The Tate Modern in London is Britain’s national museum of international modern art and is, with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives, and Tate Online, part of the group now known simply as Tate.

The galleries are housed in the former Bankside Power Station, which was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of Battersea Power Station, and built in two stages between 1947 and 1963. The power station closed in 1981. The building was converted by architects Herzog & de Meuron and contractors Carillion, after which it stood at 99m tall. The history of the site as well as information about the conversion was the basis for a documentary made in 2008 titled Architects Herzog and de Meuron: Alchemy of Building & Tate Modern. The southern third of the building was retained by the French power company EDF Energy as an electrical substation (in 2006, the company released half of this holding).

Since the museum’s opening on 12 May 2000, it has become a destination for Londoners and tourists. Entry to collection displays and some temporary exhibitions is free.

While Nicky is at work, Sara has been exploring London’s art scene, and one of the must sees in this City is the Tate Morden, just across from St Paul’s via the Millenium bridge. It used to be a Power station after the world war, and its chimney was built so it was not taller than St Pauls. Today, its a morden art museum known for its interesting displays. Admission is usually free unless there is a special exhibition. Do check it out

Sausage and mash is an English/Irish dish made of potato and sausages, the latter of which may be one of a variety of flavoured sausage made of pork or beef with apple or tomato seasoning; or a Lincolnshire, or Cumberland sausage.

The dish is usually served with a rich onion gravy. Although sometimes stated that the term “bangers” has its origins in World War II, the term was actually in use at least as far back as 1919.
This dish may, even when cooked at home, be thought of as an example of pub grub - relatively quick and easy to make in large quantities as well as being tasty and satisfying. More up-market varieties, with exotic sausages, are sold in gastropubs, as well as less exotic alternatives being available in regular pubs.

On the last week in the office, my directors here decided to take Ryan and myself for a pub lunch, and when I looked at the menu, there was only one thing I had yet to try and that was Bangers and Mash. I have read about this, and though not as famous as Fish and Chips, I had to give it a go. It was not to bad actually. The bangers were juicy and rather tasty, the mash nice and hot, and it was served with Peas Another item checked off my list

Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London’s West End. Named after the Prince Regent (later George IV), John Nash is seen as the Architect behind the original Street but all his buildings with the exception of All Souls Church near the BBC were demolished. What you see today are buildings designed by Architects, in the “style of Nash”. Mistakenly thought to be as part of a ceremonial route from the Regent’s residence at Carlton House in St James’s to Regent’s Park, it was in fact the idea of John Fordyce, then Surveyor-General of the Dept of Woods and Forests (now The Crown Estate). Starting as Lower Regent Street at its intersection with Charles II Street and Waterloo Place, it runs north to Piccadilly Circus then becomes Regent Street by turning westward, and curves around in a quarter-circle until it is heading north once more. It then continues past Oxford Circus becoming Upper Regent Street and ends at its intersection with Langham Place, Cavendish Place and Mortimer Street.

A beautiful part of London which is a must of Shopperholics in London. Take the Oxford Circus tube station, which is on the Bakerloo, Victoria and Central line, and you will come out to the corner of Regent and Oxford. On this street you will find the famed Hamleys, once the biggest toy store in the world. A must go go Christmas shopping especially if you have little ones back home expecting a gift

Les Misérables (enPR: l? m?z??r-äb?; in French, IPA: [le mize'?a?bl]), colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz, is a musical composed in 1980 by the French composer Claude-Michel Schönberg with a libretto by Alain Boublil. Sung through, it is perhaps the most famous of all French musicals and one of the most performed musicals worldwide. On October 8, 2006, the show celebrated its 21st anniversary and became the longest-running West End musical in history and is still running (though it has changed venues).

You can’t come to London and not watch a musical before returning! I waited for Sara to come and we decided to watch Les Misérables, the musical based on the book of the same title by Victor Hugo. With much excitement the two of us appeared at the Queen’s Theather, not far from Chinatown on a cold Tuesday night. Sara managed to buy for us Stall tickets for £36 on the day itself in Leichester Square and so the 4 of us , Sara, Myself, Ryan and Christine went to Queen’s Theater to watch. What a show man! No wonder its been running for 23 years. I strongly recomend anybody who comes to London to catch this amazing production!! It was technical brilliance. Most of the songs were not the type that would linger in your memories but the performance will! The propts, the voices in harmony. Wow

Queen’s Theatre
51 Shaftesbury Avenue
London, W1D 6BA
http://www.lesmis.com/

There is a new mall in London, and its HUGE! On Sunday, after church and lunch, Sara and I decided we had to go and just see, even if we were not planning to do any more shopping. We took the Central line to Shepards Bush and as soon as we exited the station and turned right, there it was, the mamoth of a building.  We followed the crowd and soon found ourselves inside this big beautiful building with sky lights and chandeliars to boot. The design is very curvy, with very few sharp corners and there were many shops. There was one special segment called the Village which hosted all the super exclusive brand names such as Daniel Hersheson, De Beers, Dior, Hackett, Jo Malone, Kurt Geiger, Montblanc, Mulberry, Myla, Versace, Louis Vuitton and many many others. Its a good mix of high end of medium range retail shops and its a beautiful building, but with very few places for people to sit. Not that many food places though, so I suggest eating before going there. Worth a visit, just to say you have been there.