Brown Girl in London

Tate Modern & Covent Garden

It was a beautiful weekend here in London - lots of sunshine, breeze and awesome clear, blue skies. I did my laundry on Saturday and was able to hang my clothes outside on the clothesline we have in the garden - it really does make your clothes smell fresh.

Saturday evening around 5:30pm HD and I left the flat to go the Tate Modern gallery. It's open late on Friday and Saturday evenings until 10pm, which is cool. I wouldn't mind going there after work on a Friday to hang out.

Lamp posts lead the way to the Tate Modern

The Tate Modern is sister gallery to Tate Britain and 2 other Tate's around the country. It's located in an old power station and is pretty isolated, about a 5 minute walk from the Southwark tube. There are a few modern-looking apartment buildings around it and that's about it. The Millenium Bridge is also near there, as is St Paul's Cathedral, but we didn't check them out, next time.

Of all the galleries & museums I've been to so far the Tate Modern is now my favourite. It houses international modern art (post-1900) so alot of abstract art and we saw paintings and pieces by Dali, Rothko and Miro and then by artists I've never heard of like Christopher Wood, Christian Schad, and a whole host of others that I can't remember their names right now. The art the British have such easy access to is just mind-boggling sometimes. And it's free - it's not like paying $10 or $20 to get a ticket to the ROM or AGO. It's free to see Picasso, Miro and Pollack - I've never seen a real Pollack before!

I like art and I don't claim to always understand it nor am I always moved by it, but this was the first time, when I walked into one of the rooms in the "Idea and Object" section, that I felt it in my gut. It was visceral. It was amazing - I can't even describe it clearly but I'd never felt physically affected by art before, not until I went here. There was too much to look at so there will have to be another trip. So many places that need revisiting. I've posted a pic of the piece that both HD and I were captivated by.

Untitled, 1997 - Christopher Wood

When we left we headed to Covent Garden to walk around. It's an area that is bustling with people but with a quaint feel. A good place to take a date with warm, cozy restaurants and street performances. It's not very far from Leicester Square but has it's own tube stop, although you need to take a lift (i.e. elevator) to get to street level because you're so far underground it's equivalent to 15 flights of stairs.

We found a little pub tucked away down a side-street, it was all lit-up from the inside and was just what we were looking for. Called The Lamb and Flag it's been around for over 300 years and is the oldest pub in Covent Garden. Luckily it wasn't that busy and we were able to get one of the 2 tables in the back by the fireplace, (no fire), and watch the coming and goings. I didn't take any photos though!

The weekend was just great - on Sunday we went for breakfast at The Rainbow Cafe and got the traditional eggs & bacon for £3.50 with the best coffee in the area - and then did our groceries at Tesco. Again, another lovely day, so we spent most of it outside in the garden watching more of my clothes dry and just chilling out. And, to top it all off we made a very good lasagna for dinner and had it with a fresh salad and garlic bread. Leftovers tonight!

posted by RC @ 10:35 AM