Sightseeing in London's South Bank

So for my next solo sightseeing trip - I decided to focus on the London neighborhood just south of the river, known as the South Bank. This is an extremely central location in town, so it's easy to get to - but there aren't nearly as many sites as north of the river. I decided to focus on 3: the Tate Modern Art Museum, Borough Market, and Shakespeare's Globe Theater. This could easily have been done in a single day, but I spread it out over two.

London's Southbank 

Tate Modern
The Tate Modern was one of the museums I took the kiddo to when we first started exploring the city because it's free. I believe we had a total of maybe 45 minutes to run around the exhibits before he crashed, so I wanted to come back by myself and spend more time. There's also currently a Picasso exhibit, so I definitely wanted to go back by myself. You don't need tickets to get into the museum in general, but you do need to buy tickets for special exhibits - and it's best to get them in advance.

the Tate Modern

So the Picasso exhibit was very cool. It was all about just one year of his life - 1932 - when he was extremely productive. He was beginning to embrace surrealism and the concept of images turning into other things if you look at it from a different perspective. It was a year where he produced a lot of paintings and sculptures of his mistress - a blonde woman with quite a nose - which I would think would've tipped off his wife. It was really interesting to see multiple works on a theme - an entire room full of dozens of similar pieces, as he worked out a concept.

a sculpture of the mistress

a series of 5 pictures of the same theme - the crucifixion

another of the mistress sleeping

one of the mistress reclining - inspired by a documentary of an octopus

I also breezed through the rest of the museum again - which was much more interesting because I could take the time to read the placards in each room explaining what was going on. I still don't get it mostly - but it was interesting to try to understand. 

a huge work made by squeegeing the paint off- letting it dry - and then painting over it again

Monet's waterlilies 

a whole room installation - something about apartheid. definitely didn't get this one. 

All in all - I don't think modern art makes a whole lot of sense to me - but it was a nice stop. I'm definitely glad i went back by myself - this is a good museum to be able to explore at your own pace, slowing down to see the things that are interesting and freely skipping over the stuff that seems just weird.

Borough Market
Next up, a short walk over to Borough Market for lunch. The market is a great mix of permanent market stands selling fabulous cheese, wine, produce, etc - (normal market fare) - and of more temporary street vendors. Where the market stands are, it's lovely and packed full of tourists also trying to take pictures of food. The street vendors are where the locals go, and it's especially packed around lunch when a number of the local big office buildings pour over. It's a great place to grab a bite and also just wander around for a bit.

lunch! 

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
After lunch, it was a quick walk along the river to the Globe. I booked tickets just the night before to see Hamlet on a midweek, matinee show. I still had pretty terrible seats - on the way top, far to the side, with a column blocking my view. Still - I was really glad I had a seat, since the large throng of people in the standing area below were clearly miserable. It's a long time to have to stand (several people fainted during the show), and it's also exposed, so when it started raining - they all just got soaked. Even in a seat, it's not a comfortable affair. Because the roof is open - the whole theatre is open to the elements. So on a cold, windy day, everyone was freezing. Also - just a note - the chairs are just shallow wooden benches, no backs, so I would recommend anyone who wants to come to rent one of the cushions. With all that in mind - it still was pretty amazing. I made it through the first half of Hamlet and then snuck out. I would love to go back and see something else, now that I'm better prepared.

hard benches for seats

very excited! 

Walking on the River
Almost a site in and of itself - the walk along the south bank of the river is pretty cool. It's covered in street performers, musicians, poets for hire, and almost always a bubble guy - driving kids crazy.

a bubble guy

Other Sites in the Area
So there are a couple other sites in this neighborhood that I skipped. The London Eye is the massive ferris wheel that was built for the millennium and is still around. I thought about going up - but just getting close to it is a tourist madhouse - so I quickly ran off. In the same area are a bunch of hokey tourist traps like the Shrek Experience and the Clink/London Dungeon museum. They look awful to me so I haven't been to them and can't say much about them.

All in all - this is nice part of town and I'm glad I stopped by. After seeing lots of museums, getting to sit in the theatre or sample lovely things at the market is a nice break. If I had booked better seats at the Globe (earlier in advance) and gotten warmer weather, this would've been a perfect expedition. Next up - we have another international trip, and then I have a few more solo London trips in mind.