London

I don't know about you, but I often fail to appreciate the place in which I live. It is all too easy, in dealing with the everyday drudgery of getting to and from work and the demands of everyday life, to forget that I live in one of the greatest cities in the world. Yesterday was one of those days that reminded me of how great my home town really is.

After a quiet morning I set off with my son and one of his mates on the train to London Bridge. Our destination was to be Tate Modern where there was an exhibition entitled "Rodchenko & Popova - Defining Constructivism". Now, I am no Art buff but my son is studying Art as one of his GCSE subjects and so I was doing the dutiful father thing. It was not exactly a selfless gesture however for, as those of you familiar with London will know, to get from London Bridge to Tate Modern involves passing through one of my favourite London landmarks - Borough Market. Borough Market is a foodie nirvana with a host of fantastic retailers and producers selling everything from ostrich eggs and burgers to smoked tomatoes, from Bottarga to the finest acorn fed pata negra ham. You do need a fat wallet (and, on a Saturday early afternoon, ideally a large club to beat off the hordes of tourists) to take full advantage of the market but to me it is one of the places I am happiest in London. There is an excellent post on the Larder Lout blog - here - which details his culinary and alcoholic adventures in the area. I am in awe of his stamina!

I picked up some smoked haddock and some free range eggs as we passed through the market as I was planning on making a kedgeree like dish which I had concocted whilst watching an episode of Masterchef on TV during the week. Unfortunately I got home too late to do that last night - otherwise you would be hearing about that rather than generic ramblings about London. I hope the deconstructed kedgeree will make it into a posting soon.

Anyway, back to London. After the market and a quick souvlaki in a restaurant called "The Real Greek" we headed off to Tate Modern. It is renowned for its bizarre installations in the Turbine Hall (it is a former power station). Yesterday did not disappoint with a giant plastic spider and a series of yellow and blue metal bunkbeds (about 60 of them) each with a paperback book tied to the metal bedstead. Crazy but kind of fun. As we were passing through one of the galleries I caught sight of the first of the above two views and (without wishing to be too poetic about this) my spirits soared. It is views such as this that remind me that I am so lucky to live in London - after all where else can you find bottarga and bunk beds in such close proximity and with a view like the above to add the cherry to the cake. It is good to be reminded how fortunate we are from time to time.

Any art lovers out there would be better searching for a blog with more expert views when it comes to the exhibition. As with so much Art, I know what I like when I see it and really liked the soviet trade union posters but the rest was a little over my head. Still, if it involves passing through the market on a regular basis, I shall be encouraging my son to undertake regular research at Tate Modern as any dutiful parent would!