Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Let me take you by the hand....

and lead you, not to Kew (till tomorrow!) through the streets of London...

I am on a week's holiday from work this week, and Tuesday dawned fair and in promise of warm (hot even for October!) sunshine... so I hot-footed it for London town... The sun did indeed shine, and I am not sure how I will edit the photos to a manageable blog post length's worth... (I can't - there are lots here!)

 I decided to go to St Paul's first.. and turned in the direction away from a crowd of school children...!

Lots of tourists still in London, but I managed to avoid most of them in my pictures...


Look how blue the sky was!
Then I remembered my friend Kirsten had told me how to find the "wobbly" Millenium bridge - and with the help of various tourist maps around St Paul's, I headed off... LOVE this big stainless steel ball that gives a fish-eye view of St Paul's (and me!) behind it...

 and here's the bridge! Not wobbling today but I just loved the view of the ancient city and St Paul's at the end of it...so much so that I took loads of photos!
 but I'll just include a couple... ish.

 and from the side...
 from the south side of the bridge it is but a hop and skip to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (who knew? Not me...) I didn't take the tour because it wasn't cheap.... like £13 I think!
and then I followed the signs towards Borough Market - somewhere else I've never been, came across this lovely old pub
and the Clink prison museum - on the sight of the prison of the same name, that gave all prisons the slang name of 'clink'... didn't go inside here either, though that was more reasonably priced... maybe another day!
and Francis Drakes' Golden Hinde  before finally finding the Market... mostly the stalls had closed (or possibly not yet open?)








but it was fascinating, under the arches of the railway station.

Southwark cathedral, right by the Market. never seen that before either!



from there I walked further along the river (have just realised the photos have loaded in the wrong order, sorry!)  to the Tower, where I bought a sandwich and had a rest... it was too warm to linger long and I should have got a drink here too!!
the Shard, over the other side of the river - decided not to take the trip up that either at £30 unless you pre-book.(when it's £25)... gulp!! views would have been good though, given the fabulous weather... again, maybe another day!






 these are the ones that were out of order!  Tower Bridge from my walk along t'river....
 and the dolphin fountain outside the Tower hotel ...

 from there it is a short walk to St Katherine's dock, which I always have a look round - and I didn't know (or had forgotten) that the Royal Barge Gloriana, from the Jubilee river pageant last year, is moored here - it looked much smaller than I had imagined, but still bright gold sparkly...

 from there, I jumped on a tube back to Westminster for a quick walk round, outside only, the Houses of Parliament

 and Westminster Abbey, before walking back to Victoria to collapse onto a train home!  I walked from 10 until 2 apart from the short tube hop, and my short lunch break... no wonder I was shattered!
Come back tomorrow, when I share Kew from today.... no resting around here for me!!

13 comments:

CraftygasheadZo said...

Wowzers woman you sure covered some pavement! But all worth cos you saw so much. I'm desperate to visit London to see the sights but it'll take some planning! Look forward to you Kew pics. Enjoy the rest of your week. Take care Zo xx

Gabrielle said...

What an amazing post! I felt like I was there right along with you! You took some really amazing photos!

Julie Lee said...

Fabulous photos! Thanks for directing me to this other one of your blogs! Helen - how do you find the energy? I go to Southwark lots. I was at The Globe last week to see Macbeth! The Cathedral has a lovely little cafe with amazing cakes!!! I love London and you have captured it at its best! Julie Ann xxx

Anonymous said...

My favourite part of London! I'm glad you enjoyed your day, your photos are great.

massofhair said...

You really did walk a long way didn't you! Fabulous images of some wonderful landmarks. Glad you enjoyed your day :-) x

Unknown said...

Great pics Helen. Feel like I was there! xxx

sam21ski said...

Glad you've been able to get out and about on your week off, the weather's been extremely good for you too.

And you take absolutely stunning photos they all look like postcards of London.

Thanks for showing us around, as most of the places I've never been and certainly not heard of the wobbly bridge!!

Can't wait to see Kew tomorrow, hope the weather stays good for ya!!

Sam xxx

BJ said...

What a lovely blog post, bit of reminiscing for me as I used to work near there. Thanks Helen. BJ

Lucy Edmondson said...

Wonderful photos, Helen. Look forward to Kew tomorrow,

Lucy x

Unknown said...

Hi Helen

Its me - not been to see many blogs in a while, so this is a nice change... loved your pictures, you've really captured some of the buildings from a great perspective, especially showing this beautiful October sky and weather we've had... I feel exhausted for you reading what you've been up to. Last time I was in London was for Wimbledon before I got ill. My son (the eldest who's tennis mad) goes every year - but he's never had as good a time as when I went with him. I'm a hop on a tube and go in any direction and enjoy where we turn up kind of person - he's as spontaneous too so we both enjoy it together.

Sounds like you had a lovely day - hope the rest of your week off is as nice (apart from the weather, i've just read) :(

Big hugz
Paula x x x

craftimamma said...

You took some fabulous photos Helen. It looks as though you had a smashing but very tiring day. Thanks for sharing all your pics and I'm really looking forward to seeing your ones of Kew.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Lin said...

Helen these are fab piccies..London has such beautiful buildings and is full of history love it!!!

Lesley Edmonds said...

Just found your photos Helen...you sure packed a lot in your day!!!! I too love the Millenium Bridge! I remember when I went to Borough Market on a trip up to stay with Si for a weekend a couple of years ago and we had Saturday breakfast there...great place!! Really busy on a saturday morning though.
Great photos!