Tate Modern/ London
 

Can the regulars on this board tell me a little more about Tate Modern? I'm not that keen on art, but I was told the last time I was over there that the museum has a viewing spot that overlooks the river. Is that the restaurant, or is there a sitting lounge where I could relax? And there's a couple of nights a week that the museum is open late, right? Thanks.

The Tate modern is well worth a trip. It is huge with many exhibits. I am a bit of a philistine when it comes to art, and have to admit that I "popped in" while passing, just to see what it was like. I was surprised to find I really enjoyed it, and spent a few hours there. I seem to remember that it is free (Except any "special" exhibitions. There are certainly area where you can sit, and get an excellent view of the Thames. I believe there is a fairly good, if expensive restaurant as well.

The restaurant at the top's a bit pricey and the one at the bottom can get crowded, and has a not so good view.

Unless you're a member of the Friends (which gets you into the special exhibitions free - including the ones in Liverpool - and gets you access to the best river viewing areas), seats in a lot of the river viewing spots can fill up quickly.

So pick up a viewing stool from levels 3, 4 or 5. The galleries have a lot of windows with unexpected views over the river. Just plonk your stool down and contemplate at your leisure.

Open till 2115 Fridays and Saturdays.

BTW, did you know the building was originally designed by Giles Gilbert Scott - the bloke responsible for Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral?

<Is that the restaurant, or is there a sitting lounge where I could relax? >

Yes and Yes.

The restaurant on the top floor has a great view on the Thames. If you do go, make sure you either go right when it opens, or call ahead to reserve a window-side table. I was there for lunch in Jan, and was lucky to get a table by the window without a reservation(I arrived 5 minutes before it opened). Before I was seated, I was asked to be done within 1 hour as the table was reserved for 1pm. My lunch was £21.

On the lower floors, in the middle section of the galleries are sitting areas (with sofas, coffee tables, and museum books) where one can also see the Thames.

Tate Modern is a wonderful museum of visit. Go if you have time.

And while that restaurant may indeed be a bit pricey, the food is really excellent. Considering the view and the quality of the food and service -- I've done far worse at a lot of far less exciting places in town.

And while most modern art simply makes me chuckle, there was a grand piano suspended upside down from a ceiling. Classical music played from it, then suddently the entire piano would fall apart, held together by strings. After a few minutes in that postion, all the strings would pull it back together again and it would continue playing. It made me more than chuckle.

If you're anywhere on the South Bank (there's a lovely wide riverside promenade), or across the river at St. Paul's (walk over the Millennium Footbridge), I'd say definitely stop in.
The building is fantastic (I think), and the definition of "modern" encompasses pretty much the the beginning of the 20th century to the present, so you can poke your nose in until you find a gallery you find a moderately interesting place to spend 15 minutes.
There's also a display of items found in the mud at the Bankside site, if that's your thing.
The cheapest way to enjoy the view is from some tucked-away galleries, which have sofas and chairs situated for viewing. CotswoldScouser says they're on 3,4,5.
They might fill up, but turnover can be high, and I've often found them completely empty.
Or on one of the middle floors there's a little self-service cafeteria with tea/coffee juice, sandwiches, pastries etc, which you can take over to sofas and tables turned to give you a view of the river and beyond.
So, in short, there are many viewing spots.

Like Neopolitan we just loved that piano !!! Actually we hated the entire museum (not into that kind of art) but still laugh over that piano.

Cotswold Scouser is NOT saying the sofas are on 3, 4 and 5.

What I'm saying is that there are viewing stools available on 3,4 and 5. For those unfamiliar, these are the things that look like folded up chairs, usually hanging on a rail, that you can pick up and carry round. When you want to spend an hour or two contemplating a detail, or sketching, you unfold them and sit on them.

The less artistic among us use them to plonk ourselves by a window and stare out.

Actually, Cotswold Scouser, I think it is the MORE artistic among us who do that.

I'm a huge lover of museums and modern art, and I quite dislike Tate Modern -- whose best feature is indeed the windows that afford a view out the window so you don't have to look at the art collection. The power plant itself is genuienly awesome, and since it's free, if you are in the neighborhood it makes sense to stick your head in, then go straight up to the windows and views.

Much more rewarding to my mind is the Globe theater. Its restaurant --which is surprisingly affordable if you stick to the set menu -- has a really peachy view of St. Paul's and the Thames. And participating in a performance if they are going on while you are there, can be a terrific experience, depending on what's on. The tickets are among the most inexpensive in London.

As I recall, there is also a Pizza Express across the alleayway from the Globe that has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Thames.

At least thanks to the UK Lottery funds the Tate Modern and many other London museums are free so you can take a quick look without forking over the usual $10 or major museum entry fee. I'm not an art aficiando but i thoroughly enjoyed the Tate Modern, in a revamped Power Plant on the Thames.

"At least thanks to the UK Lottery funds ...many London museums are free"

Sadly not. Lottery funds subsidise only capital projects, and not running costs. Our incomprehensible subsidy of affluent foreigners' holidays comes from general taxation.

"Our incomprehensible subsidy of affluent foreigners' holidays comes from general taxation."

I know what you mean, Cotswold, and your "offspring" Canada always amazes me by giving US tourists back the money they spent on tax for hotels. Here in the US, we soak the tourists for extra taxes on hotels and in many places those funds go to special coffers for funding special tourist related projects or impact projects from the "wear" caused by the tourists themselves. I think that makes so much more sense.

By the way, I've noticed that with the free museums, the special exhibits have gotten more and more pricey, presumably to make up the difference.

I was interested in an exhibition of photographs by Cecil Beaton at London's National Gallery, until I did a quick tally in my head and realized this exhibit alone was going to cost something like $45 for the two of us. I didn't want to see the photographs that badly!

Neo:
Surely the dollar hasn't devalued that much?

If it's the 2004 show at the NPG you're talking about, my credit card statement says tickets were £7. Which even someone as allergic to the old poseur and his grisly subjects as I am was happy to shell out.

Special exhibitions are getting a bit of a scam. But few have yet got over a tenner.

I'm not a big fan of Tate Modern. I visited last August because I wanted to see their special Frida Kahlo exhibit (admission was not free). The exhibit was great and I liked the restaurant too.

Cotswold, what am I missing here? I said that figure from memory, but I just looked in my journal where I wrote, "we discovered the tickets were 12 pounds each and decided not to go". As I recall the show was just opening -- was that a special price or something -- or some special opening? May of 2004.

Might there have been some combination ticket with another exhibition? Or are you double-converting?

I don't know. But I doubt we'd have passed on it if it was 7 pounds each.

We did a quick (too short) visit to the Tate Modern before we went to see a play at the Globe.

It was an odd time of day -- too late for lunch, too early for dinner. But we did manage to score a table with a view and enjoy a memorable light supper of white bean soup with truffle oil, and a nice glass of wine. Sadly, we were then (politely) shooed out to make way for some big-deal party that evening. But it for sure cost us less than a full-fledged dinner! ;-)

Even if you are not that "into" art, the Tate Modern does great one hour docent led free tours of the gallery with different themes such as "nature", "the human body" and others which we enjoyed immensely.