I took a bus from near the flat to the Westminster Pier, which is basically across the big street called The Embankment from Westminster Abbey. I didn't realize all this stuff was so close to each other, and to where I'm living. The bus only took 10 minutes to get there, and it would've been half that time but for the massive traffic.
At the pier I bought tickets for a sightseeing boat journey from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge. I was able to get on the open, top level of the boat, and I even got a seat. It was a lovely morning to start out, but by the ubiquitous clouds moved in shortly after we started out.
We started out exactly at noon, as Big Ben was chiming out his famous tones.
Big Ben Chiming the Noon Hour
Westminster Bridge is beautifully painted, with royal crests.
County Hall by Westminster Bridge
And as you can see, the London Eye is just next to this building. I've yet to go up on this huge ferris wheel yet, but plan to get to it sometime before I leave London. I got some good shots of it from the boat.
The London Eye
The London Eye Close Up
We had gone across the river to the London Eye, but then we turned back and went underneath the Golden Jubilee Footbridge, which also has a rail bridge on it.
Me on the Approach to the Golden Jubilee Footbridge
The Hungerford Railway and Golden Jubilee Footbridge
We passed by the Southbank area, which is the centre of arts for the London area. The National Theatre and Royal Festival Hall are here. I saw Tom Stoppard's play just down the street from this area, at the Old Vic.
We passed a number of other interesting sights, all explained to us in a very amusing commentary by our boat guide. One of the sights is Cleopatra's Needle, which was built in ancient Egypt around 1500 BC and given to England in 1819. In its base is a Victorian time capsule, with things like railway timetables, newspapers and pictures of beautiful women of the time. It has a twin in NYC in Central Park. It's interesting to see something so very much older than even London here.
Cleopatra's Needle
Underneath Waterloo Bridge was a strange sight: dirty, wet bales of hay hanging from ropes. According to our guide, this is an old tradition of marking the clearance space for boats to travel under the bridge, and although there are now scientific instruments with which to determine the depth of the water and the clearances under the bridges, bales of hay are still hung to this day. The guide said it was because "We English love the old ways and have trouble letting go of them."
Hay Bales Marking the Clearance Under Waterloo Bridge
We headed toward Gabriel's Wharf and the OXO Tower. Our guide informed us that the word "wharf" is actually an acronym for Ware House At the River Front. I love learning the history of words and how they become part of a language, and was thrilled to hear such an interesting tidbit while on the river in London. The OXO Tower has an interesting story to it, too. OXO is a very old brand of beef boullion, which was, and probably still is, very popular with the British (but I believe was founded by a German man). When the OXO building was built there was a ban on advertising on the river. But the founder was not to be outdone; he had the architects design the windows in the pattern of the company logo. It seems the British love to break their own rules as much as they love to make them. Ha!
The OXO Tower
The OXO Building now houses flats and business, mostly upscale design/architecture companies and art galleries. It has a brasserie, a bar, and an outdoor viewing area up in the tower.
We then passed the beautiful Blackfriar's Bridge, which also has a pedestrian area.
Blackfriar's Bridge
And here the guide told us something I found really interesting. This bridge is built at the point in the river in which the sweet water from the tributaries meets the salt water of the ocean. The Thames is a tidal river, with ocean tides moving it back and forth during each day, and this is the point where the tides meet the river water. So, they did a very cool thing: they built into the columns of the bridge statues of birds. On the sweet water side they put freshwater birds, and on the saltwater side they put oceangoing birds.
Fresh Water Bird Statues on Blackfriar's Bridge
Saltwater Bird Statues on Blackfriar's Bridge
Just past the Blackfriar's Bridge we could see the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral, one of Christopher Wren's most famous churches, which used to be one of the tallest buildings in London.
St. Paul's Cathedral
Now we're headed toward the Millennium Bridge and the old Battersea Power Station, which now houses the Tate Modern Museum. I had to laugh at the commentary on both of these sights. The Millennium Bridge, it turns out, had a shaky start, as it vibrated so much when it first opened that people walking across it actually fell down. They had to close it and rework it before it was able to withstand the traffic. (Sound familiar to the SF Bay folks, opening bridges only to find out they aren't working?) And then the guide told us that he thought the art at the Tate Modern was sheer rubbish. This was supposed to be a bit of a joke, as some of the exhibits actually are comprised of trash and ashtrays and the like, but I have to agree with him for the most part. I'm much more drawn to the older, more traditional works in the Tate Britain.
Exactly next door to the Tate Modern is the Globe Theatre, the recreation of the old theatre in which Shakespeare put on his plays. I do hope to catch one of Shakespeare's plays that are being performed there. Unfortunately, my favorite of his tragedies, Henry IV, Part I, isn't playing until September. I might go see A Midsummer Night's Dream, but it's not one of his best, I don't think. Still, it would be a shame not to see a performance at the Globe.
The Globe Theatre
We then passed the Anchor Pub, one of the oldest public houses in London. The original was built shortly after the Great Fire of 1666, and this building is a reconstruction of around 1789 or so.
The Anchor Pub
Next we passed a replica of the Mayflower ship, I think. Anyway, it's a replica of some famous boat, and has even been sailed across the Atlantic with the same number of crew members as on the original voyage.
The Mayflower Replica (?)
Next we went under the London Bridge, which was fairly non-descript. And I think the original is in Arizona now anyway.
London Bridge
After that was the monument to the great fire, in the shape of a candle, according to our guide. I actually heard another guide, later in the day, tell the story that the fire started in a bakery, and that a Frenchman was charged with starting the fire by putting his "magic stick" into the doorway of the bakery where the sparks ignited fumes and flour. They hanged the poor fellow for it, and only found out later that he wasn't even in the country until after the fire had started. Who knows the truth? What is true is that 13,000 homes and 84 churches and cathedrals burned, leaving over 100,000 people homeless. That was a lot of people back in 1666.
Monument to the Great Fire of 1666
And now comes modern London into view, with the new offices of the Mayor of London, a glass structure with a crown logo.
City Hall
More glass and steel buildings, which to me seem incongruous with the centuries-old structures right next to them.
Modern Skyscrapers
Old, Victorian Warehouses
And finally, we see the Tower Bridge, the end of our tour.
Tower Bridge from the Boat
I thoroughly enjoyed this boat tour, especially given the witty and amusing commentary given by the guide. He swears they aren't trained guides, but have to do 6 years of apprenticeship to be a riverboat workman. I can hardly believe he isn't trained in tour guiding, and I was happy to give him the change in my pocket as a tip.
In the next postings I'll show you the Tower of London and the other places where I walked around and took pictures--stay tuned!
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