Because the weather was supposed to be a bit dodgy today I decided it was a gallery day. I had two lined up that I'd like to visit.

First off was Tate Modern which is only about 10min walk from the hotel. I've been a number of times before but not since the new extension was finished. I left the hotel around 10:30am. Since it was so close I decided to travel without bags or camera. I'm not a big fan of taking hi-res photos in a gallery and it was quite liberating to travel so lightly for a change.

In the end I spent nearly 5 hours in the gallery and didn't make it to my second choice. But that's in no way a complaint.

I took this shot of a work in one of the free collections. It contained intricate mirrors that distorted and combined images from different sides of the cube. Quite freaky.

I really enjoyed my time at the gallery and there were 2 highlights.

First was an exhibition of works by Wolfgang Tillmans. He is known for his photographs of everyday life and contemporary culture and for his pioneering method of displaying prints as whole-room installations.

But the standout for me was a work by Janet Cardiff. The following blurb and cheeky shots explain the premise better than I could.

Aside from the beauty of the piece itself, you had the added experience of being able to walk around and as you pass a speaker you could clearly hear just that person's voice. It's if you were able to weave in and out and in between the members of choir getting right up close. In that way it was incredibly intimate and personal. And as singers came in and out with their parts you might be startled when a voice suddenly booms from the speaker next to you. They even recorded the chit chat from the singers before the performance began which again added to the intimacy. I found the who experience very emotional and I listened to the entire performance at the start of my visit and again before I left. I did feel a little sorry for the people who chose just to listen in the middle. Although they got an awesome surround sound experience, they would have missed the close up experience.

At the very end of my visit I decided to pop up to the 10th floor where there is an observation deck. As soon as the lift doors opened I realised I wanted my camera. The deck gives you a fantastic 360 view of the city at city level. Why did I not know about this? As the gallery would still be open for two more hours I decided to go back to the hotel and get my camera.

I finished up taking a series of shots I hope I will be able to stitch into some type of panorama. Here's just one.

The building itself was interesting too and I took a few shots of the interior.

I had some dinner on the way back to the hotel as well as taking a few pictures along the Thames. At river level the Millennium Bridge looked a bit like a conveyor belt feeding people into St Paul's.

I might try some night time street photography tonight if the weather holds out. If not, I have two more nights to go and the weather is forecast to improve.

Completely unrelated, I noticed this when looking out of my room this morning. Can't get much closer to the rail line than that.