This being our second day in London, it was time to meet up with our daughter Meagan and her husband Jason and do some real sight-seeing. Though just having flown in from New York City would slow us down a little bit.
London Bridge and the Borough Market
Our first order of business, after having some time to catch-up and then take “The Tube“, was to walk across the real London Bridge from Monument Station. Not to be confused with the Tower Bridge which we will discuss later.
The Borough Market is the quintessential small town market on steroids for a big city like London. It has a myriad of trendy shops and market kiosks, along with traditional farm products from all over Europe being represented with their quality meats and cheeses. Of course, I wanted to purchase some Alpine Cheese or Tyrolese Sausage, but time and fear of having it taken from my luggage on the trip back to Italy, prevented me from doing so.
This walk took us in the general direction of the new “The Shard“, a triangular spire of a building reminiscent of the “One World Trade Center“. After having a very unremarkable lunch at the Horniman at Hays, we ascended The Shard for a view of the city.
As one can imagine, on a good day like ours, you can see the entire city from this height.
HMS Belfast
The HMS Belfast is a Town-class British 6 inch gun light cruiser of World War II vintage. Similar in age to the U.S.S. North Carolina in Wilmington, North Carolina, this ship has real class and some very nice lines. If time permits I hope to go back and have a peak inside.
The Tower Bridge and Tower of London
When London comes to mind for me, I think of the BBC and the river Thames flowing under the Tower Bridge as a preamble to TV shows I frequently watched on PBS.
Since I last saw it, years ago, the bridge appears to be woefully in need of a paint job, though nonetheless it is still graceful in appearance.
As some may already know, the Tower Bridge is most likely named after the Tower of London, that well-known ancient prison and current repository for the Crown Jewels.
The grounds to the Tower of London are rather large, and there is quite a lot to see here. There are several museums to visit, all of which appear to have been done in very good detail.
One can also see a similar “Changing of the Guard” that you can witness at Buckingham Palace. Just behind the guards above, is the entrance to the Crown Jewels.
As had been alluded to before, there are several other towers that one can visit, all of which have different histories. One of the better ones, and which also involves Sir Walter Raleigh, of North Carolina fame, is the Bloody Tower.
From 1603 until 1616, Sir Walter Raleigh was held prisoner here. Though he was afforded amenities not many other prisoners were given, including gardening to make herbal remedies and other concoctions, his internment still must have been very unpleasant.