Saturday Galleries, boating and trainers

So a sunny Saturday deserves a stroll through the centre of some of London's best loved parkland, and this is what we set off to do. First of all though we stopped off at Run and Become, which was packed the day before the Marathon, but where you can find yourself the perfect running shoe. Now I'm by no means an avid runner, in fact I was worn out after the few sample runs which are observed by the young ladies who work at the store. They can tell you if you have any lean in your stride and whether you need trainers with extra support to prevent this, and the potential resulting injuries. As it turns out I do have a pronation in my stride which means I need extra support otherwise I will lean in as I run. After about half an hour of trying trainers and running up and down the street to get a feel for them, I chose a pair and also some padded insoles. So hopefully my jogging regime will now take off in safety.After this we walked past Buckingham Palace and up through Green Park to Piccadilly where we strolled past the Ritz on our way to Objet D'Art, an exhibition of several pieces on sale in a small gallery. My favourites were the Chandeliers made of NHS Glasses and Party Poppers but the fax machine with photosensitive paper creating a time lapsed image. From here a short walk down Piccadilly to Hyde Park Corner and the Park itself, a wander through the Rose Garden and before we knew it we were at the Serpentine. In the Serpentine gallery there was an exhibition called Clamour. It is a bunker which plays a recorded sequence of songs influenced by war, or that have been used in wars, from the likes of the Barney the Dinosaur theme used to torture Guantanamo Bay detainees to 15th Century battle hymns it creates a layered cacophony of noise. At the weekend they have live musicians playing a tuba, trombone, drums and flute out of the slits of the bunker as if they are firing weapons from within. It is an interesting concept and kind of works but it wasn't a particularly conducive location for hanging around and listening, particularly since it was such a nice day and I had promised a ride on the river. We got in the row boat and with barely a push we were away, there we were floundering with barely room to get the oars out and no maneuverability. Having never rowed a boat before I would have benefited from a little instruction. Anyway, once we were away from boats coming in and going out and were in the open water of the Serpentine it was a very pleasant afternoon spent bobbing around.