Daleks

Although I've never given this office complex off Euston Road much thought in the past, it has a few nice touches that help make the area the tiniest bit less corporate, including this interesting group of trees,

a patch of undulating grass (that I imagine is filled with reclining office workers on sunny days),and Antony Gormley's Reflection, consisting of two sculptures gazing at each other through a pane of glass.

From this angle, the BT Tower looks like a well-guarded king flanked by an army of pawns.

I noticed these snakes outside the Wellcome Collection for the first time today:

Bob and I visited one of our favourite London venues, the crypt at St Pancras church (the new St Pancras church--not the old one whose burial yard we visited last week), to have a look at Illumini, the latest show to grace the crypt's dark passageways. The setting was perfect for a show based on the theme of light:

These oversized plugs resembled glowing charmed snakes,

and a wall whispered, "Tell me no more lies," as we passed:

Even the usually dark gravestones stored in the crypt enjoyed a bit of temporary light,

and this piece alternately darkened and lit up a narrow tunnel.

Although the show wasn't the most theoretically challenging, it was fun to walk through!

Nearby St Pancras station was hosting an exhibit in celebration of the 140th anniversary of the station and the Press Association. The exhibit consisted of forty photographs spanning the last 100 years (100+40=140; get it?), and we walked through the station, stopping at photos along the way. This 1963 photo was easily my favourite of the lot. The caption reads, "Daleks try to board a London Transport Routemaster at Shepherd's Bush Green to the dismay of the conductor and an inspector."

I had no idea what a "Dalek" was, but after a bit of Googling, I learned that they're an aggressive, robot-like group of creatures from Doctor Who whose only emotion is anger! Now that I know that, I think I've actually been on public transportation in London with some Daleks, although they were cleverly disguised as humans . . . . Speaking of humans, there sure were a lot of them queued by the Eurostar entrances, and something was clearly not right between here and Paris.

When we got home, we learned that there was a fire in the Channel tunnel and that the tunnel was closed until further notice. Putting myself in the place of all those people who thought they were going to Paris today, I felt very sorry for the disappointment and inconvenience that must be filling St Pancras station this evening!