A Grand Day Out

When my friend Jude suggested meeting in London to see an exhibition on Friday evening, it's so long since I've had a day in the city, it seemed a good opportunity to make a whole day of it.

First stop was somewhere that has been on my sixty by sixty list for a while and that was to visit the Sky Garden at the top of 20 Fenchurch St... Also known as the "Walkie Talkie" building.

I couldn't have picked a better day weather wise as the views from the top were spectacular.

Inside was pretty amazing too... it really was a garden in the sky, a bit like a huge greenhouse! And what is even more amazing is that it is totally free to go up to the top and there is no one trying to sell merchandise like mini walkie talkie snow domes, pens, jigsaws etc either... not to mention the obligatory photographs of one enjoying the "experience"! You just need to book a time slot in advance and go up and enjoy the views.

It's  highly unlikely I would have bought any official photos had they been on offer but I did want one of me at the top to put in my sixty by sixty scrapbook... so I had numerous attempts at a selfie. Why can young people make taking a selfie seem so effortless? I took dozens of photos of myself looking highly self conscious pulling numerous silly faces. This was the best of the bunch... oh, the concentration on my face!

And then I did something I'd never done before and treated myself to a glass of bubbly, which I sat and enjoyed all on my own whilst people watching and admiring the view. Maybe I should clarify... definitely not the first time I've had a glass of bubbly, but the first time I've bought one on my own!

Next stop was Borough Market just over London Bridge, which was absolutely buzzing with activity. 

Every type of street food imaginable was on offer but I selected my lunch based on what I was least likely to dribble down my front. I just wasn't sure I could manage boxes of noodles or vegetables in curry sauces! My cheese and spinach filled Bourak (a Balkan pastry) was delicious.

After a relaxing half hour resting in the grounds of Southwark Cathedral in an attempt to give my legs a break (not literally... one broken leg this year is quite enough) I walked along to the Fashion and Textile museum to see The Jazz Age... an exhibition of dresses and photographs from the 1920s.

It wasn't as interesting as some of the previous exhibitions I've seen at this museum but there were some lovely dresses to look at.

Jude and I having met up at this point, made our way to Tate Modern and sat outside enjoying the late summer sunshine until it was our time slot to see the exhibition we'd met to see... Georgia O'Keefe. I've long admired her flower paintings but found the exhibition a little disappointing. Only one of the thirteen rooms was devoted to her flowers and although there were many other interesting exhibits I guess it wasn't what I hoped I would see.

But we finished the evening with a lovely meal before walking back along the river to London Bridge to get our respective trains home.

And all in all it was a very grand day out indeed.

And today I've had another grand day out in a different city but you'll have to pop back later in the week to read about that... after a quick cake post or two that is!