It started with Ben (6) coming back from school a couple of weeks’ ago and wanting to tell me they’d been learning about Roy Lichtenstein and David Hockney in school that day. As he started a drawing, reproducing for me the Lichtenstein painting they’d be studying, he recognised ‘The Splash’ on the front of a Hockney book I pulled from my shelves. I was seriously impressed. It didn’t sound like school when I was six. ‘We must go to an art gallery to see them,’ I said. And so a day in London and a visit to Tate Modern was born. It also happily coincided with Freddie (9) learning about the Tudors at school, so we could take a look at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre too … the Millennium Bridge … a fantastic view across the Thames to St Paul’s.

We’d want lunch as well, of course, so I took a look at what was nearby and saw there was a branch of The Real Greek. With a Kids’ Menu of £7.50 and an adult Lunch Menu of £10, it sounded like a bargain not to be missed, or at least tried out. I was already a fan of The Real Greek but hadn’t been to that branch. I booked a table for 1.00pm and then my son Jonathan, the boys’ father, who works near there, suggested he join us for lunch.

In theory, the journey to London was easy but in practice we got caught in major delays on the railway line due to a faulty signal. There was a point at which I thought we might have to abort the trip, but after half an hour of sitting on the train at the local station, it finally started to move … very slowly. An announcement told us we were moving ‘under danger’, a term I’d never heard before. They were ignoring the red signal outside the station and moving cautiously. I didn’t know they did that … wow! … but I decided they wouldn’t do it unless they were sure it was safe … and in the end it was fine and we made it through the ‘danger’ area and once we reached nearby Richmond, the train speeded up and we were soon alighting at Waterloo. Phew!

By this time Nonna (the boys’ name for me) and the two boys needed refreshments. We hastily made our way out of Waterloo Station and cut down to the Thames through a walkway which took us on to the South Bank – London’s main cultural centre with the National Theatre, the Festival Hall and the British Film Institute in close proximity. Heading in an easterly direction, we eventually came to a Caffe Nero and went inside. Soon the boys had juice, I had coffee and Freddie and I tucked into panettone while Ben had a pain au chocolat. Suitably revived, we then made our way to Tate Modern on Bankside.

Bankside is in the Southwark area of London and just outside the city walls. It was first recorded as Banke Syde in 1554 and means ‘street along the side of the Thames’. We decided to take a walk across the Millennium Bridge before going into the gallery. St Paul’s was straight ahead of us and to our right we had a great view of Tower Bridge and The Shard. The bridge is a pedestrian suspension bridge that links the south side of the Thames with the City of London and was built to celebrate the arrival of 2000 – the new millennium.

Then we went into Tate Modern, the building originally a power station, which stood just behind us. I walked us round to the Turbine Hall entrance for its drama and with its wide sloping floor and huge ceiling, a touch of excitement for the boys. Once up the long first escalator, I approached a woman wearing a Tate uniform and asked her where we could find Hockney and Lichtenstein paintings. She was wonderful, so kind and friendly and gathered us under her wing and took us up another couple of flights to the gallery with Lichtensteins, pointing out the Capturing the Moment exhibition where we’d find Hockney on the way. The gallery with the Lichtensteins was free (the permanent collection galleries are free entry) but fortunately I had my Tate membership card to get us into the other special exhibition which has an entrance fee of £25 (the boys are so young they had free entry to everything). Ben was so excited to see the paintings he’d learnt about for real. Freddie looked at others and asked me about a Picasso head, painted in distorted shapes, wanting to know why he’d painted people like that.

Then we found ourselves exiting the gallery by a cafe with a door to a balcony outside. The boys loved looking across the Millennium Bridge to St Paul’s where we’d walked earlier and taking in the view along the Thames.

We didn’t linger too long … we were a bit behind a loose schedule due to the train delay … but our first art gallery outing was a success and both boys felt they’d want to go again. And Tate Modern is the most brilliant and exciting building to take young kids to.

Now it was time to take a look at The Globe, situated virtually next door to the Tate. You can only go in with a tour (we didn’t have time and they’re quite expensive) or to go to a play. However, it’s still fascinating to see it.

It’s not the original but a reconstruction. The original was built in 1599 and destroyed by fire in 1613, then rebuilt in 1614 but demolished in 1644. It was built by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a company that Shakespeare wrote for and part-owned. This modern day reconstruction, which opened in 1997, is built on the same site and supposedly faithful to the original design. We may not have been able to go inside (though we managed a quick peep through an open doorway) but we went into its shop and bought a kit of a paper model for the boys to put together (with help) back home.

It was nearing lunchtime and it was only another minute or two’s walk further along the Thames to The Real Greek. It was busy and I was pleased I’d booked a table.

We received a friendly welcome and were shown to our table and Jonathan arrived soon after. The boys were given an activity menu with a pot of crayons to keep them happy and occupied, which they immediately settled down to do. The kids’ menu was great: a kids’ souvlaki wrap with chicken, halloumi or sausage with chips or salad, or a meze selection, plus a drink and dessert (ice cream or sorbet). All for £7.50, which in London these days is a very good price.

 

Freddie had a chicken souvlaki with chips and an orange juice. Then lemon sorbet for dessert. Ben had meze with flat bread, houmous and sausage, and apple juice with  vanilla ice cream for dessert.

 

Jonathan and I both had the £10 lunch option, which had quite a big choice. We both chose a souvlaki wrap with side. Jonathan had pork with tzatziki and a side of Greek salad. They came – Greek style – with chips, which were inside the wrap. The Greek salad was a generous size and excellent.

 

I had halloumi with minted yoghurt and a side of Aegean slaw. It was delicious and very filling. The salad was great, so fresh and crunchy and tasty. We shared a large bottle of sparkling water to drink.

 

The grown-ups didn’t have dessert but I had an espresso.

The bill came to just over £44 with service for the four of us, which was a brilliant price for such a good lunch. The food was excellent. Lunch was definitely a success.

It was decided that we’d walk ‘Daddy’ back to the office so the boys could see where their dad worked. We made our way back to the Millennium Bridge and crossed it, then round the edge of St Paul’s and up into the City, passing the Guildhall. The Guildhall was built in 1440 and is still the City of London’s civic and ceremonial centre. Just a little way further on, we came to Jonathan’s office building. We couldn’t go in but it was good to see where he works. Once we’d said our goodbyes, the boys and I walked back to St Paul’s and caught a bus to Waterloo. We’d done enough walking – 6 miles by then – so a bus for the last stage was welcome and we managed to get seats upstairs on the double decker so had great views.

The trains were still misbehaving and everything seemed to be delayed or cancelled and I considered whether we should backtrack and go to the Underground and get the District Line to Richmond. However, fortunately we were then directed to a Twickenham train that was soon to leave and it wasn’t too long before we were home again. A bit tired but happy after our outing and it had been a lovely and quite special day out.