I've been running round so much lately I don't even know how much time has passed. I shall break this up into a couple of blog entries coz there has been a bit to cover and I'd end up glossing over things.
My week started with a job interview on Monday in Waterloo which if nothing else afforded me the opportunity to go and see the Tate Modern. A good bunch of the galleries and museums over here are free which is fucking awesome, you can spend whole days wandering around these amazing spaces without having to fork out a cent, or a pence or a pound, whatever currency it is that I'm supposed to be using now. I have a suitcase filled with the shrapnel of currency from 3 different countries at the moment, its annoying that currency exchange places don't take coins.
But back to my earlier point, The Tate.
I had time to kill before meeting Katie so we could head to Heathrow for our stay at the Yotel before we headed off to Sweden and so I followed this labyrinth of signs that kept assuring me that the Tate was mere minutes away when all of a sudden I stumbled upon The Globe theatre, its a replica of the original globe and its right near the Tate and the millennium bridge, I couldn't get into it because it was closed off for something so it will be another day of sightseeing I think so that I can get to go inside. I want to see a show there actually, that might be fun depending on the weather. I wandered a little further down the river bank as they had all these little stalls out, I guess its an every day thing maybe. They had heaps of handmade things, kids clothes hats, scarves and gloves perfect for the weather at the moment and various food stalls selling everything from wild boar sandwiches hot off the spit to rare breed beef burgers and mulled wine.
I ended up getting myself this handmade leather notebook I can use to write in. It smells gorgeous and the paper is made from cotton and has little petals randomly embedded in it, at 8 pounds I thought it was a bargain.
Took a couple of touristy photos of London from the millennium bridge and then wandered into the Tate for a look around. Its a fantastic space, would make a great performance space actually but who knows if they would agree to that.
Some of their surrealist pieces were really amazing.
There was this one installation that took up an entire room and it was pieces of peoples disregarded silverware, forks, spoons, knives, trays, teapots, sugar bowls, dressing table sets, all flattened with a steamroller and then arranged in these perfect circles that were suspended from the ceiling by thin wire and hovered about a foot off the floor. I guess its the obsession and the commitment to the idea that intrigues me. The artist collected all this stuff over more than a year from various op shops and boot sales and all kinds of places, these things that once, someone would have cherished, only taken out on special occasions, had a special place for and take particular care of and now its been discarded in some op shop to be picked up by just anyone and then flattened and hung from a ceiling like a dead thing. But there was something beautiful about the little glimpses of original detail on the pieces, little bits of engraving and filigree, the tines of the forks that looked like little silver tree branches after being run over. And how everything was still gleaming and swayed a little in the breezes as people filed in and out and moved around the edges of the room. Everything being arranged so specifically felt like it gave it some heavier significance whether it was perceptible to the person viewing it or not, that things had been placed just so indicated that someone ascribed a certain meaning to that particular thing, that those things were special.
I haven't done all the floors of the Tate so I'll be back there too I think, want to spend at least a couple of days wandering around the galleries and museums on that strip. The borough market is just behind there as well but they weren't open on the Monday so I'll have to head down there on either a Thursday or the weekend. The golden hind is down there as well which is this replica of a ship that was sailed by Sir Francis Drake and The Clink is there, the jail from which all other jails get their name. Looks like a bit of a novelty thing but I'll probably head in there too.
Made my way back to Victoria Station from London bridge and met up with Katie before we caught the national express bus out to Heathrow pretty quick trip which was good because by this point I was exhausted and it was freaking cold that day. What can I say about Yotel, the showers are beyond description. Far and away the best shower I've ever had, one of those big rain head shower things that pelt down on you like a tropical storm. The Yotel is this little hotel in Terminal 4 that is designed for short stays or for people who might have a layover of a couple of hours before they have to fly out somewhere, its a brilliant idea really and they seem to be springing up all over the place. They are modelled on the first class cabins of BA so the sheets are all high thread count and the towels are all nice and fluffy. We had a couple of issues with the TV and the Weatherspoon's next door had no food so we ended up having to scrounge dinner in the form of a sandwich from a Cafe Nero but still, the shower kinda made up for most of that.
Next time: Sweden, why is everyone there so damn attractive?
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