Sunday October 23 - London

We were thrilled to wake to beautiful weather today!  Sunny, only a few clouds, not windy and probably around 60 degrees.  Heaven.  Didn't know that London ever had gorgeous weather, certainly not in the fall.

Our destination today is the South Bank.  I'd already pre-booked tickets for 1:30pm at the Tate Modern to see the Gerhard Richter "Panoramas" show so we decided to stop in at the nearby Hayward Gallery to see a show by Pipilotti Rist.

As we approached the Hayward, we saw clothes lines crisscrossing the plaza with evenly spaced white "undies" hanging from them.  We laughed and wondered what these were all about.  Once inside the gallery our question was immediately answered.  The very first Pipilotti Rist work you encounter is a huge chandelier made of white undies.  If you know anything about the Swiss artist's work you know that she predominantly makes projected video installations.  She focuses on the theme of being a woman and uses herself and her own body as subject matter.  Onto this "chandelier" was projected a beautiful multi-color work that changed color every few seconds. I took many photos and videos of this and many other works in the show (couldn't believe that photography was allowed; even the security guards were snapping away).  I'm so accustomed to taking stealth photos in shows like this.  Many of the works require the viewer to enter inside and because of the nature of video there's a certain time commitment involved in experiencing them.  

We stayed at the large Rist exhibition for about an hour and afterward walked along the Thames Riverwalk to the Tate Modern.  Because the weather was so beautiful and because it was a Sunday everyone in London seemed to be out walking, eating at cafes and enjoying themselves.  We had a marvelous time being outside in London during such beautiful weather and seeing the London skyline (with juxtapositions of iconic old buildings with new ones such as the "gherkin" and the "shard" visible in the distance) as we walked. 

At the Tate Modern we stopped for lunch before entering the 14-room Gerhard Richter exhibit.  This show is quite different from the retrospective I saw at the MoMA some years ago. The MoMA show seemed to be organized thematically while this show was organized chronologically.  Realistic paintings are hung in the same room as highly abstract ones painted in the same year.  Perhaps this hanging emphasized even further his amazing technical ability and versatility.  Next we saw a Tacita Dean show, then went to the 5th floor to see a Jenny Holzer room and a Do Ho-Suh room. 

Perhaps the piece de resistance of our afternoon was walking back over the pedestrian-only Millenium Bride designed by Sir Norman Foster toward the Victoria Embankment.

We taxied back to the hotel in order to rest up just a bit before going out to dinner at 7:30.  Tonight's restaurant is Benares in Mayfair.  I can say that we had one of the most delicious dinners (Indian or otherwise) I've ever had.  I tasted a soft-shell crab appetizer with apple coleslaw before having a main course of chicken tandoori with spicy cauliflower, tomatoes and sweet onions, rice, and black dhal.  I felt a bit guilty because I'd selected this restaurant without doing enough due diligence; this is probably one of THE most expensive restaurants I've eaten in, but I think it was worth it.