Tate Modern

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Today had turned out to be a pretty nice so after work, I made my way to St. Paul's Cathedral. I heard that there was a great view from the top (at the dome) so it was the perfect time to go. And for my trivia lovers out there...it withstood something like 57 days of bombing in WWII. It's also where Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married. But I digress...After snapping some pictures on the outside, I went in and unfortunately, the dome was closed. I'll have to come back another time.

The area directly across the Thames River is considered Southwark, home to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern Museum. (among other things). It's a really easy walk across the Millennium Bridge, which is a foot bridge that crosses right over the river. There was a great view from the bridge and it was really cool to be able to see different landmarks from the bridge itself. It still amazes me how many things there are to see and do in London. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm here for long enough!

Once I got to the other side of the Thames, I decided to head to the Globe first. It was the last weekend that productions were going on there, so I thought I'd see if there were any tickets available. Again...luck was not on my side. Completely sold out. But, it was kind of a crap shoot anyway since it was literally the last 2 days. From there, I went to the Tate Modern.

There are actually two Tate Museums in London. The Tate Britain displays the world's largest collection of British Art. There used to be international modern art here as well, but it now lives in the Tate Modern. As I walked up, the first thing I noticed was this huge spider outside. A gigantic sculpture of a spider. You can see from the picture how huge it is. I went under it's spindly legs and made my way into the museum. It's actually not that big so I spent a couple hours wandering around, sans audio guide. I saw tons of things that caught my interest but sometimes...I just didn't get it. But nevertheless, I still enjoyed looking at all of it. I even came across a Philippine-born artist named David Medalla, whose works include bubble machines. Yes, bubble machines. It reminded me of when people put soap in the fountain on Santa Monica and Wilshire...well, except the sculpture was taller. And since he's Filipino...I feel compelled to mention his work. 😉

After I made my way around the museum, I went to the cafe to catch the view from the balcony. I took a few more pictures and then noticed that it was starting to get cold. So, I decided to head for warmth and make my way home. Although it was not the most exciting day, it's still really great to be out and about. Sometimes it's still kind of hard to believe that I'm here...

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Photos

Tate Modern
View from the Millennium Bridge

View from Cafe
St. Paul's, the Thames River and that creepy spider

View from Bridge
The Tower Bridge