Mingling with the tourists by the Thames!

It was Sophie's birthday today and to celebrate we went down to London to spend some time by the Thames. She opened her cards first and we all managed to get ready for 8.30am.

The journey down the M1 was uneventful but we did get held up a bit in London itself. We drove past Regent's Park and saw the giraffes at the zoo. It looked like it was going to be a busy day for them as there were lots of people queuing up outside, no doubt making the most of the beautiful sunshine and blue skies!

We found our parking space (through Just Park again) on a quiet residential street about a leisurely twenty minute walk from Tower Bridge. The place was teeming with tourists (us included) and after taking a few snaps we descended to the river walk below.

I'm so glad it was a gorgeous day for Sophie's birthday - we certainly wouldn't have thought about coming if the weather was wet and cold. On the way we looked at possible venues for dinner in the evening and saw a promising looking pub called The Horniman at Hays. All this area was busy with shops, pubs and restaurants so we were spoilt for choice.

Everyone was loving the warm and sunny weather

The Tower of London on the opposite bank

Birthday girl and her bruv

The Shard dominated the skyline

We walked towards Southwark and then crossed the river at London Bridge which gave us glorious views of both sides of the Thames. There were lots of office workers out having lunch in the sun and the bars and restaurants were doing a roaring trade. As well as tourists milling about there were also loads of joggers who were having a run in their lunch hour. It was a nice idea but dodging them was another matter!

We re-crossed the river by walking over the packed Millennium Bridge with views towards Tate Modern and behind us, St Paul's Cathedral.

We decided to take in a bit of culture by visiting Tate Modern as none of us had ever been before. It's housed in the old Bankside power station and is a very imposing building, divided into two galleries - the Boiler Room and Blavatnik Building which goes up to ten storeys with a viewing gallery at the top.

First up was a cup of coffee and a sandwich though, which set me back £25 even though Mike didn't have anything to eat, having had a Subway at the services on the M1. The cafe was busy with people eating and drinking and it was great to sit for a while and rest our legs!

At the time of our visit there was an exhibition of Picasso artwork but I think it cost about £22 each to see it so we gave that a miss! We looked at various forms of modern art and all I can say is... I don't get it and probably never will! Some of the photographs were good, including some taken in the US in the 1970s but a lot of it was just plain weird, including this exhibit:

I'm glad we went and visited but I doubt very much I will ever go back. My taste is more traditional and I love the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. There were lots of yummy mummies with their children all talking earnestly about what the art symbolised but I just thought it was a waste of time. The one thing we did like was the tenth floor viewing gallery with its fantastic aspect overlooking the river and some major London landmarks. I think it even rivalled the Shard for the views and of course, it was free!

One of our biggest gripes, though, were the lifts which were always full. We wanted to go from the fourth floor up to the tenth but every time the lift stopped it was full of people. Keith managed to get in one which left the three of us waiting, then Mike decided to walk up, while Sophie and I finally managed to get into one with two other (German, I think) women. We squealed with delight and after a trip to the ground floor we were whizzed up to the tenth just the four of us! It was like a little victory!

We decided to call it a day and headed back towards Southwark, passing the Globe Theatre on the way.

We arrived at Borough Market and stopped for a much-needed drink at the Southwark Tavern. Mike bought the round and it was heaven to sit and rest our feet and do a spot of people watching! After we'd enjoyed our drinks we had a wander around Borough Market and had a good look at all the different food and drink on offer.

The place was winding down at the end of the day so we walked on and saw the old Vinopolis building which has now shut down. It was such a shame as I have very happy memories of going there with Paul and Sue a long time ago for my Birthday. We were tempted into going to see the Clink prison but decided to re-trace our steps and head back to The Horniman At Hays for an early drink and dinner.

Even though it was only about 5.30pm the place was packed but we took a table up on the mezzanine level which was much quieter. We ordered nachos and garlic bread to share as a starter followed by burgers for the children, fish and chips for Keith and scampi for me. The pub grew steadily busier and by the time we left it was packed with early evening diners and drinkers.

The walk back to the car took about half an hour and I set Google maps to get me home, hopefully via East London and the A2 rather than the route we'd taken on the way down. However, I'm not sure exactly which way we went but we ended up crossing the river twice, once over the very pretty Southwark Bridge and then again via the Rotherhithe Tunnel, which I'd never used before!

We eventually got onto the M11 and then the M25 and arrived home at about 9.30pm. It had been a really enjoyable day and just emphasises how much we all love London!