We were up very early this morning for Maureen to drive us to the station to catch the early train into Kings Cross. We were heading into London for my graduation ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall. We were able to call in at our apartment situated opposite The British Library before continuing on to the South Bank. The whole of the journey had gone seemlessly and we arrived slightly early, but it wasn't long before othe students began to arrive and we were admitted to the hall to be fitted up with our gowns, hoods and mortar boards. It was then time to take some photographs before the ceremony and as we were going in we ran into fellow OCA student, Yiann. I was absolutely delighted as mush of my studying had been done with her as part of our Google Hangout group which provided much mutual support as well as critiques of each others' work. I was very moved by the ceremony and its multicultural nature especially in today's parlous political climate. Yiann and I had to laugh, though, as 9 years of hard work wre condensed into a 30 second walk across the stage and a handshake with the vice chancellor. Well worth it, though. There was just time for a celebratory fizz and some more photographs before Yian and her husband had to leave to drive back to France where they now live.
As Heather and I were staying overnight we now had the rest of the day to ourselves so we found some lunch along the South Bank a pint at the excellent Founder's Arms before popping into Tate Modern where we took in a couple of free exhibition: Monet and Mark Rothko and Gerhard Richter and Mondrian.
We then headed back to our Studios2let apartment which we can highly recommend. A snooze was the order of the day before heading out to Camden lock, Gas Holders and Coal Drop Yard before dinner in Nenno's italian.
An excellent and emotional day.
