Museums and Markets

Saturday morning--Ashley F. isn't feeling well and decides to sleep in; Kali and Robin plan to spend the morning in the shopping meccas of the West End. The rest of us head for the south side of the river to the Tate Modern. We spent an hour in the museum, and though most of us agreed that abstract and minimalist art isn't for us, we did see some some impressive works by Picasso, Magritte, Dali, Matisse, and Pollack.

Leaving the Tate, we headed east along the Thames, stopping near the Globe Theatre to mug for the camera while Ashley M. bought ice cream from a street vendor:

After that, we headed down the river, under Southwark Bridge, past the old Clink prison (where the phrase "thrown in the Clink" originated), and under a train trestle to find Borough Market. The market, which happens every Saturday and Sunday, is huge and filled with food--fresh, organic, raw, cooked, everything you can think of from venison burgers to baklava to fresh bread to fresh fruit. We took an hour and wandered through, eating lunch as we went. The market was crowded, but represents some of the best of London for me.

Next door to the market is Southwark Cathedral, a beautiful church where Shakespeare probably worshiped while he lived in London. We walked through the cathedral (which is much smaller than St. Paul's) and sat for a bit in the grounds with other market customers.

The plan had been to then walk a half mile or so down to the remains of the old Marshalsea prison, but it began to rain fairly hard, and instead we hopped on the Tube from London Bridge Station and went to the Tate Britain, the parent museum of the Modern we had visited that morning. The Tate Britain has artwork from the Roman times until 1900, including most of the important Pre-Raphaelite works (which I spent my time there contemplating). The Tate is also handily only a few blocks from our hotel, so it was a quick walk back to rest before dinner.

We ate tonight at a pub called The Centre Page near the Millennium Bridge--traditional English fish and chips with mush peas and apple pie for dessert. Ashley F. was feeling better, and Kali and Robin recounted shopping adventures (they passed on the $5,000 purse at Harrod's). Then we dispersed. Liz and Jen are seeing The Glass Menagerie tonight, and Robin and Kali are at The Woman in Black on my recommendation. The rest of the group are in or near Picadilly Circus exploring the London night life. I, older and tireder, shopped for books for about an hour (buying only six for now), and am now off to bed.