London: Day One

Christa felt that if she was going to come to the UK, she needed to see London. So she and I flew down there and spent a few days exploring the capital and the surrounding environs. Unfortunately, a heatwave decided to visit at the same time. Temperatures soared into the lower 90s and few clouds cluttered the sky. Sure, it gets hotter elsewhere. Florida, for instance, is a lot hotter and a lot more humid to boot. But in Florida, you go from your air conditioned home to your air conditioned car to your air conditioned office/store/restaurant/museum. In London, air conditioning is a rare perk. Even finding good ventilation is difficult in most places, like 11th Century Castles and Victorian pubs. So the heat put a real drag on our visit. The large numbers of rude tourists didn't help.

We arrived in the mid-afternoon. By the time we made our way to our hotel and got settled there, we had just a few hours to see some sites. We visited the National Portrait Gallery to see the Tudor and Stewart portraits, had a wander around Trafalgar Square, and then walked along and then across the Thames to the viewing platform of The Shard.

This is a shot from within the National Portrait Gallery.

A look across Trafalgar Square with Nelson's Column on the right, and a tower of Palace of Westminster visible in the distance toward the left side of the photo.

 This is St. Martin's in the Fields, a vibrant church with both English and Chinese-speaking congregations. Besides being a lovely church dating back to 1721, it is also a music venue. There are several classical concerts held there each week.

 A look across the fountain toward the National Gallery.

 I did not have my DSLR with me because I couldn't be bothered to lug it around. So all of these pics are from my iPhone. This is a shot of . . . no, not Big Ben . . . Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben is the BELL inside the tower. The tower used to be called St. Stephen's, but was renamed during Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

 I was intrigued by the two-tone coloring of this bottle brush-like flower. Notice how some flowers are a mix of white and purple, whilst others are just a lighter purple hue.

 I got a bit fancy with my filters for this shot. The look of the building just called for something dramatic.

 We crossed the Thames via the Millenium Bridge, a footbridge constructed to commemorate the new millenium. Here's a shot across the river towards the Southbank and the London Eye.

 A bit more of the Elizabeth Tower and the Palace of Westminster, which is home to Parliament.

A shot from the middle of the bridge, and therefore the river.

Our destination: The Shard. This is a photo from the internet. I wasn't able to get a clear shot of it as we trudged toward it. The building is 1,016 feet tall, and is the tallest building in Western Europe. We visited The View from The Shard, which is a two-story viewing area that begins on Level 72.

 In this view, you see the Tower Bridge going across the river, and a bit of the stern of the HMS Belfast on the left.

 A closer view of the Tower Bridge. This is an iconic site in London, but it is often confused for the London Bridge. It makes sense, London Bridge is famous so of course it must be the elaborate bridge crossing the River Thames. But it's not. That confusion is what led to the London Bridge being in Arizona. A rich American bought the "London Bridge," thinking it was this one. But it was just a regular bridge that was built in 1837.

 Less zoomed in and sweeping a bit to the left, you now easily see the battleship, HMS Belfast. If you look around 1 o'clock, you can see the Tower of London.

A closer look at the Belfast, with the Tower in the background.

 A closer look at the Tower of London.

 Sweeping still further to the left (Sorry, I have no clue the compass direction), you can see the top of another famous London building: The Gherkin. Unfortunately, it's mostly obscured by a building and cranes. But it's to the right of the Walkie-Talkie, the white-bordered odd building in the center of the frame. If you look to around 8 o'clock, you can see a cream-colored column. That's the monument to the Great Fire of London that destroyed the city in 1666. It's the tallest isolated stone column in the world.

 A view of The View.

 Looking still further west (sorry about the glare from the window). Do you see the bridge in the bottom right corner? That's the current London Bridge.

 Looking toward the Southbank. You can see the London Eye in the distance.

 Zooming in on the London Eye and, in front of it, Waterloo Station.

 A final view of The View: This one from the upper level, which was open to the elements at the sides. It really helped with the heat. You can see the top of the Walkie-Talkie near the bottom right.