Rainy Penton Street

To judge by the look of the sky, we were promised rain for the whole day but, undaunted, we set off along Penton Street, trying to ignore the water being blown onto our faces.

Chapel Market

I needed to buy curtain hooks, so we walked along Chapel Market to the hardware shop that resides there.

Caffè Nero, Islington Green

After purchasing the hooks, we continued on to Islington Green and the branch of Caffè Nero there. We stayed there for quite a while before plucking up our courage to go on.

The bus stop

We crossed the road to the bus stop and…

Aboard the 63

…boarded a number 63 bus.

London Bridge Bus Station

The 63 brought us to the bus terminus at London Bridge Station. We left the bus and stepped out into the rain once more.

Southwark Cathedral

We returned on foot to the main road, passing by the impressive mass of Southwark Cathedral.

Alley to Borough Market

We walked along this alley decorated with street art. It leads to what I think I am justified in calling the world famous Borough Market.

Greengrocer’s stall

Certainly, there is an amazing range of food items on display from the everyday to the exotic. Top chefs and well-heeled amateurs shop here and the place was, for my taste, unpleasantly crowded. I was glad to emerge from it on the other sside.

A barren parklet

We walked through a rather uninteresting housing estate which included this rather barren open space or “parklet”.

Tree in blossom

We did, though, pause to admire this tree in blossom.

The Tate Modern in view

I suddenly realised that we were near the Tate Modern art gallery. Tigger knew, of course, but I usually just follow her, waiting to be surprised when we arrive somewhere I wasn’t expecting!

Leon

First, though, we thought of having an early lunch as there happened to be a branch of Leon nearby.

Negotiating with the terminal

In a Leon restaurant you don’t go to the counter and tell a human what you want. Instead, you have to use a terminal rather like a giant iPad. You choose your items, give a name and pay, using a contactless payment terminal.

The counter

Your meal is then assembled and when it is ready, they call out the name you gave them and you collect your items from the counter.

Meal on a tray

Needless to say, there are no plates or cups: everything comes in cardboard boxes or plastic containers. Cutlery is plastic and disposed of after use.

Approaching the Tate Modern
Photo by Tigger

After our lunch, we crossed to the Tate Modern. The new building rears up above you, making me think of a mountain to be climbed. Fortunately, our ambitions were more lowly and we entered via a door.

The museum shop

We had a look around the large museum shop before continuing.

The Turbine Hall
Photo by Tigger

The Tate has taken over what was once the Bankside Power Station and contains some very large galleries. The largest is the old Turbine Hall whose size allows unbelievably huge works of art to be displayed. Currently, it is holding Brain Forest Quipu by Cecilia Vicuña.

I have made no secret of my scepticism regarding modern “art” and I am not going to pretend an understanding of it that I don’t possess. I will therefore show you just a few of the items we saw with their titles and names of artists and a minimum of comment.

Palm Sign (2010)
Yto Barrada

Alpine Ibex (2017)
Jimmie Durham

This one amused me somewhat as it is made of an ibex skull and bits of furniture, reminding me rather of Picasso’s bull’s heads made with parts of a bicycle.

Los Moscos (2004)
Mark Bradford

Who owns what? (2012)
Barbara Kruger

Babel (2001)
Cildo Meireles

This work, Babel, is described as “a tower of radios playing at once” and that is exactly what it is.

Pelting with rain

When we came to leave, we found the skies had opened and it was pelting with rain. There were already huge puddles everywhere. We waited a while, hoping it would ease off, but that seemed unlikely to happen. Fortunately, I had a folding umbrella in my bag and under the scanty shelter that this provided, we made a dash for the bus.

Aboard the 63

We had quite some way to go, doing our best to hide behind what was a rather small umbrella. As we reached Blackfriars Bridge, we saw our 63 bus approaching. We were still some way from the bus stop but we waved desperately at the driver and he was kind enough to stop and let us board.

Aboard the 19

At Mount Pleasant we left the 63 and walked to the bus stop in Rosebery Avenue where we caught a number 19 to complete our journey home.