Scenes from an Uber

Sophie and I caught the train down to London today just before 10am, after enjoying a coffee and muffin at the quaint little Harry Potter café at the station. The train had started out in Birmingham and it was packed to the gunnels. It was even difficult finding a place to stand, let alone sit! There was the odd seat dotted about but I preferred to stand, and when we arrived in Milton Keynes and another load of people got on, it was even worse! 

Luckily, the driver really put his foot down and we arrived in Euston earlier than scheduled. We ordered an Uber which took us to Vauxhall where we were visiting Tate Britain. It was a long journey, made worse by road closures and terrible traffic but it was great to look out of the window and see the London street scenes. The fog had cleared to reveal a beautiful day, and when we arrived I took a photo of the lovely old building:

The gallery contains art from about 1500 to the present day and is very interesting. First up was another coffee and a shared piece of cake in the vaults of the building. It was lovely and quiet!

We'd dropped off our coats at the cloakroom and I gave a £5 donation, which was worth every penny. In the main gallery was a huge procession of sculpted pieces that we left until later. From a distance, it looked quite spooky, but more of that in a minute...!

We looked at modern art first, and for one minute I thought we were back in Figueres, in the Salvador Dali museum:

Hmmm!

There were some interesting pieces in this gallery, and it was lovely to wander around, having a good look at them all and trying to figure out what the artist was trying to convey.

Mark Gertler 1916

The painting above depicts people during the First World War on a Merry-Go-Round, their mouths open in silent screams, witnessing the horrors of the war and not being able to stop it. I found this very interesting but Sophie wasn't so keen. We saw two Ben Nicholson paintings, and sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and then we moved into the older parts of the gallery, which were more to our taste.

I loved some of them. Here are my  favourites:

Winter Work by Sir George Clausen

I loved how the artist captured the little boy's expression

A quite macabre painting of a husband, his dead wife (on the bed) and his new wife.

We both enjoyed wandering about and really getting close to the paintings. Some were protected by glass but others weren't, and we were surprised that nobody had stopped and searched us before going in, after what happened with the Van Gogh paintings at the National Gallery. Obviously, we didn't look like eco-warriors!

We went right back to the 1500s and then had a look at the Hew Locke installation, The Procession, which was incredibly fascinating but creepy! I wouldn't want to be around them at night!

The figures were all life-size, and being dressed in normal clothes made them even creepier as if they were going to move at any minute! What does it mean? 

"The Procession invites visitors to reflect on the cycles of history, and the ebb and flow of cultures, people and finance and power."

So, there you go!

By now we were flagging a bit, so we retrieved our coats and went outside to summon an Uber. It was a beautiful, but chilly day and we stood and waited, gazing out over the river and some familiar landmarks.

Our Uber took us to Inko Nito, a Japanese restaurant in Soho. Sophie had been once before and said the food was fantastic.

We were shown to a high table with bar stools and given menus. I think Sophie had already decided what to have, though, the tasting menu!

We ordered a bottle of sparkling water, and Portuguese white wine, and sat back, ready for a feast!

Our starters: 

Edamame with ginger, soy and sea salt

Yellowtail sashimi

Three sashimi selection - tuna, yellowtail and salmon

Crab and salmon tartare with rice crackers

Spicy tuna tempura

Next up:

Japanese breadcrumb fried chicken with peanut, chilli garlic and yoghurt

Steamed prawn and leek dumplings with ginger and yuzu

Chicken yakitori

The next:

Beef cheek and butter lettuce wraps

Salmon fillet

Tenderstem broccoli with onion wafu

Aubergine with garlic lemon miso and spring onions

The dessert was cheesecake with strawberries and oats.

The food was out of this world and everything had such an intensity of flavour. The only dish I wasn't keen on was the aubergine, which was a bit slimy! It was all presented beautifully and the staff were lovely and friendly. It was bliss to sit and enjoy the delicious food and watch the comings and goings of a busy Soho street.

It was getting late and dark, so Sophie paid the bill (she's getting a generous Christmas bonus from work!) and we hailed another Uber to take us back to Euston. The streets were dark, with the occasional brightly lit-up shop window. Christmas had definitely arrived! I absolutely love watching the street scenes out of the taxi window:

Scenes from an Uber

Euston was as busy as ever, and we managed to get on a train just before 5pm. We grabbed seats and the journey seemed to go very quickly, Keith was there to meet us and it was heaven to get home and relax after our busy day! It had been so enjoyable but we were shattered!