Tag Archives: southbank

For The Love Of London

sity hall london january 2005

I really should start a category on London’s South Bank because I mention it a great deal and it really is one of the most wonderful areas of London. If you’re a visitor to this great city, you really must spend an afternoon walking the South Bank: start at Waterloo and the London Eye and head towards Tower Bridge (and beyond). When I first arrived here, it was an area that had little to offer; it was dead and quiet, but now it’s vibrant and alive.

Over the past few weeks, PY and I have explored a little more of London on foot, and I really do enjoy the place. On the Monday after New Year, we wandered around the High Holborn and Farringdon areas, near The Guardian’s central London base. It was a quiet Bank Holiday, and yet it was – strangely – alive. We also crossed the bridge to the Tate Gallery, which is probably the only gallery space I can truly say I enjoy. The Turbine Hall, which housed The Weather Project, is currently home to Bruce Nauman’s Raw Materials – which is a soundscape of 22 spoken texts. Some are clearly audible and some not so clear, but as you walk through the hall you get this most amazing sense of sound. It works better if you keep moving (rather than stopping to listen), but you’d be wise to adjust to the sound first. It wasn’t as much of a communal event as The Weather Project, but it was totally unexpected, thrilling and energising. You can get a taste online at the Tate’s site.

insode london's city hall january 2005

Last weekend we went to City Hall, but this time we were able to get inside and head to the top. It’s a building of unexpected contrasts: the building looks wonderful, and they have revitalised the whole area, but the office space inside looks cramped and uncomfortable. Given the climbing spirals of the building, I would have expected the view from the top to be better. Unfortunately, the main viewing area looks the wrong way: great views over the south, but you want to see London’s landmarks. It was late in the day when we arrived, which meant there were no crowds and we were able to find our house on the satellite pictures on the floor of the basement. Sadly, however, I don’t think the lighting scheme is brilliant at all – they could do so much more with it.

While we were there, I rode the snow slide at The Tate (basically a silly slide that you descend almost buried in an inflatable tyre-like object). Silly but cheap and amusing. Then we crossed Tower Bridge (always a stunning experience) to go and have a look at the stunning Swiss Re tower and walk around The City – which is, of course, almost dead on a Saturday afternoon. It’s a rather unnerving contrast to London’s West End, which is full of people on a Saturday.

Yesterday, we went to Marble Arch and had a go on the ice rink that has been placed there for the winter. I haven’t been on skates for years, and I really liked it – although there’s no chance I could go round the rink without holding onto the side at some point. PY was not quite so in love with the experience, which is a great shame, and I am going to have to find ways to convince him to come again. I’ll work on it.

Once again, I can honestly say I love London.

On this day…

2005: Daily Links
2003: Hooked on LBC
2003: In News
2003: Low Low Cost

Tate’s Anniversary

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turbine hall at the tate modern

I’ve mentioned before that the South Bank is one of my favourite areas of London. Although I am not a big gallery goer (can I say that?) I do like the Tate Modern – basically because you can wander in and out as you wish and, for the most part, it’s free. I have always been a big fan of the exhibitions/installations in the turbine hall. There’s something about the sheer size of the art that is appealing. The turbine hall allows for some huge installations or just a lot of space in which to interact (or lie on the floor as we did for the weather project). They are celebrating their fourth anniversary this year and BBC News has some great pictures from some of those bigger exhibitions.

On this day…

2003: Friday Five – Organisation

Borough Market: Southwark’s Great Food Home

So, this is the 12th Valentine’s Day I’ve spent with PY. We are spending much of this weekend with friends and exploring new parts of the city.

Last night we were in Balham at Dish Dash. We had previously visited the Goodge Street branch (PY had his 30th birthday party there) but had never been out this way. The evening was spent with plenty of little Persian dishes (Swordfish Kebabs & Spinach and Chick Pea Mazza being my favourite). If you are ever in the area, you must go. There were, however, a large number of other, tempting, restaurants in the area Peter Sellars once called ‘Gateway To The South’. It’s an area we must visit more often. Recommendations welcome.

Today we rose early (for a Saturday) to visit the tempting delights of Borough Market. If you have never been, this is a gourmet market you will find as you head eastwards. The market sells some top-quality fresh produce, and it’s a charity, so it should be preserved. It is also a wholesale market at other times of the day/week. There are all types of breads, vegetables, meat and fish sold by proper market traders who, from what I can tell, know their products very well indeed. The Spanish Chorizo stall had the longest queue I have ever seen for a takeaway food stall in London. It must have been superb. We bought ostrich steaks for dinner this evening, and they certainly look very tempting (and apparently almost fat-free). Gym Buddy and I will appreciate that aspect of tonight’s meal.

Borough Market is in Southwark, which must be one of my favourite parts of London. The South Bank from Waterloo and the London Eye via the Tate, Millennium Bridge and The Globe was a deserted riverside area when I first came to London. There was, more or less, no life between the National Theatre and Tower Bridge. Nowadays, it’s one of the most bustling areas for both tourists and locals. I really think a Saturday walk down the south bank of the Thames is well worth it. This is the kind of place that makes all the frustrations of living in a big city evaporate. It restores my faith in London.

