But anyway, during the day, we took advantage of the Monday holiday and headed into central London and the National Portrait Gallery.  What differentiates the Portrait Gallery from a standard art gallery is its strong links with history.  Along the walls, and throughout the rooms, you basically find a “who’s who” of public life in Britain over the past 400 or so years.

Given our current obsession with the Tudors, it’s perhaps unsurprising that we spent most of our time in the first eight rooms.  In these rooms, you can find paintings of all the usual cast: Henry VIII, Thomas Cranmer, Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, Queen Mary I, Queen Elizabeth, Lady Jane Grey and Catherine of Aragon.  And perhaps not surprisingly, none of them look quite as good in paint as they do in our favourite television series.

Also on the second floor, we found some amazing paintings of parliament in session, where almost all the members have been identified.  There were also some well known portraits scientists, artists and writers, including one of Shakespeare (the first painting that the gallery obtained) and another of Jane Austen.

And in about three hours, that’s as far as we got.  We rushed through the Stuarts and the Civil War, and didn’t make it to the Victorians or anything later than that.  It was more than enough to just wander from one wall to another, and listen to the stories on our audio guides (£2 to hire from the front desk, entry into the permanent collection was free).  It was enough to just look at those Tudors and imagine them sitting for those portraits, and marvel once again, at the nearness of history in this country.

Tash

The Angel of the North, designed by sculptor, Antony Gormley, has stood upon its hilltop, just out of Newcastle since 1998 (apparently it celebrated its 10th birthday on June 22, though the party was ultimately called off because of high winds).

The Angel of the North is clearly visible to those driving along the A1 – as we were – and there are tourist information signs letting you know where to turn off for a closer look.

Matt got out the camera, and I took my turn to pose in front of the statue with my arms outstretched – and then with my arms stretched around the feet of the Angel.

When I was a kid, we went of class trips to the Waitakere Ranges.  We’d stretch our arms out like this and hold hands, and see how many of us were needed to measure the circumference of a Kauri tree. It would’ve taken a fair few of us, I reckon, to measure the circumference of the Angel.

Tash

From a distance, the memorial looks like 16 large metal poles, rising from a grassy hill. But as you get closer, you notice the angled crosses on the top of each one. And as you get closer still, you notice that each of the poles are quite different: some with embossed Maori carvings, others decorated with ferns and fauna.

And, with the accents of other New Zealand visitors around and London traffic in the background, it was a good place to stop awhile and think about other New Zealanders who travelled before us. And those who didn’t come home. And to remember them.

Tash