Monday’s diary was a trip into London. It’s not something I do often. When it does happen, the time table gets filled to the top with things to do. This time was no exception with two galleries, one theatre and a cathedral on the itinerary.

After my meeting at VSO in Putney which was the point of going in to London, I caught the bus to the Saatchi Gallery. It’s now situated in a very impressive building having moved from the County Hall on the South Bank. I must say the outsized columns at the entrance are not my cup of tea, but the exhibition spaces inside are wonderful.

The current exhibition of modern Chinese works is fascinating and the collection a careful and clever selection of different media elements of sculpture, paintings, ‘moving art’ and more.

Reading through the history of the Saatchi Gallery from its inception of showcasing American Art to moving to Britart and some Europeans it seems that Charles Saatchi has a nose for where the art world is at. China is definitely a place I would propose to explore further.

From the modern but Chinese flavoured art exhibition I moved on to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.  Not really on theme, I would imagine, but so what. While there, I popped into the Tate Modern as it is snuggled right next to the Globe just to check what’s new in the Turbine Hall.

Thank goodness the crack in the concrete floor has been filled in. I couldn’t quite identify with that artistic statement. As pride of place in this enormous volume of space is a wonderful huge spider made out of steel plates and I’m guessing plastic with a few skeletons and strange cages filling up the space a little.

I didn’t go in any further. I have seen the main exhibitions a few times and my trip was already costing me a fair amount so decided to pass on the special exhibitions which are always quite expensive. Next door then to the Globe.

What a great exhibit with some good video, wonderful costumes and photographic material showing the world of theatre and the people and their skills who served it. I loved the fact that Shakespeare signed documents using different spellings of his name. One wonders about those rumours that the plays were written by somebody else.

But it doesn’t matter who wrote the plays. They were certainly written at a fair speed. Money, as in modern times, wasn’t easy to make. Theatre owners demanded quick turnover of material and actors had to know the lines of five or more plays at any one time.

The theatre, which has been rebuilt trying to keep as faithful as possible to the original, is wonderful and our guide was great. Amusing that the building was situate on this side of the River Thames to escape the censure of the Mayor of London. Entertainment was frowned upon as being rather sinful. Have we heard that one before.

What I love about the Brits is their passion for the arts. There is just such a love for theatre and music amongst the people. Even a theatre guide throws herself into her dramatic presentation as if she were on stage. It reminds me of the tour guide who took a bunch of us around Winchester. He must have wanted to be on stage as well.

Quite a mix of culture so far which I suppose is something that London is famous for. First a quite different Chinese Art Exhibition, then a huge spider designed by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, a French artist, and now a replica of the Globe Theatre rebuilt by an enthusiastic American.

So what could top that? A stroll across the Millennium Bridge, which was rather uncomfortable as it was really windy, wet and cold even though it’s still a lovely bridge, and a visit to St Paul’s Cathedral. Huh? You might think to yourself that this is one massive mix of cultures and civilisations.

A visit to a Church of England Cathedral to top off a very varied afternoon! And I had timed it to take in the Evensong as well. Of course it required an entrance fee to be paid as is required at almost all venues except for the Saatchi Gallery.  By now the whole afternoon had cost me more than £50 in transport and entrance fees. Not to be done too often.

What a building. Massive high ceilings to ensure that the congregation was suitably cowed into submission, loads of pomp and ceremony to create a feeling of permanence around the whole faith, and very few people to sample it. Somewhere along the way, the church has lost it’s congregation.

Our Evensong had at most sixty or so people. The great part of that was that we were lead into the quire section with it’s lovely little lamps. Three levels of seats facing each other. Wonderful. Right next to the organist. I haven’t been to too many services of any church since my years at a church school where we had to endure hours of protestant hell and damnation doctrine thrown at us. Brrr. Unpleasant just thinking of it.

But I have always had a love for the music. One has to remember that for many composers the only outlet for their creative writing was the church, or the local royal courts. Bach would have to write music for the church in order to make a living. One wonders what he would have written a few hundred years later. Get rid of the wig and don some jeans, what would have come out of his electronic keyboard one wonders.

The boys’ choir started the proceedings with a short hymn and then the procession walked in. No women to be found here. But certainly frocks. What amused me the most were two men in black voluminous gowns who held some kind of silver staff at a very odd angle while walking one in front and one at the back. It seemed the staff denoted some kind of honour on the priests being led in.

As ceremonies go this was something from way back in the history books. I suppose the cathedral’s magnificent decor and detail would lend itself to this kind of procession. Must be difficult to try and yank the church into more modern times when the house of worship itself is so magnificently old fashioned.

Regrettably most of the singing ended up being in the form of chants and the lovely boys’ choir didn’t get a chance to shine again. The sound system was quite bad, although the engineers have my sympathy for trying to install something that works into that kind of volume. But it did make it difficult to hear what was being read and said. Not really a bother. The event itself was totally worth it.

To round the day off I had the pleasure of enjoying the tube system during rush hour. It’s quite an experience! What a treat though to have every bit of my trip planned via Google maps and the transport for London website. Tubes, buses and trains as well as opening times and fees for the venues all prepared in advance. Yeah to technology!