Wednesday 8th April
Met up with the guys from ECC at Kings Cross. Nick delayed by the trains so he didn’t arrive until 11:30. We then took the tube to Moorgate with the intention of walking down to Tate Modern. On the way we found the Millennium Bridge closed because of a security alert at the museum so we had to divert along the embankment towards Blackfriars Bridge.
Here we stopped for a drink, well as per normal these days I didn’t have anything alcoholic in The Blackfriar. The pub probably has a long tradition but now it’s owned by a chain called Nicholson’s. When looked at the menu I couldn’t see anything I wanted to eat and neither could the other guys. we all decided to decamp to somewhere on the other side of the bridge. This didn’t seem much better so we ended up eating at a Pret-a-Manager. Here we actually discussed our forthcoming trip to Vienna and Trencin.
Next stop Tate Modern to have a look at the exhibition entitled Picasso Theatre. Jon had already toured the show but seemed happy to revisit. I can’t understand why because when he talked about it before he had disparaged it. He hadn’t changed his mind on the second viewing. His main complaint centred around the fact that the majority of of works can all be viewed in the standard collection of Tate Modern. He also criticised the descriptions and accompanying dialogue. I agreed with him about that. In fact I can’t ever remember a time when I thought the exhibition notes provided anything but a load of old bollocks.
Despite all that one thing that stood out in the collection on show was the versatility of Picasso and his undoubted genius.
After we had toured the show. Garry and and walked to Southward tube station for our return journey and Jon and Nick walked back to Moorgate.
Thursday 9th April
I met up with Ray at Haroow-on-the-Hill station at 10:30 and travelled into London for our visit to Tate Britain to see the Hurvin Anderson Exhibition. without any knowledge of Hurvin Anderson I had assumed he came from Sweden or another part of Scandinavia. In fact he was brought up in Birmingham of Caribbean heritage which seemed odd given his name.
I thought his work impressive and original and I enjoyed the show. Even Ray had a few good words to say about some of the works.
We left without seeing the Turner and Constable exhibition because the queue seemed to contain more than 50 people. We can always see those works in the permanent show at Tate Britain and without the blurb that accompanies them.
We left the show and wandered fairly aimlessly towards Victoria in the backstreets looking for a pub or somewhere to eat. We suddenly found ourselves outside an establishment called The Munich Cricket Club. I won’t put a link to the place as I don’t think the business will survive. When we entered the german music blasting out really affronted my ears. However the waiter pointed out the lunchtime deal of £8.95 for a main course and drink. We took up the offer and I had a salad and Ray partook of the sausage feast with mash and sauerkraut.
I couldn’t stand the music and the lack of atmosphere so we decided to find a place for a drink or a cup of coffee other than the bierkeller. We continued our walk but with more purpose as we headed to The Royal Academy for our coffee. A pleasant half-hour chat here and I slipped off to home and left Ray to spend the rest of the afternoon in London.