London 31 August 2015

The last Monday in August was a bank holiday so I thought a trip to London would be fun - not checking the weather forecast though, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake. It rained, hard, most of the day. I had booked a train ticket online and at those prices, it had to be used. Most sensible people stayed home, but the other 70% of the country were on the move as it was also the last weekend of the school holidays, but London was pretty quiet.

My plan had been to walk along the Embankment and take in the views. I started at Embankment tube station and headed towards the South Bank complex thinking "what's a bit rain".  Hmmm.  There was room to move which is unusual down there but also huge puddles and I was soon soaked through despite a raincoat and umbrella.

I persevered for a while but towards lunchtime I ducked into the Tate Modern which was considerably better populated. Lunch was necessary and my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach at that stage. It was good, but I'm not entirely sure about the mushy peas.

Feeling better and a little dryer I took a walk around. The great hall is enormous and irresistible to kids.

There is a new development to the south of the existing building which will change the appearance dramatically.

Onwards through all the galleries - a lot of familiar art but a lot that is quite astonishing.

Matisse

I wasn't really in the mood for reading every caption but rather I just wanted to wander around.

 

 

Then back out into the damp - the downpour had stopped but it was still pretty wet.  Across the Millenium Bridge and heading towards St Pauls.

 

 

 

And on the other side of the bridge, what do you think - remember the helixes? Well I found 2 that I hadn't seen the last time because of the parade and the crowds, so tick, tick off that list.

 

 

Heading back along the Strand I popped in to Somerset House. I walked through the fountain, because it was wet anyway!

 

 

Time to head home and get dry. It feels like the seasons are changing already. So a glass of red wine and cheers everyone.