The Church

Friday was another big day. First on the agenda? Westminster Abbey. But not before another few quick snaps of ol' Benny.

And across the road...Westminster!!

Obviously there were no photos allowed inside but I did sneak a few of the cloisters (below) and some of the gardens. Everyone semed to be making the most of being outside though - there were camera flashses going off everywhere.

More cloister views

After awakening from my Westminster induced daze (it is unbelievably beautiful and interesting) I walked. And walked and walked. I had intended to make my way to Westminister Cathedral but I got distracted by St Paul's Park. So lovely. So lovely in fact that I kind of forgot to take photos! I did instagram a few though so go here. I want to picnic there in Spring. That would be perfection.

I did get a photo of the squirrel that kept hassling me for my lunch money. Well ok, not my money, but definitely my lunch.

Look at those shifty eyes!

And then I spotted....

Yes, I'm that oblivious that I didn't realise how close I was to Buckingham Palace. I don't deserve my British citizenship.

The last two photos were taken in Green Park which is just as lovely as St James' Park.

After wandering through Green Park I headed towards Knightsbridge. I had a very brief step inside Harrods before jumping on the tube and heading home. This is what Harrods looks like when the sun goes down...

Getting cultured and that...

Last thursday I headed back to the Tate Modern, this time I actually went inside! I intended to get to both the Tate Modern and the Tate Britain galleries but I had my first public transport mishap. I meant to get the central line to St Paul's but instead got the district line to St Paul's Park. Very different places, let me assure you. Eventually I got back to my intended destination, though the light was fading pretty quickly.

I have to be honest, I don't have a huge appreciation for modern art so most of the exhibits were a bit lost on me. I did enjoy the photography displays though - some of the photos really were amazing. On the tope level of the building is a cafe and a balcony, from which you can see this...

The Tate Modern building is in itself pretty impressive. It was built in 1947 as a power station. Essentially it is just a shell with very little internal infrastructure. I tried photographing the inside of the building but there were hardly any lights (other than on the levels with displays) so they just came out as black blobs.

Relative to my other sightseeing adventures this day was pretty short. After the Museum I headed home. Although, I did see the lead singer from Sneaky Sound System on my walk past Shakespeare's Globe. She was pretty easy to recognise with her white afro! Best game of 'Spot the Famous Person' ever, although I'm not sure it counts if you are playing by yourself.

Time to Set the Watch

Saturday afternoon we headed to Greenwich. We started with a stroll through the Greenwich markets, indulged in a chorizo sandwich and then headed for the hills.

We really only spent the afternoon in Greenwich so we didn't go inside the gates to actually see the meridan line which was a bit disappointing. I'd also like to see the Martitime Museum as well. A return trip is definitely in order, especially to take some better photos.

Instead of taking the DLR (light rail) back home we took the boat which, ordinarily would have been a great opportunity for photos...

...and then my battery died. Yep, I'm the idiot who forgets to charge her camera battery after a long day of sightseeing. Rookie error. Thank god for camera phones though so the rest of my boat ride was documented through Instagram. See here. 

Finally I'm nearly caught up. Since I didn't bring my battery charger with me over the weekend I don't have any photos of our trip to Spitalfields Market and Brick Lane. I didn't bother with Instagram either because to be honest, there was too much going on. Take my word for it, Brick Lane is a pretty cool place with lots of brilliant vintage.

A Big Day Out

Friday was a day for lots of walking. From my usual stop at Fenchurch Street station (near Tower Hill) I walked to the Bank of England. I took a slight detour through Leadenhall Market which is a beautiful old arcade, made up mostly of cafes, bars and restaurants. By the time I got there it was lunch time and chockers with suits on their lunch breaks.

Then it was time for St Paul's Cathedral.

Obviously there were no photos allowed inside so the exteriors will have to suffice. I spent hours inside - by the time I left it was getting dark outside. I'm far from a religious person but you can't help but feel the atmosphere once your inside. The interior is beautiful. I never realised the images on the ceilings were mosaics; I always assumed they were paintings. The uppermost dome is painted though because when it was being commissioned they felt mosiacs would have been too 'Catholic'. I also didn't know that the dome we see on the London skyline is not the dome we see from the inside. There are two structures on top of each other.

It completely baffles me as to how they managed to do all those mosaics and paintings, the carvings too. They are so intricate and delicate and beautiful.

I underestimated just how high the ceilings were until I got up to the Whispering Gallery. As cool as the novelty of being able to whisper against the wall and someone on the other side of the gallery hearing you is, the walkway is very narrow and looking through the narrow bars of the hand rail is very unnerving. Needless to say I didn't stay long. I then took some very narrow and very steep stairs up to the Stone Gallery. The view from the Stone Gallery looks something like this...

It's a shame there were renos happening.

Not the most exciting photo but this is the, rather famous, Millenium Bridge. The building behind it is the Tate Modern Gallery

Crazy uni kids protesting something or other (there are considerably fewer tents than when we walked past on New Years)

After finally dragging myself of way from the Cathedral I headed over to the Tate Modern which meant adventuring over the Millenium bridge, which has a view like this...

I had very good intentions of visiting the Tate Modern but by the time I got there I was starving so I decided to look for somewhere to eat and then I just kept walking. I walked all the way along the south bank, past the eye and all the theatres, across the bridge and past the Big Ben. This is what I saw...

I ended up walking all the way back down past Somerset House before hoping on the tube and heading home. It was a very long day with lots of walking but definitely worth it.

LDN

Last Thursday I ventured in to town by myself for the first time. It wasn't anywhere near as daunting as I expected. In spite of the fact that there are about 734 different train lines running into the city, it was suprisingly easy to navigate around, if not also rather expensive. I headed back to Tower Bridge since my camera battery died on me the first time I was there.

Sorry for the photo overload - I couldn't decide which ones to post. I took far too many. Also, please notice how quickly the sky changed. I put my camera away when the gale force winds and rain arrived about 10 minutes after that last photo.

From Tower Bridge I got the tube into Oxford Circus. I was hoping to finally get some shopping in but it was a bit disappointing to be honest. The end of the sales meant that there really wasn't much left worth looking at, and I don't like navigating through the hoards at the best of times. Instead I headed to Carnaby Street which is much more relaxed and much more my pace.

After I gave up on the tourist center that is Oxford Circus I went for a walk. I'm not exactly sure how long I walked for but it was long enough to get sufficiently lost in Soho. It was great. It's a pretty cool area, multitudes of sex shops aside haha. Eventually I found my way back to Oxford street and headed home.

It was too busy to constantly stop and take photos around Oxford and Piccadilly Circuses but I did manage a few instagram snaps which you can see here.