Tomorrow, we head for Highgate to visit some of those American friends I mentioned in a previous post. Certainly looking forward to Sunday Lunch.

On this day…

2005: Looking Good In The High Street
2004: Nicholas Nickleby
2004: Paying A Quick Visit

Weather Project

image of the whole sun
people in front of the weathe rproject exhibition

I visited one of my favourite areas of London earlier today, the Thames’ South Bank, where I went to see Olafur Eliasson’s Weather Project at The Tate Modern. There’s a half circle of the Sun made up of mono-frequency lamps – the kind which provide the orange glow to our streets at night. Running along the ceiling of the vast turbine hall is a mirror which gives the whole image the look of a whole circle, the sun. You can watch yourself in the mirror on the ceiling, and many people do, indeed, lie on the floor looking up at themselves and the other ant-sized people. The lamps really restrict the amount of colour that you can see, and that makes the whole atmosphere and experience quite eerie indeed. In fact, despite the orange glow, it’s very grey.

picture of the turbine hall sign at the tate modern
long shot of the weather project exhibition, tate modern, london

I am not a great fan of museums and galleries, but I really do like the Tate Modern and the Turbine Hall in particular. If you don’t know it, it’s a vast gallery space that once housed the turbines of the Bankside power station. It’s huge and always seems to house interesting works, which is what attracts me back on a regular basis to see them.

On this day…

2004: Night Off

South Bank. Friends from North.

I could have spent much of this week writing about going out to eat and/or entertaining, but decided that would be too dull. On the other hand, on Wednesday night we (American and I) went on the London Eye (always a fantastic treat) and then wandered down the South Bank. It is probably one of my favourite areas of London.

  • Old County Hall. It’s a pleasure dome of treats, but the best bit is the aquarium. We didn’t go in this time, but I love the place and am writing this as a kind of note to myself: go back to the London Aquarium.
  • The London Eye. My thirtieth birthday was spent on The Eye in a hired capsule with a whole bunch of friends – all of whom had almost no notice but arrived for drinks, a ride and pizza. This time we were on The Eye as the light started to fade – which actually made it all the more magical. We even bought the tacky tourist snap that they take on the way down.
  • New Hungerford Bridges(s). I have spent years walking over the old, narrow bridge, avoiding the winter floods and the summer camera-wielding tourists. The new bridges look stunning. They are boulevard-wide and, in fact, very pleasant to walk across, and each bridge offers very different but fabulous views.
  • Royal Festival Hall and National Film Theatre. They may be concrete and they are certainly not photogenic but they are some of my favourite locations. Long may the concrete jungle live.
  • Oxo Tower. A great building with a great restaurant (even if I can never afford to eat there) and, if you don’t want to go on the wheel, the viewing gallery at the top (free and near the restaurant) provides a stunning view of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
  • Tate Modern and Millennium Bridge. After all the fuss at the turn of the century, these are two worthy additions to the London landscape. The interior of the Tate Modern is fantastic (the sheer size of the entrance is great). And the Millennium Bridge is in just the right place and looks gorgeous when lit (although the last few times I haven’t seen the lights on).

On the way back from these sights (we didn’t do New City Hall or Tower Bridge, Hayes Galleria or Butler’s Wharf), we stopped for a pseudo-traditional pub meal of chips and beer. Even though I suspect the pub was full of tourists, it felt like the kind of place I went to regularly, so I guess it had an air of authenticity.

After all this on Wednesday, I was looking forward to last night. Last night was meant to be an evening off from being a tour guide (not that I mind, but the break would be good). I was having dinner with some friends (and some old friends who were coming down from Scotland). My friends in Worcester Park were preparing dinner, and it was to be (in fact, it was indeed) an evening of memories and fun. However, things did try to put a damper on the evening.

  • I was late. I was attending presentations with a client, and they ran over.
  • My friend Jo, who was cooking, had been taken ill and had been in and out of the hospital for two nights (nothing too serious, thankfully). So, she didn’t feel like cooking – her husband decided to, and the food was excellent.
  • We were all so tired (me from working, them from the illness/hospital adventures) that we called a halt to proceedings at 10.30pm.

It’s a shame when things don’t quite go according to plan, especially when you’ve been looking forward to them. I’d hoped to have a long catch-up with the folks from Scotland, but we ended up with the briefest of chats. Ah well, maybe next time …

On this day…

2004: Flick For Canada

Sunday, London

Despite some of my rants, I have great affection for this city. Amongst the many things that continue to delight me is the architecture. Today I wandered on the south bank to the Mayor’s new home, which is, to put it mildly, stunning. Unfortunately, the inside was not open.

hallbridge.jpg
hall.jpg

City Hall Inside City Hall

On this day…

2004: Another Day Gone