Tate Modern and Southbank

When we were in Paris, we really enjoyed our visit to the Pompidou Center.  I wouldn't say that we're major modern art fans, but we loved all the big, interactive pieces.  Everything just had a "funky" vibe, and it turned out to be one of the kids' favorite things in Paris.

View of St. Paul's across the Thames for the Tate Modern

Fast forward to the Tate Modern in London.  We had great expectations, hoping for a day of groovy sculptures and moments trying to figure out what this painting is supposed to be.  But it wasn't to be.  Maybe the rainy weather set the tone, but this museum just didn't impress us.

Grace's big joke of the day was describing a piece of white paper cut in the shape of an octagon and glued on the wall.  We had lots of "Why in the world is this considered art?" moments.

On a positive note, they had a little kids interactive area and a weird audio tour.  No, not a tour explaining the art.  It was an audio tour playing different sounds as you walked around...whales, birds, etc.  It kept the kids entertained.

After lunch, we strolled down the southbank area.  Now this was a lot more interesting, with some fun people watching.  You just never know what you'll see.  We saw an area being set up to film a tv game show complete with flames and golf clubs.  Then we stumbled upon a man playing a flaming horn.  We were entertained by skateboarders and a modeling photo shoot.

And we finally wrapped things up looking at all the yummy food at the food booths by Waterloo.  We need to remember to eat lunch there next time!