South Bank Saturday

For the first time in months I get beyond the boundaries of ye olde Streatham village on a Saturday and what a nice change that makes.

First of all, up to the gym to sign up for more sessions with my personal trainer and then over to the opticians. My short-sightedness has been annoying me for months but I needed the eye test at St Georges first to check the back of my eyeballs for diabetic nerve damage and that took place two weeks ago when I got the all clear. My eyes haven't changed much but the position of the lens inside my eye has so I now need either reading glasses, bifocals or varifocals. Just as I suspected. Not sure which option to take, but at least I have options, which makes a change!

Up to Waterloo for the first public showing of Dawn Right Nasty's new product - Tranny Hag the mag. And, as an early adopter, I also got a delightfully pink 'Tranny Hag' badge which I wore proudly throughout the rest of my South Bank adventures. That was followed by a drink and a nice sit down at the National Fillum Theatre for a chat with Wee Don Kerr at which I finally found out where that odd name came from.

After a wander round as the lights came on I went to the Royal Festival Hall (which is still being refurbished - how long does that take?) to sit on an orchestra. Don had earlier pointed out the little light-box seats as we walked along by the river so thought I'd try them out. Sit on a box and the instrument it represents in the orchestra starts playing. I actually couldn't tell if the violins I ws sitting on worked or not but it seemed like a fun thing to do and lots of people were enjoying it. I also remembered that I'd brought my camera so photos were duly taken. I didn't try the 'prison' fountain further along the balcony - stand on a metal grating and jets of water spring up around you - but lots of people tried it out. Must be damp on a windy day.

Then Chris appeared at the National Theatre and we wandered along the South Bank as night drew in and the trees lit up with twinkling blue and white lights. London can be a beautiful city, especially along that stretch of the river, the bridges and lovely old buildings on the north side with St Paul's Cathedral all lit up and lights reflecting on the river. We wandered along to the Tate Modern and the Kandinsky exhibition.

I'd wanted to visit the exhibition all summer but, of course, we didn't make it until the penultimate day before closure, but it was worth it. 'The Path To Abstraction' illustrates Kandinsky's early work on the move from figurative to abstract art. Nine rooms of wonderful paintings, drenched in colour and shape, eyes wandering over the paintings looking for a way in or simply wallowing in the swirls and stabs of colour and feeling the joy. Paintings on glass, sketches on carboard and masterpieces on big canvasses. Particular favourites were 'Two Girls' , 'Improvision Gorge' (above) and 'Composition VII'. I'd urge everyone to go but it closes today.

My adventure ended with a walk back along the river to Waterloo and the tube home, tired but happy. How nice it is to be able to go out on a whim and explore a great city. It's so easy to take that for granted.