East London - Not Just Eel Pie and Mash

On Saturday, we visited Borough Market in East London (nearest tube is London Bridge). Early records show that Aulus Plautus and his Roman legions found a market on the same site in AD 43. It's come a long way since then, with the food on offer coming from every corner of the globe. A delicious assortment of meats, vegetables and delicacies -- including pyramids of chocolate brownies -- of all varieties were on display among the hundreds of stalls. Borough Market must be a wonderful place to shop for good quality, fresh organic food if you live in the city.

The market is also a stones throw from a number of great places that we visited on the walk back along the Thames. Southwark Cathedral, the oldest in London dating from 1220, is a magnificent building. The pictures here show the interior of the main building and a stained glass window that features images from all of Skakespeare's plays!

On that note, "The Globe" is only a few hundred yards further along the river. This theatre was re-built to its original design on the site of Skakespeare's first in London. Watching a play in the Globe is quite an experience because you stand in the centre -- there are only limited seats around the walls. Just like in the times of Shakespeare, the audience are encouraged to shout and jeer at appropriate moments -- don't forget that Shakespeare was written for the common class and going to the theatre was seen as rather a risque enterprise.

And best of all, the Tate Modern is also situated in this part of London. You can see the museum behind the Globe in the picture. We spent a wonderful afternoon in this amzing institution, which is incredibly kid-friendly. Housed within the building of an old power station, the museum has an enormous central space -- called the turbine hall, which used to be for the generators --for installation art. Currently, there are a set of aluminium slides in this space, pictured here. Of course, this is serious experiential post-modernic art ........ yeah, right.

But of all the priceless art and imposing architecture that makes up the Tate Modern, B had eyes for only one thing; the gigantic ramp that slopes down from the main entrance to the ground floor of the turbine hall. With a beautifully smooth surface, B quickly took out his favourite car, placed it at the top of the ramp and let go..... you've never seen a hundred bewildered tourists jump out of the way of a car faster. Click this link to watch the video!! The first view on this blog.