– JULY 28, 2015
Paris was wonderful, but too expensive to be there longer than a week (especially since we are doing this trip for a year). We have decided to slip across the chunnel from Paris to London! Jill has been to London before, but I have never had the opportunity to walk this great city. I have to admit, the possibility of eating meat pies and fish n’ chips instead of Asian cuisine also has me pretty upbeat!
One of the London pubs we happily took our business!
London is a city with a rich cultural heritage merged with some amazing modern architecture. Walking through London was a sight for sore eyes in my opinion. The only issue with London is how darn expensive it is here!!! Far more expensive than Paris!
We started off with a fun stroll along the infamous River Thames to see the heart of the city.
Modern architecture set against the Tower of London and the River Thames!
The River Thames views.
A battleship on the River Thames.
Along the River Thames sits the proud monument Big Ben. Just south of Big Ben is the beautiful Palace of Westminster.
The Palace of Westminster on the right and the House of Commons on the left.
Then we walked away from the River Thames to see some of the jewels towards the inner city areas.
The view from the College Garden looking towards Westminster Abbey.
Interesting architecture.
Interesting wartime sculpture.
Cool street art.
A monument to the women who stepped up in World War II.
This is the new wing of Somerset House. The façade has been lit up by artist Gavin Turk to display the estimated world population as of Tuesday, March 17, 2015 (7,315,694,298 in case you can’t read it).
Nothing big here, I just liked the setting of the buildings.
Street art.
Back to the River Thames and a view of the London Eye.
Ornamentation on a inner city bridge in London.
Ornamentation on a inner city bridge in London.
A pub gardens near the Lloyd’s of London building. We ate here at the Lamb Tavern. The people gather outside of the pubs and drink while mingling…nothing like this happens DAILY in Vancouver. Its a shame.
A kids play area by the London Eye.
A kids play area by the London Eye.
Ornamentation on a inner city bridge in London.
A City of London Information Centre by St Paul’s Cathedral. We liked the sharp form of the structure.
London’s Chinatown building ornamentation.
Street lights outside a stretch of pubs.
Interesting bridges connecting two buildings. Why build it straight when you can use weird angles?
Jill’s fascination with street graffiti has her always stopping for some cool pictures. See some of the London examples below.
London Street Graffiti.
London Street Graffiti.
London Street Graffiti.
London Street Graffiti.
London Street Graffiti.
London Street Graffiti. The Avengers…lol!!!
London Street Graffiti.
London Street Graffiti.
Some interesting artwork throughout the city can catch you off guard. See me at the left center for a sense of scale.
Metal tree garden.
But one of the best parts of getting out of South East Asia and over to London is for some food we all know and love!
In London I went for the pale ale territory.
A lamb pie with a pale ale.
A steak and potato pie.
Just like a shepherd’s pie from back home.
A veggie pie.
A steak and beer pie.
Sticky Toffee Pudding with custard!
Sticky Toffee Pudding with ice cream!
Jill had to have high tea while in London, this is the pastry/sandwich platter stack that comes with it.
London pastries.
London pastries.
London pastries.
London pastries.
London pastries.
The street food scene in London is pretty damn good as well. Here are some of the varieties you’ll find here (and you’ll wish you had three stomachs!).
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
London street food.
In a London grocery store we found a box of cereal for sale that had masking tape on it to keep the box closed. For real…this would never fly in Canada.
We had dinner one night at the Lamb and Flag pub, so we got a table at the second floor. It didn’t take more than 15 minutes and the street below was flooded with people getting off work for a pint with their mates. It was something that I have never seen before on a weekday, as these people looked like they were having a great time.
The Lamb & Flag pub gathering for 5pm pints!
The Lamb & Flag pub gathering for 5pm pints!
The Lamb & Flag pub gathering for 5pm pints!
The Lamb Tavern pub gathering for 5pm pints!
We had to find the Canadian Embassy so we could say “hi” to some fellow canucks.
The Canadian Embassy.
While walking we crossed the Thames River over a few bridges. Here are pictures of the Millennium Bridge. This is an elegant steel suspension footbridge crossing the Thames from the Tate Modern Museum to St Paul’s Cathedral. It was built in 1996 with a total length of 325m.
The Millennium Bridge.
The Millennium Bridge.
The Millennium Bridge.
The Millennium Bridge.
The Millennium Bridge.
The Millennium Bridge.
The Millennium Bridge.
Another cool bridge is the Tower Bridge. This bridge contains the original bridge lifting machinery.
The Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge.
The Tower Bridge at night.
The Tower Bridge at night.
On the south bank is the Shard, a 87-floor glass skyscraper with a jagged peak. Inside are restaurants, offices, a hotel and a viewing platform.
The Shard.
The Shard.
With this being the single largest post we have done with over 90 pictures, we wanted to conclude this first London post with a tribute to the best Marvel movie thus far….Starlord from Guardians of the Galaxy. This one is for you AJ!
Starlord!
We will move into hitting specific places over the next few days in London. I love this city.
<><><><><><><><>
For more photos of our adventure go to our flickr account here.
A Leaf on the Wind 