What should have been an easy walk to the pier was stymied by a roadblock as they were doing some sort of work. No problem...
We ended up walking all around St. Katharine docks. In the 1800s, this was a slum area mostly housing dock workers. Now, it is an area for the wealthy with many restaurants, condos and marinas.
"Ship faced"...love it!
Still walking...these houseboats were pretty cool with what looked like moss growing on the roof. Maybe to keep them cool?
And we're still walking...
Lovely places to eat outside, but sadly what we've noticed here, as in many European cities...you can't smoke inside, so all the smokers snag the outdoor seating, pretty much ruining it for any non-smokers.
We spotted a telephone booth...most of them are empty as the need for payphones is practically non-existent, but we had fun inside!
And finally we came out on the pier where we would meet our boat. This statue was intriguing...Girl with a Dolphin was created by David Wynne in 1973. Apparently, he did a bronze statue of the Beatles in 1964 and was responsible for introducing them to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Butler's Wharf across the river from St. Katharine docks was also once a derelict area and has now been transformed into luxury flats and restaurants. It was originally a chocolate factory and also contained one of the largest tea warehouses in the world.
And the stunningly beautiful iconic Tower Bridge. It was originally chocolate brown and was painted red, white and blue to celebrate the Queen's Silver jubilee in 1977. I think it was painted blue for her Diamond jubilee in 2012.
Pam and Trevor returning to the scene of their honeymoon 36 years later...
Tower Bridge and a double-decker bus? Bonus!
And what was this? The bridge was opening. That was pretty exciting! It used to open about 50 times a day, but now only opens 4 or 5 times a week. I can see why, because it ties traffic up, and in London that's disastrous.
It takes 61 seconds for the bridge to open, but traffic is stopped for several minutes in preparation.
And here is the reason for the bridge opening...I wonder how much you have to pay for the privilege of sailing through?
Still waiting for the boat to arrive. It was super hot and we were attempting to stay in the shade as long as we could. The funny thing is we were first on the pier but ended up last getting on the boat.
As a result, there wasn't a place to get a clear shot of any of the landmarks, so I just enjoyed the ride.
Off the boat, we headed towards the London Eye hoping to hop on for a revolution. The Eye is continually moving. It moves so slowly you really have to watch it to realize that it's in constant motion. A complete revolution takes about 30 minutes, and you embark while it is slowly moving.
This statue of Boudicca and her daughters (girl power!) was commissioned by Prince Albert and completed in 1905. It stands next to Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.
Selfie!
The awe inspiring Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, currently under restoration.
Everything in London is surprisingly and pleasingly clean...
A new place for locks...
The South Bank lion and some surprising facts about him...
County Hall was originally home to the London County Council. Now it's the home of businesses and attractions, including London Sea Life Aquarium and the London Dungeon. It also contains two hotels and several restaurants. A sign of the times...
The boat operator had some information about the height of the Thames and these lions. Something along the line of if the river rises to touch the lions, London is in trouble.
The Jubilee Bridge was constructed in 2002, but there has been a pedestrian bridge here since 1845.
The London Eye expedition was a bust, as they were having a private party and we would have had to wait over an hour. Considering how hot it was (who expected this heat in early June in London!), we decided to leave it for another day and take a boat back to St. Katharine docks. This time we snagged better seats and enjoyed great views on the Thames. It was worth the sunburn!
Cleopatra's Needle was presented to the UK in 1819 by the ruler of Egypt. Although they welcomed the gift, Britain did not fund the transport of it. It remained in Alexandria until 1877 when a British dermatologist paid £10,000 to have it brought to London. Pretty substantial in those days!
One of the many bridges we sailed under, this is Waterloo Bridge or often called the Ladies Bridge as it was built by female welders, stonemasons and labourers during the Second World War.
Behind this large ship is the arch denoting the boundary between Westminster and London.
The ever-present cranes with St. Paul's in the background...
These red pillars beside Blackfriars Bridge were part of the original train bridge. In 1985 the old bridge was declared too weak to support modern trains, but the pillars were left as removing them might have compromised the structure of the new bridge.
The Millennium Bridge or what Londoners call the Wobbly Bridge. Here's some interesting facts about it. Most notable is that it has had two openings: the first was marred by intense swaying when too many people were on it. It closed for two years before re-opening. The second is that it was featured in the opening scene of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
This is one of the high speed boat tours you can take...long about now, after our "free" cruise had taken us all day, this one was looking pretty good.
Sailing along past the Shard...I did mention I might have taken a photo of it every day!
One of many bridges that has been named London Bridge. The original bridge built in 1830 was deemed not strong enough for growing London traffic. In 1967 it was dismantled and moved to Arizona.
Coming up to home territory...the Tower of London.
Sailing under the magnificent Tower Bridge...no matter how many times I saw it, I had to take "just one more picture."
Sailing under the catwalks, where the openings are a glass floor for tourists to view the bridge below.
Now that's a yacht!
Whew...we walked back to our favourite Goodman's Field for a refreshing beverage. Jim got two beer for the price of one and they quickly disappeared. It was a hot day on the Thames!
That night we went to the Mayfair Chippy, a restaurant close by...
National Fish and Chip day? We might have missed that...
But other things on the menu looked pretty tasty.
We might be cracking up at the fact that I ordered the fish finger butty and it came as three lonely fish fingers on my plate. When I asked "isn't a butty a sandwich?" The waitress replied that they were out of buns. Oh dear...
Trevor had heard that the location of Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films wasn't too far away, so off we went after our rather expensive and not-so-satisfying meal.
The Gherkin was peeking over the tops of the buildings...
Approaching Leadenhall Market...it's one of the oldest covered markets in London dating back to the 14th century.
Wow...how magical and how lucky were we to be the only ones here?
These shops have so much character...
Harry Potter tour, anyone?
It was a perfect night for walking...
And then we spotted two bobbies! Tick this off the list! After babbling about being Canadian tourists, how could they resist our request to have our photo taken with them. A bit blurry, eyes closed...who cares? Mission accomplished!
Tomorrow, we're off to Herne Hill to see where my great-grandmother lived...
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