Day #7: The one with the open mic

Another leisurely day for the Singleton's.  Jake was very exited to have woken up 'before noon', only to realize that daylight savings time had arrived, and he actually rolled out of bed at the brisk hour of 13:00.  This isn't exactly helping our 'morning ritual'.  This gave Shayne a nice amount of time to read and enjoy her tea.  Yes, that's right...she had tea this morning.  So very British of her.  {Side note:  For all of you Harry Potter/Twilight/Hunger Game fans out there, try out 'A Discovery of Witches'.  It's a page turner and totally awesome. (per one Shayne Singleton).}

We got out the door and headed to the tube station only to find that half the tubes in the greater London area were closed for "engineering works" - said in your best British accent.  While we are on the subject of British accents, here's a "Mind the Gap," for you!  While we thought it was tricky to find the Saatchi Gallery to begin with, this construction project made for quite the roundabout journey.  We are talking 3 tube transfers, STUFFED metro cars, and the constant thought of picking up our train companion's common household diseases.  Literally, every turn of a corner brought caution tape and the need for a new route - awesome.  So after all of this, we ended up walking over a mile to get to the entrance of the incredible Saatchi Gallery of Contemporary Art.  For all of you shoppers out there - the Chelsea area shopping is jaw dropping...Prada, Coco Chanel, Hugo Boss, and 15 other amazing designer labels!  We actually saw Bentley's, Ferrari's, and Porsche's galore!

So, into the Saatchi we went.  Sidenote: You will be happy to know that the camera malfunction issue was a product of the dollar store batteries and the issue has been resolved with the purchase of Duracell Ultras.  Hint, Hint - AA Batteries...great care package gift!  Our day was filled with rousing modern artists of every kind.  Of course modern art brings on its fair share of phallic symbolism, but we were in awe none the less.  The two most wonderful pieces (and mind you there were many more where these came from) were: a) an aquarium filled with bee's, dragonflies, and wasps - normal right - but each was suspended in space and mounted by quarter inch skeletal sculptures and b) a room (literally) filled with oil so pitch black and still that it had the illusion of a mirror.  It was trippy - you could see the ceiling reflected in the pool and you felt like you were in an M.C. Escher tessellation : See links below:
a)  http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/tessa_farmer.htm
b)  http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/artpages/richard_wilson_oil.htm

After our few hours spent with the artists of today we journeyed back to the street and regrouped (Suz, that one is for you!) on a stoop out front.  We people watched and pigeon watched and had a laugh about the upscale, museum-front birds vs the lower class ragamuffins clearly visiting on a day trip from Clapham - ie: the wrong side of the tracks.  We decided it was time to enjoy our first fish and chips of the trip.  So....we crossed our fingers, closed our eyes, and hoped for the best while getting on the tube.  All-in-all the trek back home was much less painful than the ride there.

Arriving back in the south bank, we strolled down The Cut in hopes of finding the world's best fish and chips shack.  Little did we kno, Sunday is not a day of work for most of the restaurateurs.  BUT - the pubs were open!!!  We stopped and wet our whistles at a pub that (after examining the photos), we realized, had been around since the turn of the century...the 17th century.  Here is a shout out to old stuff.

Down the road we ventured, after giving up on our deep fried cod, we talked ourselves into a stop off at the Stage Door before heading home to cook.  Well, well, well...as luck would have it, our little local dive bar turns on the spotlight and comes alive every Sunday.  Open mic night it was!  The performers had ten minutes or two songs to share their talents.  Some were the next Colbie Caillat and some were the next Phoebe Buffay.  Either wa, a thoroughly enjoyable Sunday evening.

We ended up back at our flat for another Tesco Express delight and enjoyed sharing our adventures with you all on the blog!

Lesson Learned:  One washing/drying cycle here for a load of whites - 3 hours and 42 minutes.