Yesterday, along with the company of my fellow Appleton Brad, I went on a wondrous tour by the river Thames.
Our meeting point was at 12 midday right next to the London Eye, and in our 8hour travels we visited a couple of galleries, ate some tasty cuisine and even tunnelled directly under the river Thames at the oh so cool Greenwich before ending up at Brad's plush docklands pad for a pint of Pepsi and then back on the DLR for home.
First stop of the day was the Hayward Gallery and after getting some rather cheeky snaps of the street performers along the south bank we made our way inside for the ‘How to Improve the World’ exhibition.
Featuring work from Sarah Lucas, Damian Hurst, Roger Hiorns and Patrick Caulfield to name but a few, the exhibition’s main purpose was to portray 60 years of British Art. From a comical Chinese restaurant menu to a metallic sculpture by Anish Kapoor the exhibition is a must see, showing just how diverse British art is.
Next up was the Tate Modern, which has just installed these new totally cool slides all around the main hall area. We were not brave enough to have a go on one, but I will definitely be back with some extra courage another time. We whizzed round the surrealist exhibition on floor five looking at works by Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp and Lichtenstein.
I believe the slides are going to be at the Tate for another month or so, so for those who are brave enough definitely give it a go. You even get to wear a baseball cap crash helmet, which on it’s own seems like quite an experience.
Next stop was Greenwich via the DLR.
I hadn’t been on the Docklands Light Railway since I was a kid and It was such a cool experience taking in the views as we left Canary Wharf and seeing how the area has developed since the last time I visited. We got to Greenwich and had a quick peak at the Market, which sells everything for the perfect Xmas gift along with things that you just don’t see everyday. There was also the most amazing sunset i have ever seen, just to top off the nice surroundings.
Brad had told me about this amazing place for a cheap, but very tasty Chinese Buffet. Now, I’m not the biggest fan in the world for Chinese food, purely because of the levels of Grease and MSG, but the stuff was pretty tasty and we literally rolled out of there an hour later, only for Brad to purchase a Jelly Tot Milkshake from the made to order milkshake place around the corner. I haven’t been to one of these since a random trip to Bournemouth three years ago, so will certainly have to go back with an empty stomach to try one of their crazy flavours.
The Cutty Sark was next on our list of places to visit and with the Backdrop of the London skyline lit with Fireworks it gave a good moment to get some cool snaps looking out at Canary Wharf.
After waiting for Brad to finish taking his warped snaps of the moon (very cool may I add), we made our way into the depths of the tunnel below, crossing directly under the Thames itself to get to the Isle of Dogs on the other side.
The tunnel itself is a perfect spot for either a horror movie or a gallery space. I even spotted several random clay ears plastered on the walls as we wandering through.
Once on the Isle of Dogs we hopped back on the DLR for West Silvertown where we took in the sights of the Aircraft taking off from City Airport before heading to Brad’s new apartment 5minutes away.
I had a really eventful day and no doubt will have to make a journey back down to Greenwich when I get the chance to visit the Cutty Sark again, as I didn’t know the museum was still open to the public. Thanks to Brad for being an excellent host and tour guide. I have pretty much learnt just how cool the Docklands can be.
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