Yeah, like I implied, things didn't quiet go to plan on Sunday, it was no-ones fault but it meant I didn't get to meet my eFriend in London. Speed & I still went though! The two musketeers! And it was still cool!
After almost 3hrs on a BOILING coach (it was sooo hot! And our driver was special and couldn't figure the air conditioning out. He even pulled over on the hard shoulder to move a poster on the bus!) we finally arrived at London. We went straight to the Tate Modern, somewhere we have both wanted to go for a while.
I hate to say, though, it was a total downer. Nothing like I expected! Everything seemed so dull to me, so lifeless and thoughtless. I was expecting symbolism that would blow my mind! Philosophy, complexity, thoughtfulness and beauty. But what I got didn't impress me... I knew there'd be a lot of 'shock' art, which is good in small doses, but most things I saw had bland meanings or meanings that tried too hard for attention.
Woof... It was like 4pm when we got out and I asked Speed as we walked across the Millennium bridge "Do you think we bring it back?". He replied "Of course we can! We always do!". Wow, what words. That's what I'm talking about. Stiff upper lip 'n all. Of course he was right.
We scurried (scurried!) to the underground and got a subway to the National History Museum. ...kinda felt a bit silly when we asked an assistant where the physics exhibitions were! Long storey short we headed over to the National Science Museum! Much better. And it was! We only had about 2 hours there so we raced around like school kids, touching, seeing and contemplating everything we could get our eyes on.
We went to an Italian restaurant! There was a hair in just about all of my food... One hiding under our garlic bread (so Speed complained and got another) and one in my main course. But, you know, I'm not one to cause a ruckus. Everyone always tells me how terrible a hair in food is, but come on, that's so cliché! I'm living proof that a hair in your food doesn't harm you at all, so get over yourselves! Accidents happen! Stop pushing the prices up for everyone else.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not unhygienic. Au contraire! I'm "the biggest germaphone and hypochondriac ever" according to my house mates (mind you, I'm living with 6 guys in a student house...). I don't know where I get it from. Can't be my dad. I always remember the time I was watching him butter toast. He dropped a knife full of butter on the kitchen floor. Instead of binning it he scooped it up with his knife and put it straight in his mouth! Urgh, why do I tell you this! This is totally mean! My dad's really nice.
It's amazing how little it takes to change people. Take London, a place where all members of public are robots, everything is so systematic and industrial. Add two guys to that equation, enjoying a gorgeous box of Thornton's. We were totally hungry at the Tate and I just so happened to be carrying some with me. We cracked them out and people started walking by and knocking on the glass, looking over and smiling at us, sitting next to us, Speed ran outside to take a picture of me eating them, so embarrassing, a huge stream of people walked past, one of them cried "it's beautiful, it's beautiful!" as she walked past him.
You'd think I'd be in a pretty bad mood arriving home at 11pm after 2.5 hours on a coach wouldn't you? Let me tell you my secret: watching Before Sunrise / Before Sunset back-to-back on my iPod on the journey. Those films are so brilliant. Not cheesy or sickly! Really comforting and interesting and... romantic. ...and cheery!
Oh, talking of romance, the Dashboard Confessional acoustic gig I went to on Friday was sooo romantic, even though I'm single! I hadn't heard much of his stuff before going but every song was so emotional. The first five minutes of this video sum it up really:
Take care
tut! the tate modern is amazing! yes some stuff isnt completly mind blowing... looking at a picture of pure red made me walk by saying 'i could do that' but there are other things that make you laugh or make you think!
ReplyDeletethe helter skelters were there when ben and i went? Fun yes? art? possibly... they did kinda entwine with each other...
we walked through doors which were mirrored... when 1 closed behind us we decide to shake our asses... unfortunatly we did not realise the doors had opened again and some strangers behind us had a good laugh!
Look beyond the boring and wonder why someone thought of doing such 'art'!'
:o) xx