London

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Andy and I headed off in different directions today. Him to visit the Transport Museum and Churchill War Rooms. Meanwhile I had planned a visit to the Tate Modern and then the National Gallery.

A walk from the station across the Blackfriars Bridge and a little further brought me to the entrance of the Tate Modern. This is huge. It is divided into 2 main sections: the Boiler House and the Blavatnik Building. You start on level 2 of the Boiler House which displays 4 different approaches to modern art from 1900 by looking at the way artists work e.g. social issues, individual experiences, raw materials.

The Blavatnik Building tells the story of how art became active from 1960 to now. On level 10 of this building you can get a great view of London. The Boiler Hoise side only goes to level 6. Some great artwork on display including Salvador Dali, Picasso, Matisse and Andy Warhol.

From here I decided to walk along the Jubilee Walk beside the Thames to the National Gallery. It was going to take the same time as a bus and underground and a much nicer way to get to the Gallery. Back across the Thames on the Golden Jubilee Bridge to the National Gallery. Here I had a lovely time looking at the the great masters including Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers', Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Virgin On The Rocks' and his 'cartoon' drawing. This is basically a pre-sketch before the painting. Absolutely lovely. I also saw the original Van Eyck painting 'The Arnolfini Portrait' which my parents used to have a print of when I was little. There was also a special Rembrandt and Rubens exhibition.

Both the galleries are free but the maps are £1 each and you need them to find your way around. A small price to pay for what you get.

From here I walked to the pub where I was meeting Andy. He was disappointed in the Transport Museum but enjoyed the Churchill War Rooms.

Relax a little before we go to the Duchess Theatre to see 'The Play That Goes Wrong'. It was very funny. Then a late dinner, a walk past 10 Downer Street, check out the free Opera at Trafalgar Square, then a walk through St James Park to the Underground to go back to the hotel.

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