, they are just too tempting for thieves. But I’ve never heard of one being nicked in even a moderately-sized railway station, as the security is just too high. Or even it actually isn’t high, railway stations tend to be busy places with a good mobile phone signal and someone would probably call the police.
So perhaps, one of the first places to place a valuable statue is in a suitable railway station. but there are only four stations in Tower Hamlets. Only Shoreditch High Street station would probably be large enough. But it would probably be impossible to place a very heavy sculpture now, the station is built.
So it’s a real problem.
A practical idea might be to keep it indoors in a special museum, paid for by the money, that would otherwise be used for insurance. I have a feeling that some of the famous statues in Florence and other places in Italy have been moved indoors, not to protect them from vandals and thieves but the weather. This happened to Michaelangelo’s statue of David.
But whatever happens, we must make sure it is not stolen and melted down.
