Crouching Tiger at Battersea Power Station, London

This former coal-powered station was decommissioned in the 1980s and is being turned into a shopping centre. Around its base on the south bank of the river Thames small 'streets' of restaurants and leisure facilities have been built. There is even a small theatre. The Northern line of the Tube (London Underground) has been extended to Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station. The Light Festival is celebrating the Lunar Year of the Tiger, as seen above.

My cousin S and I had a Japanese meal nearby, and then took a stroll, before I had to catch the bus and tube back to Paddington. We'd had a busy day.

S lives in Battersea, near the park, with her small dog. My sister K and her youngest child E ( who prefers the plural but genderless pronoun of "they") were visiting too. K and I had a morning walk in the park with the dog, then she went off for a haircut while E and I went up to town on the new tube line (alas, the rolling stock and the rest of the Northern line are still creaking). We visited the British museum (Great Court, Egyptian mummies and Parthenon marbles, circular reading room sadly not able to be viewed). Then had lunch in Pizza Express because I used to eat there in, oooh, 1990, when I worked in Bloomsbury. We took a stroll to Foyle's bookshop, the largest in the world apparently, and E found the graphic novel they'd been looking for! Success!

We could have stayed there much longer, but were due to meet K and S at the National Gallery, so headed off towards Trafalgar Square, passing Chinatown festooned with red lanterns. It's the year of the Tiger, hence the red Tiger in the light installation in Battersea, above.

At the gallery we tried to follow a route, but got a bit lost. I've decided I like Gainsborough's landscapes more than I had ever realised. I must return another day, there is so much to see. It's wonderful to view the originals at last.

Following this visit, we had a coffee in a cafe, then parted company, as K and E were going to dine in Chinatown before going to see Tina, the musical about Tina Turner. I couldn't accompany them as my train back was at 9.30 pm. S and I went to back to her flat to walk the little dog, before going to Battersea power station, above. From there I had to return to Paddington to catch the train home. I walked 18, 000 steps throughout the day.