After yesterday's post, which showed a small part of London from the air, on my flight back to Heathrow, I thought today it would be fun to combine some shopping with a walk and to snap a few well know London scenes. So prepare for a short virtual tour using some pictures I took today. I'm posting them small, but they are all in my flickr stream in a larger size. Click on any of them to take a look.
This is my actual route and I'll show a few tourist areas and landmarks along the way. We'll start by Chelsea Bridge Wharf, and head over Chelsea Bridge getting a good view of Battersea Power Station, which is now planned for redevelopment, It used to provide power and hot water to a large part of South London and its famous for appearing on the cover of a Pink Floyd album.
Then, along the the northern bank of the River Thames, called the Embankment, passing a traditional red phone box along the way.
The Embankment is one of the roads which forms the edge of the revised Congestion charge, for driving in central London. It costs £8 ($15) to turn into any of the side roads around here and every one of them has an array of number plate recognition cameras, to stop people from cheating. Of course, parking is extra. In this area its around £2.40 ($4) per hour.
Next stop along the Embankment is the Tate Britain gallery, which currently has an excellent exhibition of work by Hogarth, the political cartoonist. The museums and galleries in London are mainly free, with a suggested donation depending on how wealthy you are.
Then towards Vauxhall Bridge, which is like many of London's bridges, well decorated and well lit at night. I like Chelsea and Albert bridge, with their fairy tale lights.
Of course, the bridge itself is a great place to get a photo opportunity of London buses, just five in a row waiting for the traffic lights here. The oyster card means a bus ride is £1 or £2 if you use real money. The advantage of the oyster card is that it only allows you to spend up to a maximum within a day and it works for buses and tube transport. And in the background, you can see some of the stylish apartments which are springing up all along the South Bank.
So, across this bridge, still on foot, and a glimpse of the Palace of Westminster - which is where parliament meets. On the South Bank, there's the London Eye, which seems to be one of the most photographed London tourist sights nowadays.
So here, from the Lambeth side of the river, is that well known clock tower, within which is the bell called Big Ben. Tony Blair and the gang hang out in the common looking building to the side, next to the other place where the Lords and Ladies visit when they are 'up' in town.
Then its climb the steps to the edge of Westminster Bridge, where the relative tranquility of the Lambeth Walk is shattered by the hubbub of thousands of tourists. I'll pause here, with a final gratuitous shot of a bendy bus and a black cab. My walk today continued, but the blog can take a rest until tomorrow. Time for a grande latte.
tags technorati : rashbre london city urban
No comments:
Post a Comment