Julia's Day Out

Saturday was my first day exploring London by myself. I had been researching Russ' London Time Out guide and decided to focus on London Bridge area this time. There's quite a bit to see there, right on the Thames. First stop, Clink Prison Museum. This museum was in operation from 1180 to 1780 and was the home of many followers of religion and debtors of the area. They certainly had some bizarre and scary methods of torture, or as they would call it, methods of extracting the truth... The problem was, there really wasn't anything to see there. There was a lot of artwork, or prints of original artwork from those times, but everything else on show was manequins in stocks to show what it was like, and a bunch of old keys and locks that they used to use. However, the items on show weren't originals, they were items produced in other places and we were told that these were ''just like the ones they used to use there''... A tad disappointing... But I suppose you can't expect too much from an exhibit in central London that only costs £5 to get into... Though price doesn't always reflect quality, which was shown by my second stop, Tate Modern.

I've never really been into art, especially modern art, but I decided to go there for two reasons. One, and the main one, was because I think being in a city like London, I really should take advantage and become more "cultured", and second, because it's FREE!! I really enjoyed it! I found myself concentrating intently on the artwork, trying to put myself into the minds of the artists to understand where their ideas came from. Some of it was just bizarre, such as a phallic-shaped mold of skin-coloured plaster, with what was either breasts or testacles at the bottom, representing a mother's need to protect her sons' masculinity. Another was a 10 or so year old American girl reading a physics book on a movie screen... But there were also classics such as Picasso's Three Dancers, and Dali's Autumnal Cannibalism - awesome!! The building of Tate Modern is a piece of artwork itself, being an old power station designed by the same person as the famed Battersea Power Station which you will recognise from CD covers to films, such as Children of Men. Definitely worth the trip!!

My third stop was the Borough Market. I love markets anyway, and this certainly lived up to my standards!! It's a food market, full of amazing different meats, fish, spreads, fruit, veg, etc from exotic places. My favourite was some chilli paste I had on some paneer-filled filo that nearly burnt my face off!! And some delicious flavoured tofu - five spice and a sesame/soy marinated tofu. I'll be dragging Russ along next time, he'll love it!!

Last but not least I thought I should check out the New Zealand shop on Pall Mall, Kiwifruits. Everything you miss from home, including the good old Edmonds cook book, and dvds, you can get in Kiwifruits. Except, of all things, Marmite. I'm not quite sure why. Perhaps a business venture?