The Seventh Day: Saint Paul's Cathedral, Tate Modern, King's Cross Station

Hey you guys. Today's post is the OPPOSITE of yesterday's post. So many pictures, you probably won't even look at them all.

Thursday, February 13:
After waking up, and finishing "The Princess and The Frog" on Netflix that I started at 11:30 last night (but I went to bed at midnight thirty, so that's getting better), and getting ready for the day...I hopped on the underground headed for the Tate Modern. I assumed it was a modern art museum. I didn't know much about it, but I knew that I'd heard the name tossed around here and there.

I got off on the St. Paul Station and thought, "Wait a second... what's the name of the Mary Poppins Cathedral?" So I pulled over (on the sidewalk. I hate when people stop right in the middle of the sidewalk in front of me, so I always try to be a courteous pedestrian.) and did some googling. Sure enough, St. Paul Cathedral!

I turned around, walked around the corner and BAM!

I'm not even sure what this little building is, but I want to live in it. 

"All around the cathedral the saints and apostles look down as she shares her wares. Although you can't see it, you know they are smiling each time someone shows that he cares." Maybe I love Mary Poppins, so sue me.

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.

This moss should grow on ALL THE THINGS.

This was my sneaky way of getting a picture of myself in front of the cathedral,
without having to stop and explain to a passerby how to use my camera. 

After leaving the cathedral, I walked across the Millenium Bridge, following (a little too closely, probably) a group of 2 guys and 2 gals. The girls got chatty and their pace slowed a little, so I eventually got ahead of them. The guys, however, were in front of me the whole time. At one point, one of them turned around to me and started asking a question. "Hey, what do you think about.... Oh. Sorry. You're not in our group! Where's our girls." "They fell behind," I said. "Well, just leave them. You can join us in their stead!"

Panorama I took from Millenium Bridge. On the left is the cathedral, and just right of center, if you look really closely, you can see Tower Bridge. And that tall spikey building to the right of it is The Shard. And Tate Modern is off camera to the right. 

I told them that, as my husband was working, I was exploring the city by myself, and though it might be awkward, would they mind if I joined up with them.  "Not at all!" said the guys. We waited for the girls to catch up, made our introductions, ("This is Kami, we just found her on the bridge and she's joining us!") and were off to the museum. A few minutes later, one of the girls asked David, one of the fellows, "So how do you know each other?" and pointed at me. "Oh. We don't!" he said. "Oh, so you really DID just meet on the bridge?!" Yup. I know it's creepy, but hey. That's how I roll.

One of the girls (and I can't quite remember her name) had to leave, so I didn't get to know her too well. But the other girl, Marianna, is just lovely. Very pleasant and easy to hold a conversation with. The guys, David and Christian, are both stand-up comedians. They were cracking jokes the whole time, which was very entertaining. I got their contact info, and may try to bring Chris to one of their shows here in London. Could be fun. Could be weird and stalkery. But hey, what's an awesome London adventure without the ADVENTURE?

The one German guy, Christian, knows a lot about art for some reason. Walking around the museum with them was like bringing our own tour guide. I learned quite a lot!

While there, I saw a BUNCH of lovely pieces, and some that I wasn't too thrilled about. Sometimes I'm really moved by modern abstract art, and sometimes I just don't get it at all.  The following are some that I really, really love:

These are by photographer Harry Callahan, and though his pieces had various subjects, I liked the ones of his wife Eleanor best. 

Seriously, with this silhouette lighting right now? It's GORGEOUS. This was taken in 1948.

Ethereal.

This is also Callahan. Multiple exposures of houses.
I'd love to do a shot like this with the various Towers of London.

Here are my new Tate Modern friends.
David has the mustache. Christian is the tall one. Marianna is the only other lady. 

Richter's 1024 Colors. I learned from Christian that Richter placed each color at random, basically at the roll of the dice. Interesting that so many patterns and things emerged from total indifference. 

Seated Figure, Francis Bacon. I learned (from Christian, obviously) that film-maker Christopher Nolan has said he's deeply influenced by the work of Bacon, particularly with Heath Ledger's Joker. [Video of interview with Nolan found here.]

From Line, Lee Ufan. 

I'm not particularly fond of this piece, however there's an intriguing story about it. In 2012, a man was jailed for defacing this painting. News story here.

Upon leaving the Tate Modern, I made my way back home, to send Chris off on his work trip. However, my phone died just as I was looking up directions home. 

I'm proud to say that I made my way back safe and sound, and just in the nick of time, without technology! Quite the accomplishment.

Chris took a train to Hull from King's Cross Station. While there, he saw the "Shopping Cart" and had to send me a photo. 

(I'm guessing that he wasn't sure what it was, but someone told him it was a Harry Potter thing, and he thought "Kami would love that! Take a photo!") Love that guy.

And now I'll kick back and fall asleep to a lame chick-flick on Netflix. 

Cheers!

Kami & Chris, the Pseudo-Londoners