My Visit To The Tate Modern And A Ride On The London Eye
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On Wednesday 24th October I took the day off work, so I could go out with my friend Jude. I enjoy going out with her, as she is good company and nice to know.
We both decided it would be good idea to spend the day out together in London.
I caught the train from Guildford to Waterloo, and I took my camera along with me.
I met Jude inside Waterloo station, and then we made our way to the Tate Modern art gallery, which I had never been to before.
It was very cold walking along the bank of the Thames, but it was good to be out in the fresh air, and not to be stuck in the office. I was glad that I wore my thick overcoat, as I was freezing!
We arrived at the Tate Modern, and I was very surprised at how big the place was.
The first art exhibit we saw was in a large room, and it was just a huge floor space with cracks across it. It was called 'Shibboleth' and made by an artist called Doris Salcedo. The 'Shibboleth' was very popular with the public. It was the only place in the Tate Modern where photos were allowed to be taken. I took a some photos, one with Jude and her foot in a crack, and Jude took one of me with my foot in a crack.
Its a crack!
Me with my foot in a crack. It's art!
Jude with her foot in the crack
After we left the cracked floor, we explored the other levels of the art gallery.
They had lots of famous works there by all the well known modern artists like Pollock, Picasso, Matisse, Dali and Warhol. It was really interesting to see the famous modern art up close, as I've only seen them on TV, or in books before.
Some of the art was a bit naughty. There was one African style mural painting which had a large blonde woman in it, with lactating breasts, who was being taken from behind by a large white dog! We both laughed at this painting, and a few of the others. But, its interesting seeing the wild imagination of these artists put on a canvas, or in a sculpture.
We had some cake, and a drink each at the café there, and then we left the Tate Modern soon after that.
The London Eye was next on our list, so we walked along the river to where it stood.
When we arrived there, Jude took a photo of me standing near the London Eye.
Me standing near the London Eye
We then went to get a ticket each. It was quite funny getting a ticket, as the London Eye is owned by British Airways, it's like being in an airport. They even call the ride a 'flight'. It would be funny if the wheel did suddenly take flight, it would then look like that scene out of the sci-fi film '2001: A Space Odyssey' with the spinning space station in a shape of a wheel!
The queue to get on the London Eye was quite long. We had to wait a while, and we were getting cold whilst waiting to get on it. But, it was definitely worth the wait.
The London Eye
Once we got inside one of the pods, it was quite exciting going round the wheel. Jude was a bit scared at first, as she does not like heights, but after a while, she was fine. It was a slow 'flight', but we had a fantastic view of the Thames, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the BT Tower, and all kinds of famous landmarks.
I took lots of photos from what I saw out of the pod window. I got some good shots, see below.
We got chatting to a family in our pod, and they took a photo of me and Jude standing next to each other.
Me and Jude
The ride lasted a long time, and then we got off, and we then set off on our way, walking along further down the river.
It was now lunchtime, so we decided to go and get something else to eat. Jude suggested we eat in the café at St Martin-in-the-Fields, which a big Church near Trafalgar Square. I had never been there before, and Jude told me they did lunch time concerts, so I was looking forward to it.
We caught the Tube to take us to Trafalgar Square, and we then found the St Martin-in-the-Fields Church. It was all boarded up, so we thought we couldn't get inside at first, but we found out they were refurbishing the place. A workman told us how to get in and find the café, as it was confusing to find our way in, due to it being all boarded up. The café was in the crypt of the Church. It was very nice and different in there. I bought and ate a nice salad, and a cake, and Jude had soup. We sadly missed out on a concert, but I'll definitely visit there again.
After we had our lunch we left the Church, and we headed towards the National Gallery.
We entered the National Gallery and walked round. I enjoyed seeing all the paintings. I had not been in there since I was a school boy. A brass band was playing inside the gallery, they were playing modern music, and it was all out of tune, so we did not watch them for long. We then left the gallery after that.
The time was now the late afternoon and getting close to the evening, so we headed back to Waterloo and caught our trains back home.
I had a lovely day.
I'm going to try and visit London more often, as there's a lot to see and do there!
A video showing the cracked floor in the Tate Modern
Posted by Barry on 24 October, 2007 3:46 AM | Permalink
Content Tags:
jude, london, tate modern, art, art gallery, thames, shibboleth, crack, london eye, houses of parliament, big ben, st martin-in-the-fields, trafalgar square, crypt, national gallery
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