Adventure

London in the rain is full of atmosphere. Luckily, it wasn't pelting down so we could enjoy it rather than be drenched. The blip shows our route to our bus stop just by Waterloo Bridge, with the seaside image in front of Haywards Gallery.

We started our London adventure at Stockwell as I was craving custard tarts and Little Portugal was a good bet. The cafe in Vauxhall Park satisfied the craving and also made fine toasties. Simple food.

The walk to the Tate Britain didn't take too long and we opted to go to the Mark Leckey exhibition as William Blake looked very busy. We sat underneath the reconstructed M53 and watched Northern Soul dancers do their stuff on the video screen. Those guys and gals sure could move. 

Staying in the gallery, we found the Ben Nicholson painting that Fred grew up with as a print on his family's kitchen wall. It's bigger than we expected.

We also explored a room dedicated to the photography of Edith Tudor-Hart and her younger brother Wolfgang Suschitsky in the 30s to the 40s. The photos were fascinating as was Edith's life. She was an agent in London for the Soviet Union, recruiting spies, until the 1950s. There's more about her here.

This was art a-plenty, so we stepped outside and walked along the river following the north bank. It was eerily quiet as there was no traffic. Barricades were in place all around Westminster, but no demonstrators of any variety in site. The media circus were all tucked away for the weekend and the tents were shuttered up. 

The eerie silence continued until around Embankment where the traffic started up again. I enjoyed not hearing the traffic. I wonder if anyone is monitoring the pollution levels while the roads are blocked. 

Our adventure took us into the Royal Festival Hall where we in time to spontaneously purchase cheap tickets for Verdi's Requiem performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. This was a real treat.